As part of a press conference at FachPack trade fair, Hans-Joachim Boekstegers, Executive Director and CEO of Multivac, who will be retiring on 1 January 2020, gave an overview of the current development of the business, as well as packaging trends and some of the company’s many product innovations. With a turnover of around EUR 1.1 bn, the group was able to achieve in 2018 a growth in turnover of 7.7 % over the previous year. The number of employees increased to 6,400 worldwide. “Despite many economic and political uncertainties, we are expecting a slight growth in turnover for the current business year,” said Hans-Joachim Boekstegers.

“When it comes to sustainable packaging solutions, we are the partner of choice,” the company head said. “We are raising the awareness of sustainable packaging concepts among our customers worldwide. We are now multiplying our concepts worldwide, even in those regions, where we have not yet seen an active demand for these solutions.” The portfolio includes a wide range of sustainable packaging concepts, which make a significant contribution to reducing the material used to produce packs. Other concepts are based on the use of renewable raw materials or fully recyclable films such as for example mono plastics, or alternatively paper fibre-based packaging materials.

With the takeover of the Fritsch group in August 2019, Multivac is extending its range of solutions, so that in future they will also be able to offer complete production lines from one source to the bakery industry as well. Fritsch is a leading manufacturer of bakery equipment headquartered in Markt Einersheim/Germany. The product range includes high-performance equipment and technology for dough forming and processing – from table top units to industrial-scale systems. “This acquisition is another important step in expanding our range of integrated solutions for processing and packaging food products,” explained Hans-Joachim Boekstegers. “It is our aspiration to always be able to offer our customers the most efficient total solution.”