MILAN — More than 20,000 visitors from five continents—half of whom were from abroad—crowded the booths of 298 exhibitors during the recent 17th edition of EXPOdetergo International, the four-day Italian exhibition that occurs every fourth year, show manager Fiera Milano reports.
The early October exhibition featured new products and technologies in the field of equipment and machinery for professional laundries and fabricare, a segment that represents a “leading Italian market,” Fiera Milano adds.
Professionals arriving in Milan for the show confirmed “the successful attendance recorded four years ago, while demonstrating a 21% increase from the countries participating.”
There were 102 countries represented amongst the attendees, compared to 84 in the 2010 show. The breakdown: 42 European countries, 30 Asian nations, 16 from North and South America, 12 African countries, and two from the South Pacific.
“EXPOdetergo International has essentially confirmed the visitors attending the exhibition four years ago, underscoring its role as a benchmark event in a mature industry, which has increasingly found its key markets in tourism, hospitality and nursing homes,” says Luciano Miotto, the event’s president. “The quality, level of innovation and research in ergonomics typical of Italian production continue to earn interest on the foreign markets, as demonstrated by the results of the event days when the exhibitors closed deals and submitted orders.”
Examples of innovations displayed in Milan included large-scale, fully automated processing lines that promote energy conservation and reduced water usage; washers that can hold more than 100 kg of laundry in a small space; RFID labels to identify goods; and garment sorting systems designed to reduce loss.
New pressing equipment, designed for Asian and American markets but which are making headway in Italy, can press more than 100 shirts per hour with “significant energy savings,” Fiera Milano reports.
EXPOdetergo paired its extensive product/service exhibition with educational programming. For example, an English-language seminar tackled the role of laundries and dry cleaners in participating in constructive dialogue with clothing manufacturers and consumers. Later, the supply chain of textile care was covered in an Italian-language presentation with English translation.
“The growth in the international representation is further confirmation that Fiera Milano is capable of attracting buyers from around the world who recognize the exceptional Italian production and choose to do business in our region,” says Michele Perini, president of Fiera Milano.
The next edition of EXPOdetergo International has been scheduled for Oct. 5-8, 2018.
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