Celebrating business together was the motto of this year’s mega trade fair for consumer goods, consisting of Ambiente, Christmasworld and Creativeworld.
With an increase of 10%, 4,928 exhibitors presented new products on over 360,000 gross square metres. Despite the rail strike, around 140,000 visitors from all branches of trade and sales channels, from over 170 countries and regions, arrived at Messe Frankfurt to discover the latest trends and innovations at the shows.
“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.
“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.”
Voices from the industry agreed. “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,” summarised Christian Haeser, managing director of the German Home and Office Trade Association (HWB).
Talking about Ambiente, Michael Berz, president of the German Culinary and Tableware Trade Association, added: “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.”
Three out of four trade visitors came to Frankfurt from abroad. With a 5% increase in international visitors compared to the previous year to a current 71%, 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. 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.
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 and Zara Home.
Important distributors of hotel and catering supplies from all over the world and real estate developers such as Aurelis Real Estate, Deka Immobilien Investment and Lambert Smith Hampton were also in the halls, as were representatives of hotel groups such as Marriott Hotel Holding.
The fact that the trade appreciates Ambiente, Christmasworld and Creativeworld as a successful platform is also substantiated by Messe Frankfurt’s visitor survey. This year’s fairs surpassed last year’s in terms of satisfaction with the range of exhibits: 94% of visitors were satisfied with the quality and range of exhibitors compared to 93% last year.
For next year, Ambiente will take place from 7 – 11 February 2025.
