Shortly before the start of interpack 2026, packaging journal, VDMA Managing Director Richard Clemens, interpack President Markus Rustler and trade fair head Thomas Dose met for a countdown talk in Düsseldorf. The mood is good – the situation is serious.
Investments put on hold. Orders that aren't absent, but also not flowing because decisions are stalled at senior management level. And a regulatory framework that occupies skilled workers who should actually be working on machines. Three weeks before interpack 2026, packaging journal met, Richard Clemens from the VDMA and Markus RustlerCEO of Theegarten-Pactec and President of interpack 2026, for a countdown talk in the Merkur Spiel-Arena Düsseldorf – a stone's throw from the exhibition centre. The conversation with Thomas Dohse, Director of interpack, revealed a mood that contained equal measures of anticipation and seriousness.
Home of the industry – but not an easy home ground
„It's the home of this industry,“ says Richard Clemens, and he doesn't just mean geographically. Every three years, the interpack is the moment when the global packaging and processing industry not only showcases itself but also recalibrates. Around 2,800 exhibitors from more than 60 countries, fully booked halls, visitors from all over the world – the numbers speak for themselves. And yet, the environment in which the trade fair will take place in 2026 is different from that of 2023.
Clemens speaks of an order situation that fell short of expectations in the first months of the year. Not because there are no projects, but because many companies lack the courage to make decisions. The loss of planning security, according to Clemens, is the real poison for an industry that relies on investment cycles. Markus Rustler, who knows the industry from the perspective of a globally positioned mechanical engineering company – Theegarten-Pactec supplies packaging machines for small confectionery items to practically every corner of the world – confirms this view. His company's answer: speed. Anyone who wants to survive in an environment without reliable planning must become faster than volatility itself.
Tariffs, geopolitics and the end of the 120 per cent solution
The geopolitical situation is omnipresent in discussions without any specific names needing to be mentioned. Rustler describes a bitter irony in the US market: companies that have relocated production to Canada as part of nearshoring strategies are now being burdened by the customs policies of their own US administration. In the confectionery sector, this means investments in new machine parks are simply being postponed. For manufacturers like Theegarten-Pactec, this results in a customer who wants to buy and could buy, not buying – because the general conditions are too uncertain.
Clemens adds the association's perspective: Logistics hubs in the Middle East region are coming under pressure due to escalations, and access for customers from Asia and Oceania to the European market is becoming more difficult. Established supply relationships, built up over years, are suddenly at risk.
Strategically, what follows from this? Rustler puts it pointedly: the global market no longer demands a 120% solution, but an 80% solution that is deliverable. This sounds like an admission – but it's a realism that many German mechanical engineers still need to learn. Growth markets such as India or parts of Africa are not looking for technically perfected systems, but for food safety, hygiene and reliability. Anyone who wants to gain a foothold there must prioritise customer proximity over engineering perfection.
PPWR: When Regulation Becomes a Question of Resources
No industry discussion in 2026 will be able to ignore the PPWR – the EU Packaging Regulation, which will be binding in large parts from August this year. Clemens objectively describes the fundamental dilemma: a uniform, Europe-wide regulatory framework fundamentally creates planning security. The price for this is bureaucratic effort that ties up skilled workers who are urgently needed elsewhere.
This becomes particularly clear from a detail that Clemens mentions: the temporary debate surrounding the reusability of strapping bands and shrink wrap. The VDMA had to expend considerable effort to secure exemptions for requirements that were simply not feasible in an industrial setting. He states that this is not an isolated incident, but rather a symptom of legislation that has been drafted without regard for operational realities.
Rustler takes a sober look at the economic consequences of the PPWR: the transition costs will be passed on to the end consumer. Well-intentioned regulation can have an inflationary effect – and at a time when purchasing power in many European markets is already under pressure. The appeal from both interviewees is not a rejection of regulation, but a plea for practical implementation.
Software is the new mechanical
Despite everything, technological development remains the driving force propelling the industry forward. Rustler describes a transformation that has taken place over decades: In the 1990s, servo technology was the key innovation in packaging machine construction. Today, software has evolved from a niche topic to the actual core competency. Those who build machines have long since also been building data platforms, interface architectures, and AI-supported process optimisation.
Artificial intelligence, according to Rustler, will receive a lot of attention at interpack 2026 – and he expects some of it to be hype that will subside. But the core remains: energy efficiency, autonomous optimisation, predictive maintenance – these are no longer promises but products that will be standing and demonstrated on the exhibition grounds. Clemens adds the material perspective: he expects a significant leap in development for fibre-based packaging solutions at this interpack – answers to regulatory requirements that are also technically convincing.
The system relevance of the packaging industry is more than just an argument in political debate. Rustler and Clemens agree: without packaging technology, there is no secure food supply, no functional pharmaceutical logistics, no modern consumer goods economy. In markets of the Global South, where hygienic design and product protection are decisive for basic supply, this is not an abstract thesis.
The interpack opens its doors on 7 May. The industry is coming with open questions – and with a firm resolve to bring answers.
