The leading international consumer goods fairs Ambiente, Christmasworld and Creativeworld will be the global hub in Frankfurt from 3/4th – 7th February. The best conditions for success: 4,561 exhibitors occupy on 352,950 gross square metres of the entire exhibition centre. Participants from 160 nations looking forward to the latest innovations and trends from all over the world.

“After two years of pandemic and against the backdrop of an ongoing war in Ukraine, the economic and political environment remains extremely challenging – rising inflation and energy costs are putting pressure on consumer sentiment. However, this is contrasted by good news from the individual consumer goods fairs. With 4,561 exhibitors, the Frankfurt exhibition centre is packed to the rafters and offers trends, innovations and new product ideas for retailers from all over the world. The best conditions for three successful leading consumer-goods fairs in Frankfurt”, says Detlef Braun, Member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt.

Global challenges demand new solutions and innovative approaches for the globally networked consumer goods industry. Messe Frankfurt is therefore moving aggressively into the future with new paths and creative approaches. And this in a completely new, physical trade fair experience: the three leading international trade fairs will be held in parallel for the first time at the Frankfurt exhibition centre in 2023 and together ensure the world’s largest trade fair platform of its kind. They will present the entire world of consumer goods to the global trade on one date each year. Thanks to this new set-up, Frankfurt will become the intersection for all forms of trade as well as for purchasing decision-makers from HoReCa, contract business and concept decoration. The trade benefits from an incomparable crossover of product groups, themes, segments and synergies. “The consumer goods fairs are truly the global hub with a new record share of international exhibitors of 86 per cent. The gross square metres occupied are also a new record, never before has the Frankfurt exhibition centre been so heavily booked in terms of square metres on one single date”, Braun continues. The fact that the new Hall 5 and Hall 12 are on the grid at the same time for the first time offers maximum hall capacities for the world’s leading trade fairs for the consumer goods sector.

Markets in transition

The consumer goods markets have been on their way out of the crisis since 2021. Since the sales low in 2020, things have been looking up again. Thus, with a growth rate of +10.5 percent (double-digit for the first time) – the 2021 volume was added to. The total volume now stands at 31.86 billion Euros in the European core market of Germany alone. The cost of living has risen sharply. This limits the scope for consumer spending. For Germany, a reduction in private consumer spending of 1.9 percent is expected for 2023 – according to the IFH industry commentary. A recovery is not in sight until 2024. The rapid change in social values and advancing digitalisation have also led to massive changes in the structure of markets, sales channels and target groups. There has been consolidation in the market for years, which now seems to be accelerating.

Visitors can look forward to these exhibitors

As the leading international consumer goods fair, Ambiente reflects the changes in the market in a future-oriented way. It presents a unique mix of ideas and products – and is the international platform for meeting customers from all over the world. In the Dining section in Halls 8 to 12 in the West Area, Ambiente is the big stage for everything that makes cooking and household chores easier and food more enjoyable. Exhibitors such as Cristel, Dibbern, Robbe & Berking, RAK, Rosenthal, Wächtersbach and Villeroy & Boch Hospitality bring glamour and variety to the table.

In Halls 3.0 and 3.1, Ambiente Living will once again be the international meeting place for interior design and will present the hottest furnishing trends with the most important exhibitors and products. Exhibitors such as Alessi, Blomus, Gilde, Guaxs, Kare Design, Lambert, Schlittler and Stelton will present the latest innovations.

Ambiente Giving is also starting with synergy-rich innovations: in the new Urban Gifts & Stationery section in Hall 4.2, visitors will find trend and design-oriented gifts, fast-moving products, decorative accessories, writing utensils, greetings cards, bags and personal accessories at Artebene, AvanCarte, BSB Obpacher, Braun+Company, Diplomat, Goldbuch, Kaweco or Perleberg – and modern gift suppliers such as Cedon MuseumsShops, Izipizi, Mark’s Europe or Troika.

The Gift Ideas & School product area, which is also new, is located directly adjacent in Hall 6.2. Exhibitors such as Accentra, Cepewa, Sheepworld, Enesco, Modern Times, Polyflame, Nostalgic Art and Zöller & Born will be showing the trends of the season with decorative and classic gift articles, souvenirs, traditional crafts and accessories. In the newly added School section, exhibitors such as Erich Krause, Gabol, Patio, Sportandem, Statovac and Zipit present their highlights.

In Hall 3.1, the new Ambiente Working section with the special Future of Work presentation will present furnishing design and modern solutions for offices and workrooms, co-working spaces and (mobile) working from home.

Buyers will find the Remanexpo product segment in the Congress Center with re-manufactured printer consumables and components, printer hardware and software as well as environmental and waste disposal products. Exhibitors like

Static Control, Pedro Schöller Print Service, Cross Imaging and General Machines will present the latest technologies.

Christmasworld and Creativeworld complete the range of the one-stop shop

The successful formats Ambiente, Christmasworld and Creativeworld will be expanded with future-oriented product groups and further developed in their concepts and thus positioned for the future.

For Christmasworld, the leading trade fair for decorations and festive decorations, top brands such as Blachere, Boltze, Duni, Edelman, Exotica Cor Mulder, Gnosjö Konstsmide, Goodwill, G. Wurm, Hoff-Interieur, Inge’s Christmas Decor, Kaemingk, and Koopman are taking part. New additions include stationery manufacturers for ribbons and packaging such as Francesco Brizzolari, Saul Sadoch and Zöllner-Wiethoff. This means that, from 2023, Christmasworld will be complemented by the highly attractive product range of gift packaging.

