At most industrial trade fairs, technical credibility is presented through restraint.

That was not the route chosen by Chemigate Oy at Pulp & Beyond 2026 in Helsinki.

With bright colors, music, masquerade-style outfits, and the slogan “Peace, Love and Performance,” the Finnish specialty chemicals producer used the event to make a different kind of statement: in a mature industrial sector, visibility can itself be a competitive tool.

A Standout Presence in a Traditionally Conservative Fair Environment

According to event coverage, Chemigate’s booth became one of the most noticed and most visited stands at the fair, standing apart from the more conventional presentation style typically seen across heavy industry exhibitions. Sales Director Maisa Kantola said the company wanted to be different and create a more relaxed atmosphere while still remaining fully professional.

That positioning matters.

In pulp, paper, and board, trade fairs are still one of the few places where suppliers can compress months of customer contact into two days of direct conversation. Chemigate’s message was not only about booth design. It was about making in-person contact easier in an industry where technical discussions often start formally and warm up slowly. That emphasis on face-to-face connection was explicit in the company’s fair presence.

More Than Showmanship: A Signal About How Suppliers Want to Be Seen

Chemigate’s presentation would have meant little if it had not been grounded in a serious market role.

The company produces bio-based technical products derived from starch and other polysaccharides, with core business in binders, coatings, and adhesives for technical applications. Its main customer base is in the Nordic paper and board industries, while exports also extend into more distant specialty chemical markets, including Asia.

That context is what made the booth strategy effective rather than superficial.

Chemigate was not trying to look like a lifestyle brand. It was using a visual identity to draw traffic into conversations about bio-based chemistry, paper and board performance, and industrial partnership. In that sense, the booth was less a decoration than a commercial gateway.

Why This Matters in the Current Paper Chemicals Market

The paper industry is under constant pressure to modernize inputs without disrupting machine performance, runnability, or end-use quality. Suppliers offering starch-based and polysaccharide-based technologies are increasingly operating in a market shaped by three parallel expectations:

• lower fossil dependence,
• practical mill compatibility,
• and stronger sustainability credentials.

Chemigate’s public positioning at Pulp & Beyond fits that moment. Its website frames the company around the idea that “the future is in starch” and highlights continued investment in polysaccharide modification capacity. That suggests a company trying to move beyond commodity substitution language and instead present bio-based chemistry as a long-term industrial platform.

Ownership Stability Behind the Brand Message

Chemigate also enters this phase with a defined ownership structure. Since 2021, the largest owner of the company has been the Finnish family-owned Berner Oy, a point noted in recent reporting from the exhibition.

That may seem like a background detail, but in specialty chemicals it matters. Customers in pulp and paper tend to evaluate not only product performance, but also supplier continuity, production reliability, and strategic commitment. A visible trade fair strategy backed by a stable ownership base sends a stronger signal than image alone.

Trade Fairs Still Matter — Perhaps More Than Before

One of the most interesting parts of Kantola’s comments was the observation that face-to-face interaction can no longer be taken for granted. That is a useful reminder for the pulp and paper sector, where digital outreach has expanded, but technical trust is still often built in person.

In practical terms, fairs like Pulp & Beyond are not only product showcases. They are still places where mills, chemical suppliers, board producers, converters, and technology companies test market mood. Who is investing. Who is expanding. Who is confident enough to present themselves boldly.

Chemigate clearly wanted to communicate confidence.

Final Thought

Chemigate’s appearance at Pulp & Beyond 2026 was memorable because it broke with the visual norms of industrial exhibitions. But the more important point is why it worked.

Behind the colors and music stood a company with a defined position in bio-based technical products, established relationships in the Nordic paper and board market, export activity beyond Europe, and a stated interest in making industrial contact more human and more direct.

In a sector that often communicates in cautious tones, Chemigate used the Helsinki fair to show that technical credibility and bold presentation do not have to be opposites.

Last Updated on 22/04/2026 by Jota Machinery