“Impressed by the power of innovation”

When it comes to packaging, in Germany there is no way to ignore the dvi. The German Packaging Institute brings all the different players in the packaging sector together – whether for an expert or political discussion at the German Packaging Congress, to celebrate innovations, for example at the German Packaging Award, as a poster child for the German day of packaging for the general public, or in different seminars and work groups. Since 2016, Kim Cheng as the managing director has been responsible for the events and networking within the industry.

For the lawyer, sustainability is the most important topic, which of course also matters to the dvi. This was mirrored in the entries for the German Packaging Award – 40 percent came from the category of sustainability. Kim Cheng, however, is also excited about other aspects of packaging, up to and including aesthetics: “I really enjoy the topics of design, finishing and visual merchandising. I love displays and am always happy when I see them first during a jury session for the German Packaging Award, and then later at the supermarket. Or when a certain printing technology is being put to use. This of course has something to do with appealing to buyers, but packaging is, after all, something that sells. In the end, it is not only all about sustainability, protection and the many different tasks as part of a critical infrastructure, but also about aesthetics.”

The German Packaging Institute has almost 250 members and is the only network within the industry that for more than 30 years has brought the entire added-value chain of packaging together: from mechanical engineering to all segments of the packaging industry, consumer goods, retail, up to circular economy and recycling industry. Since its foundation in 1991, the Institute has continued to expand its offers for member companies and take an interest in current issues which are of importance to the industry. “Since the 1990s, we have undergone development from being a platform to becoming an industry network. Today, we offer much more content services to our members. For example, we keep them informed about everything happening within European legislation. This issue is also especially important to our new chairman of the board Wolf-Dieter Baumann.” And you can also see how the dvi has grown over the last years. “Our offer continues to develop, but we are also growing as an office. Since September, three new colleagues have joined the team, whom we were able to win over in spite of the current lack of skilled labour on the market.”

Kim Cheng regards the continued development of the German Packaging Congress as a personal milestone. “The congress is one of our flagship events and is acting more and more as a platform for political dialogue, and that is nice to watch.” Kim Cheng and her colleagues also organise the Dresden Packaging Conference and the German packaging day, but also smaller panels of experts, where members can meet to share ideas. “Our broad portfolio at the Packaging Academy today offers mainly online seminars and some seminars in person. This means our members save time and don’t have to travel.”

Before starting at dvi, the lawyer worked for the German Federal Association of Wholesale, Foreign Trade, Services e.V. (BGA) – as an office manager for the president and managing director and as head of the department of traffic politics. “During those eight years at BGA in Berlin I learned how to do political lobbying", says Kim Cheng. Her career launched after her second legal state examination, at Primondo, the former umbrella corporation for the mail-order brands of Arcandor. With the exception of six months of parental leave, Kim Cheng has now been active for dvi for seven years and has become a packaging enthusiast. “For example, our team once counted how many packagings each of use uses every day, and I had already reached 37 before lunch. Packaging is an issue that is absolutely important to our society and far too often and for no good reason it has a bad reputation.” Kim Cheng recounts growing up with then-monopolist Grüner Punkt and learning about sorting waste already very early. “With my daughter, I make sure today that she, too, knows where each packaging goes and where paper and glass belong.”

Supporting future generations is a big issue for Kim Cheng also in her professional life. “This is already a given if you look at the history of dvi, because the founder, Professor Dieter Berndt, was a university teacher to whom the future generations meant a great deal. Today, other than issues like sustainability, digitalisation, cooperation along the added-value chain, economic growth and price politics, it is of course the young professionals that we have to take care of. The lack of future experts is one of the mega-issues, and that is why it also features at our annual student conferences.” Here, the dvi brings togetherstudents and experts from the member companies of the German Packaging Institute. How large the dvi network is, Kim Cheng also noticed again at this year’s interpack. “At interpack I had a kind of epiphany, as I kept meeting dvi members. We really are a large network, and I have been connected to many people now since 2016. The world of packaging is of course a microcosm, too, but I have arrived and it feels more than a little like home.”