The largest Australasian food processing and packaging trade event, Auspack, will return to Melbourne next month, presenting the latest technologies and trends to the food and beverage industry.

Held across four days, Auspack will showcase more than 300 suppliers to food manufacturers and processors, including those exhibiting in packaging and filling machinery, product identification solutions, materials handling and ancillary components.

All this will be presented in 18,000sq m of venue space with more than 1200 brands and working machinery on display.

2015 will be a special year for Auspack as it will commemorate the exhibition’s 30th anniversary. For professionals in the baking industry, exhibition director Luke Kasprzak said the event is an invaluable opportunity to network and see what’s new.

“Auspack provides the complete range of solutions to enhance efficiency and boost profitability. The event inspires, crystallises strategies and sets new business partnerships for future success. There is no better place to find out what’s now and what’s next,” he said.

“There will be lots of areas of interest for baking industry professionals including food processing and packaging equipment, food preservation, inspection, x-ray equipment, filling, weighing, bagging, coding, marking, labelling, to name just a few.”

Confoil marketing and retail manager Steve Flaherty is exhibiting at the show, and said “compostability” and “biodegradability” will be hot topics.

“Auspack will be a great place to get some fresh ideas on how you can differentiate your business in an overcrowded and staid market. So much so, there will be suppliers of bioplastics, pulp, vegetable parchment, gloves and cleaning products to name a few. If not Auspack, I encourage you to make the trek to any trade show even if just to get some ideas, as it’s one of the best ways of staying ahead of the pack,” he said.

The event will be held on the March 24-27 at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre and is strictly a trade event for professionals within the food and beverage processing industries. Visitor attendance is free for those who pre-register. Visit the website for more informaiton.