Frankfurt: In Brief

Celebrating Business Together was the motto of this year's mega trade fair for the global consumer goods industry, consisting of Ambiente, Christmasworld and Creativeworld. Here's what went on at the Show!

The trio of Frankfurt consumer goods fairs, consisting of Ambiente, Christmasworld and Creativeworld, impressively demonstrated that the entire global consumer goods industry was a guest at the fully booked Frankfurt exhibition grounds for five days. Even the rail strike could not dampen the success: "Mission accomplished! Together with around 5,000 exhibitors and participants from over 170 countries and regions, this top-class trade fair trio strengthens the consumer goods industry in uncertain times", summed up Detlef Braun, Member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt.

The Frankfurt trade fair trio with international appeal has once again proven to be a leading event that provides orientation for retailers and manufacturers. "Once a year and only here in Frankfurt! The economy is under enormous pressure in the face of increasing global tensions. That's why personal encounters, new solutions, inspiration and the development of new export markets and sales channels such as Hospitality and the contract business are irreplaceable," emphasises Braun.

Voices from the industry underline this: "Once again, the trade fair trio of Ambiente, Christmasworld and Creativeworld asserted its immense importance as the number one order platform for the German specialised trade. The retail trade's need for innovations, the chance to experience and order products in a personal encounter on site were the key factors that characterised the spirit of the trade fair. Retailers are entering the new year with a strong tailwind and many trade fair trends," summarises Christian Haeser, Managing Director of the German Home and Office Trade Association (HWB).

Michael Berz, President of the German Culinary and Tableware Trade Association, adds with regard to Ambiente: "Like other specialised sectors, the industry for glass, ceramics and porcelain is facing challenges in a difficult economic environment. Ambiente is a strong and reliable partner for us here - especially now. With the expansion of the HoReCa area, the trade fair has consistently developed the dining segment. This opens up even more business opportunities for our members. Ambiente provides a lot of good, forward looking impetus. That gives us hope."

TOP MARKS FOR INTERNATIONALITY, QUALITY AND QUANTITY
In view of the new trade fair records, expectations were high. These were more than fulfilled: Ambiente, Christmasworld and Creativeworld were characterised by new contacts with purchasing decision makers, global business contacts and worldwide visitor flows. Internationality has increased: Three out of four trade visitors came to Frankfurt from abroad.

With a five per cent increase in international visitors compared to the previous year to a current 71 per cent, the mega trade fair topped the previous year's result. Germany spearheaded the list of visitor nations this year. Italy and China took second and third place in the top five visitor countries, followed by the Netherlands and the USA. Together, they once again emphasised the importance of the leading trade fairs as the world's most international event for the consumer goods industry.

As expected, the 'flying-in foreign countries' were more strongly represented than visitor nations that, like France and the Alpine republics, travelled to the event by rail. Leading companies such as Faber-Castell appreciate the international character of the industry platform. Jürgen Brückner, Managing Director International Sales of the Faber-Castell Group, explains with regard to Creativeworld as a meeting place for the hobby, craft and artists' supplies sector: "We're very satisfied with the course of the trade fair; the high customer frequency and the quality of the discussions were particularly positive. Our expectations of being able to welcome not only distributors but also our global key accounts were fulfilled!" The entire spectrum of the specialised retail trade was represented in Frankfurt. In addition, the three trade fairs attracted well-known major buyers, including Begros, Butlers, Dehner Gartencenter, Dirk Rossmann, dm Drogeriemarkt, Edeka, Fleurop, Globus, Hornbach, Metro and Obi from Germany.

Major international buyers included Amazon, Anthropology, Carrefour International, Crate & Barrel, El Corte Ingles, Galleries Lafayette, Fortnum & Mason, Harrods, La Rinascente, Loft, Marks & Spencer, Migros, the Museum of Modern Art, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Walmart, not forgetting Zara Home.

The fact that the trade appreciates Ambiente, Christmasworld and Creativeworld as a successful platform is also substantiated by Messe Frankfurt's visitor survey. In terms of satisfaction with the range of exhibits, this year's trade fairs also surpassed last year's: 94 per cent of visitors were satisfied with the quality and range of exhibitors compared to 93 per cent last year.

THE FUTURE OF NEW WORK FOR DIVERSE TARGET GROUPS
Lifestyle and workstyle are increasingly merging: What will the work of the future look like? The Future of Work area provided answers to this contemporary question: the curated special show presented solutions for modern working environments. This area not only gave new impetus to office furnishers, but also to many other target groups such as architects, planners and commercial end users such as hotels, the hospitality industry and providers of co-working spaces. "The past few years have led to a period of upheaval, which has also had an impact on interior design: the boundaries between living and working, creativity and formality, functionality and design are dissolving, which creates new design opportunities for us interior designers. The new Ambiente concept reflects this - category thinking is a thing of the past!" explains Carsten Wiewiorra, President of the Association of German Interior Designers (bdia). "With Future of Work, the trade fair is doing justice to planners who are looking for forward looking, flexible and sustainable solutions." In addition, the paper, office supplies and stationery brand industry showed suitable offers for commercial office supplies and technology with an expanded presence by three hall levels. "With this year's Ambiente, the international trade fair venue Frankfurt has proven that it is our industry platform. We once again have a trade fair venue for exchange between retailers and the industry, which is very important and we are very pleased about this," emphasised Rolf Schifferens, President of Durable.