Creativeworld, the leading international trade fair for hobby, craft and artists’ requisites, will also feature all the beacons and market leaders from all product segments, including, for example, Clairefontaine, F.I.L.A. Gruppe, Folia, Kreul, Kuretake, Marabu, Rayher, Royal Brush, Royal Talens, Schmincke and Staedtler. The exhibitors will show innovative articles for the creative hobby, materials for graphics and artists’ supplies, arts and crafts and textile design as well as graffiti and street art. For the first time, products for creative writing and drawing also enrich the range. Numerous classic writing-utensil manufacturers are expanding their product portfolios in the direction of creative materials, so the joint appearance under the Creativeworld umbrella is a logical step for the market. The new exhibitors include, for example, Centropen, Schneider Schreibgeräte and the writing utensil manufacturer Stylex.

Global Sourcing

Trade buyers of large volumes will also find a globally unique range of products, from industrial to handcrafted goods, in the new bundled Global Sourcing area. On a total of six hall levels in Halls 10 and 11.1, joint stands and individual exhibitors from Asia, South America, Africa and Eastern Europe will present their new products. This parallelism means that, for the first time, the focus will be on the global sourcing products of Ambiente and Christmasworld together. “The biggest sourcing platform outside China will be accessible in Frankfurt am Main at the beginning of February – there are no travel restrictions here”, explains Philipp Ferger, Vice President Consumer Goods Fairs. Prominent participants such as the World Trade Fair Organisation (WFTO) or the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries (CBI) will present exciting, sustainable projects from all over the world.

Metatopics and trends provide the decisive information edge

In addition to the Ambiente, Christmasworld and Creativeworld Trends, which are developed by the trend bureau bora.herke.palmisano on behalf of Messe Frankfurt and showcase the most important trends and innovations in impressive presentations, visitors can expect a wide range of other highlights. “The meta topics of the consumer-goods sector, above all sustainability, but also lifestyle and design, new work and the digitalisation of retailing, play a key role in the complementary programme of all three fairs. They are present everywhere on the grounds and offer a wide range of opportunities for inspiration. Our efforts here are to create new perspectives for the trade, to bring supply and demand together in new ways and thus to stimulate and promote business between manufacturers and buyers,” says Julia Uherek, Vice President Consumer Goods Fairs.

In addition, the curated Special Interest Ethical Style specifically brings together supply and demand on the meta-topic of sustainability across all three fairs and, with four Ethical Style Spots, puts even more focus on the topic of sustainability than before. The special presentation ‘Circular Materials in Future Dining’ will showcase material developments based on organic residues or alternatives to energy-intensive materials in the field of tableware. In the immediate vicinity of Ambiente Dining, well-known and strong online brands such as Ebay, EK Service Group, Kaufland Global Marketplace, nmedia and Interxion will present their digital solutions and services for the retail trade to show how digital business can be successfully developed and operated alongside stationary trade.

The presentation Decoration Unlimited at Christimasworld shows how seasonal decoration can enhance the experience at the point of sale. The focus is on the wow effect. This time the motto is Down to Earth.

Promoting young talent continues to be an important theme at Ambiente. With the special presentations Talents, Solutions, Next and the BMWK area, which is geared to German participation, everything revolves around start-ups, young designers or interesting new products. Sustainability also plays an important role here.

Knowledge enables the future

Five academies with top speakers will prepare visitors for the challenges of the future – these include the Conzoom Solutions Academy, the Future of Work Academy, the HoReCa Academy, the Creative Academy and the Remanexpo Academy on their respective hall levels. In the Future of Work area of Ambiente, trade visitors will experience what the world of work will look like in the future and which products will take centre stage. This is also where the Future of Work Academy is located, with exciting lectures on all aspects of the New Work meta-topic.

Smart digital extensions

“Our goal is to turn the events into an exclusive and year-round B2B hub and thus to expand the dovetailing of real and digital through further digital services. For example, the online exhibitor search with all relevant product and manufacturer information is available 365 days a year. One of my very special highlights and our answer to the digital future of trade fairs is the Digital Extention. This is available to all participants for smart and efficient matchmaking even before our events,” says Uherek. Visitors can participate physically, hybrid or purely digitally via the Digital Extension parallel to the leading trade fairs on site. This means they can be there live as well as network online before, during and after the event and experience the exhibitor highlights. Exhibitors use the matchmaking platform to present their products and network directly with visitors in video calls or live streams. The Digital Extensions are already available before the start of the fair to create one’s own company or buyer profile, go on a contact search and arrange appointments. At the same time, the platform remains accessible for some time after the event. This enables optimal post-fair business and offers the chance to make important business contacts afterwards.

The new platform nmedia.hub (formerly Nextrade) for digital ordering further optimises the ordering options. Conzoom Solutions, the information platform for the trade, picks up on the trade fair topics in a targeted manner and delves into them throughout the year with interviews, videos or podcasts. The online events during the year with top speakers from the industry shorten the time until the next real exchange. In this way, exhibitors and visitors are informed and networked before, during and after the fair and throughout the year.

From February 2023, the leading international consumer goods fairs Ambiente (3rd – 7th February 2023), Christmasworld  (3rd – 7th February 2023) and Creativeworld (4th – 7th February 2023) will be held simultaneously at the Frankfurt exhibition centre.

Photo: Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH/Jean-Luc Valentin.

 

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March 2024 issue

2023 A1 Buyers Guide