Opening Lines
The Latest From Luxe Pack
By Marie Redding, Senior EditorThe 18th annual Luxe Pack Monaco show was held in Monte Carlo’s Grimaldi Forum November 2–5. On the night of November 4, an elegant celebration dinner was held at the Hotel de Paris, in honor of the Monaco Luxe Pack Design Award participants. The task set by this year’s competition was to design a luxurious bottle of water reflecting the theme “Celebration in Monaco.”
This year’s grand-prize winner was Ruben Piquer, a package designer from Spain. His design was modeled after an amphora, a bullet-shaped container, which historically had been used to preserve different types of liquids, including olive oil, during transport by land or sea. Piquer’s glass bottle was covered with an opaque shrink-wrapped seal. The bottle stands in an ingeniously designed base that collects water from any condensation on the bottle.
The award was presented by Christophe Czajka, president of Luxe Pack; Pierre-Yves Masionneuve, former president of Luxe Pack; and Clemont Vachon, international marketing manager of San Pellegrino, which sponsored the event.
As for the trade show itself, following Luxe Pack’s acquisition by French automobile and industrial communications company ETAI, the show’s direction will soon undergo changes. Czajka, president of Luxe Pack, who is also the director of ETAI, intends to do everything he can to attract more international visitors to Luxe Pack Monaco. This includes expanding the focus of the show to include more types of luxury packaging from other industries. “Perfumes and cosmetics will always have a special role at Luxe Pack, but gourmet food, spirits, and jewelery will have a larger role in the future,” says Czajka. “This will allow for the promotion of cross-fertilization and the opportunity for visitors to compare different market segments. The best ideas often come from looking at other industries.”
Czajka also plans on encouraging attendance of more R&D experts, formulators, product developers, and retailers by creating two new show divisions (in addition to packaging). The new divisions will be called Luxe Formulation and Luxe Display. “We’ve been hearing a lot of feedback from marketing managers about the need to address point-of-sale issues in high-end retail outlets,” says Czajka. He is also in the process of establishing delegations from the United States and Canada, with the purpose of helping to find ways to make the show more affordable for international visitors—which is sure to improve attendance.