Thanksgiving week saw the marriage of two European trade shows with significant dairy segments. IPA, a loose French acronym for "International Food Processing Week," joined with Emballage, the 34th International Packaging Exhibition. Both are biennial shows. The result was a huge co-joined trade show that took over all 2.2 million sq ft of the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Center.

Emballage claimed to be the biggest packaging show of the year, bringing in 111,868 visitors, a 7.6% increase over the 1998 show. The number of exhibitors also was up, to 2,680. IPA drew 57,008 visitors, a 15% increase.

With 374 million consumers in 15 countries, the European Union represents a food processing and packaging market estimated at $800 billion. The U.S. exported $364 million of food processing and packaging machinery to Western Europe in 1996, and U.S. companies were well represented at the show.