FESPA2021: our return to the biggest fair in the market
Carlos Alves, Sales manager of our Export department, was at FESPA2021 and shares how decal's return to the largest large format digital printing fair was.
FESPA Global Print Expo 2021 was a highlight of this year's international fairs and decal was present after the interruption imposed by the pandemic context. A return that we reveal in this interview to Carlos Alves, DECAL Sales Manager, who was with his team in Amsterdam between 12 and 15 October.
FESPA starts long before the official date
Participating in an event of this size where competitors from all around the world are, literally, meters away from it´s a long process, which involves an extensive period of preparation.
There is a high number of staff involved from different departments and areas that must work together so that DECAL booth stands out and is ready to receive visitors at the official date.
As stated by our Sales Manager, FESPA Fair “represents all the daily efforts and the long path traced by DECAL and the Export team”. In Addition to that there was also the challenge of assuring customers that the reencounter would be done safely.
The return to the biggest fair in the market
October arrived and, for the Export team, the return to FESPA2021 proved to be a “marking” moment due to the impact of “seeing people from all over the world gathered at a fair” again. A “sign of hope to return to normal life”, after 20 months marked by the pandemic.
Carlos Alves highlights the “strong interest of companies” in “doing business”, adding that “the efforts needed to be present at an event such as FESPA, in the current circumstances, made the objectivity of the visitors really stand out”.
It is, in fact, the visitors that make FESPA a unique business opportunity and the reduced numbers in this edition were not seen as something negative. In return, the “strong presence” of customers and DECAL's partners stands out, and how “the quality and possible results of the meetings compensated for the quantity”.
This edition's decal's novelties
The new decal vinyl anti-humidity collection, alldecor 2d and PVC Free ranges, developed for the visual communication and interior decoration segments, contributed to this.
Carlos Alves points out that these innovative products had an “extremely positive” acceptance as they represent “solutions that the markets are looking for.
These solutions, together with our full range of self-adhesive products for the large format digital printing market, brought many visitors to our booth over the four days of the fair.
“Closing" of 2021 with 2022 on the horizon
It is not yet possible to fully quantify the results of the 2021 edition, but those that already exist indicate positive results, contributing to the expectations for the 2022 edition surpassing this year's.
The date and location are confirmed - May 31 to June 3 at Messe Berlin, Germany - and Carlos Alves adds that the Export department believes that “next year we will have a much larger volume of customers and we hope to have even more news to present in next year's edition.”
Until then, there is a lot of post-fair work to do and, according to our Export manager, it means “doing what we do best, that is, promoting our brand and selling the solutions we have. Our goal is always to develop and look for partners so that we have the right companies to represent us around the world.”