Pack Expo 2010 without Process Expo increased visitor and exhibitor counts

Pack Expo 2010 didn't seem to suffer any as a solo show for the first time in 14 years. The huge packaging show took up three of Chicago's McCormick Place's four halls, just over a million square feet of space and drew an estimated 44,294 visitors in its four-day Chicago run that began Oct. 31.

Both attendees and exhibiting companies were up slightly over the previous (2008) Chicago Pack Expo, which included Process Expo.

While Pack Expo remains paired with the Converting &Package Printing Expo, this was the first show in years without Process Expo, which paired itself with the Institute of Food Technologists' show this year and will be going it alone next year.

Pack Expo did maintain a "processing zone,"where processing equipment vendors were centered. And the Grocery Manufacturers Association staged a concurrent Manufacturing Excellence Conference, focusing on operational reliability, product safety and sustainability.