The global packaging market for cannabis products is expected to surpass $20 billion by 2025. As the cannabis industry welcomes a growing number of players, there is an urgent need for innovation and regulation. On Feb. 11-12, 2020, legislative, regulatory, educational, technology and industry leaders will convene at the Anaheim Convention Center for the inaugural Cannabis Packaging Summit, the first event of its kind to focus exclusively on cannabis packaging.
Partnering with North America’s premier packaging technology event, WestPack, the one-and-a-half-day summit will explore packaging challenges and opportunities facing cannabis manufacturers and how the suppliers of packaging solutions can begin to approach this booming consumer market with greater insight and understanding.
Cannabis Packaging Summit brand director Steve Everly identifies key drivers of the event and for this burgeoning market.
How did the creation of the Cannabis Packaging Summit come to be?
Everly: There is no denying the cannabis industry is absolutely booming. In fact, the global legal marijuana market size is expected to exceed $66 billion by the end of 2025. In recent years, we’ve seen numerous cannabis events pop up of all shapes and sizes. However, none have been exclusively focused on fostering a better understanding of the unique challenges involved with packaging cannabis products in North America.
As my team within Informa Markets puts on WestPack, the West Coast’s largest packaging event, we already had strong relationships with the nation’s top packaging brands leveraging the latest technological advances and solutions for several industries—including cannabis. Thus, we created the Cannabis Packaging Summit with a clear goal in mind: Bring the rapidly expanding cannabis industry together with the nation’s well-established networks of packaging providers to help “close the final gap” in understanding between the two markets.
What can attendees look forward to seeing at the show?
Everly: The show floor will host more than 52 companies exhibiting innovative cannabis packaging products, as well as networking sessions with engineers, brand managers and other key decision-makers.
Additionally, Andrew Kline, director of public policy for the National Cannabis Industry Assn. (NCIA), will present the keynote address, “De-scheduling Cannabis: The Road Ahead,” in which he will summarize the industry’s legislative efforts on Capitol Hill, detail the NCIA’s work developing public policy on environmental sustainability and other concerns facing the cannabis sector.
What are the industry trends and main focus areas and topics that will be discussed?
Everly: There is much to discuss and learn amid the ever-evolving cannabis landscape. Cannabis-based products have an increasingly broad range of platforms—from edibles and topicals to pills and dry-herb—with varying levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and/or the wildly popular non-intoxicating cannabidiol (CBD). Our Cannabis Packaging Summit agenda aims to bring potential players from all cannabis sector niches up to speed on where the packaging market is and, importantly, where it is likely headed next.
Top sessions at the Cannabis Packaging Summit include:
Tues., Feb. 11, 10:55-11:20 a.m., “Ethical and Moral Challenges of CBD Packaging Panel Discussion: Sustainability and Beyond”
Tues., Feb. 11, 2:35-3:15 p.m., “Cannabis Producers, Packaging, and the Law”
Tues., Feb. 11, 3:40-4:20 p.m., “Harmonizing Child-Resistant Standards”
Wed., Feb. 12, 10:40-11:20 a.m., “Packaging, Design, and the Needs of the Cannabis Industry”
Wed., Feb. 12, 11:20 a.m.-noon, “Interactive Packaging and Building the Brand”
Wed., Feb. 12, noon-12:25 p.m., “Panel Discussion: What Does the Cannabis Industry Want From Packaging?”
Click here for more information on the Cannabis Packaging Summit and to register to attend.
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