Frankfurt’s Fair: Ambiente, Christmasworld and Creativeworld

Frankfurt’s Fair: Ambiente, Christmasworld and Creativeworld

Ambiente Fair will take place from the 3rd to 7th February in Frankfurt. This emerges with new perspectives that accompany the changes and trends of the market, the great themes always reviewed and presented in an innovative and appealing way. The main themes are: Living, Dining and Giving.

Stay tuned to the interview of Thomas Kastl, Director of the Ambiente Fair.

Up to now, what is the balance of the Ambiente exhibition?

Personal exchange is more important than ever at the moment – I have just experienced this again in many conversations. We sense a great euphoria among the exhibitors who will be at Ambiente 2023. They are full of anticipation. But of course we also sense the challenging economic and political conditions, which have an impact on individual company decisions.

Each company has to assess for itself how trade fairs fit into its own marketing mix or whether, due to the individual background, it should not participate in a trade fair. At the moment, for example, this can depend heavily on energy costs and other similar factors. The topic is assessed very differently in the companies. For example, we have new exhibitors, such as Monolith or Tupperware, who have consciously decided to participate in a trade fair and see it as a huge opportunity. Furthermore, we see that demand from certain nations, such as Turkey, is very high. Ambiente is simply the world’s biggest consumer-goods fair where exhibitors want to show their new products.

They are looking forward to having this fair again as a contact platform – especially internationally. Buyers see it very similarly – something we have already seen at other fairs in Frankfurt in recent months. What’s more, the parallel Christmasworld and Creativeworld fairs and their product ranges will create an even more advantageous dovetailing. That’s why I think we will all start the fair on a very positive note.

In 2023 the Ambiente fair will be held again, what are the expectations?

Although there are currently some economic challenges affecting manufacturers and the trade, 4,700 exhibitors are currently looking forward to Ambiente 2023, where they can finally experience the new products with all their senses and network together live on site. We sense a great euphoria among the exhibitors. They are full of anticipation for the coming event. From 3 and 4 to 7 February, we will be bundling our entire consumer-goods know-how with our three flagship fairs Ambiente, Christmasworld and Creativeworld at one time and place. The newly created combination of three successful leading fairs in all halls of the Frankfurt Exhibition Centre thus combines their strengths and offers an unprecedented, simultaneously available and future-oriented product range in terms of quality and quantity.

Thus, Frankfurt once again becomes the centre of the global ordering season, strengthens synergy effects and efficiency for all participants and is thus the one, comprehensive inspiration, ordering and networking event for a globalised industry. We will present the hottest trends and make the global meta trends visible and tangible. Frankfurt will thus be the one-stop shop for the global consumer goods world. And best of all: visitors only need one ticket for one event to visit all the trade fairs.

In relation to previous editions, what are the novelties for 2023?

First of all, of course, it is the globally unique mix of ideas and products. Above all, the new structure and the parallelism of the three leading international trade fairs: Ambiente,, Christmasworld and Creativeworld. With this new arrangement, the trade will benefit from an incomparable crossover of product groups, themes, segments and synergies – both between the product groups and between exhibitors and visitors. In addition to an exciting product mix and new product areas, visitors can expect an extensive supporting programme. This includes special presentations, awards ceremonies and lectures that demonstrate in many facets which factors count in the consumer goods market. In the new Conzoom Solutions Academy in Hall 4.0/Room Europa, exciting expert lectures offer new perspectives and convincing best practices for retailers. On all five days of the fair, renowned speakers will provide insights into essential market developments as well as current trends and deliver useful impulses and tips for practical use.

Speaking of impulses – visitors will find intelligent solutions for the kitchen and household at our special presentation Solutions in Galleria 1. The renowned London industrial designer Sebastian Bergne places particular emphasis on the aesthetic compatibility of function and design in his selection of products.

The Ethical Style programme of all three fairs focuses on the various facets of sustainability at the consumer goods sector. This is achieved both with the Ethical Style programme which, as a curated selection, draws attention to suppliers who make a special contribution in the area of sustainability. With appropriate labelling on the stands as well as in the exhibitor profile in the online exhibitor search, trade fair visitors can find exhibitors relevant to them with a focus on sustainable products even more easily.

We also have new Ethical Style Spots on the exhibition grounds, which put the spotlight on sustainable products from all three leading trade fairs in all their diversity. Once again, Ambiente 2023 will include the World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO). This global organisation promotes worldwide fair trade through the development of alternative business models. You will also find MADE 51 at Ambiente, an initiative by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). They work together with partners from industry, providing future-proof livelihoods for refugee artisans.

Visitors can view all the details of the programme online, before the trade fair.

The increase in Portuguese interest in Ambiente 2023 is remarkable, how do you evaluate the increase in the number of companies from this country?

At the last Ambiente we had 95 Portuguese exhibitors showcasing their highlights. And we are expecting about the same number at Ambiente 2023. Due to economic conditions and logistical difficulties that have arisen just in the last twelve months, Portugal is gaining strongly as an attractive industrial location. Many companies are bringing their production back to Europe due to logistical difficulties and costs. Especially for ceramics, Portugal is a classic production location. This is also reflected at Ambiente.

With an eye on the future, what is the path for the Ambiente Fair?

Although the live experience of Ambiente is irreplaceable, it is only one component of the marketing and ordering activities of companies and retailers. To see new products, we need trade fairs – our brain has the ability to select from all the information we perceive in the process and to absorb and process information differently.

This creates stimuli to put together a new assortment – and that works best at trade fairs.

Perception in digital showrooms works differently. That’s why we need flexible touchpoints – on-site and digital. With our worldwide physical industry marketplaces and digital platforms, we are evolving from a global industry meeting place to a year-round business enabler.

Messe Frankfurt’s additional digital services make participation in our events even more efficient with complementary offers for exhibitors and visitors. For example, our exhibitor portal clearly offers international reach, especially to those countries that cannot come to Frankfurt to the usual extent due to travel restrictions that still exist or will be restricted in the future. In addition, visitors can participate physically, hybrid or purely digitally via the online platform Digital Extensions, parallel to the leading trade fairs on site. This means that they can be there live as well as network online before, during and after the fair and experience the exhibitor highlights.

Exhibitors and visitors can also keep up to date online during the time when the fair is not being held – with our knowledge platform Conzoom Solutions or the digital marketplace nmedia.hub, which extends the fair to 365 days a year. These two online platforms are indispensable in the current era.

The future is an efficient mix of live and digital, the pandemic period has clearly shown us that.

The personal encounter at our trade fairs remains irreplaceable. At the same time, however, we are consistently expanding our additional digital offers and thus creating further added value for our customers.