FRANKFURT CONSUMER GOODS FAIRS IN JANUARY AND FEBRUARY 2022 TO BE CANCELLED

Frankfurt am Main, 5 January 2022

In view of the exponential worsening of the pandemic situation worldwide and the accompanying tightened travel and contact regulations, the consumer goods fairs Christmasworld, Paperworld, and Creativeworld are cancelled for January 2022 and Ambiente for mid-February 2022. The regionally-oriented trade fair Nordstil from 15 to 17 January 2022 in Hamburg will take place at the present time.

The easing of the pandemic situation that was still hoped for in December is no longer in sight. Instead, the situation is deteriorating worldwide with an enormous, unforeseeable dynamic. This extreme deterioration due to the spread of the Omicron virus in Europe and Germany currently makes it impossible for Messe Frankfurt, as organiser of the leading international trade fairs Christmasworld, Paperworld, and Creativeworld, as well as Ambiente, to keep their dates in Frankfurt at the end of January and in mid-February 2022.

The four events, consisting of Christmasworld with its focus on seasonal and festive decorations, Paperworld and Creativeworld with their product ranges for paper, office supplies, stationery and hobby, craft and artists’ requisites and Ambiente with its cross-sector range of products for the table, kitchen and housewares, furnishing and decorative accessories, home furnishing concepts, gifts and fashion accessories, are the recognised leading trade fairs in their sectors and open the trading year in their respective segments. Even in a reduced numerical form, the four trade fairs would still have been the leading events worldwide for their respective product segments.

However, the exponential increase in the number of infections worldwide in a very short period of time and the accompanying multitude of developments and decisions that are clearly outside the organiser’s sphere of influence have led to a significant deterioration in the general conditions and necessary prerequisites for holding the four leading trade fairs as major events of international relevance at the end of January and in mid-February 2022 respectively. These developments include the classification of Germany as a high-risk area and the associated travel warnings and international and intercontinental travel restrictions in countries such as India, Japan and the United States, as well as the corresponding quarantine obligations. Equally important are the steadily rising infection figures and the accompanying urgent appeal, among others by the Robert Koch Institute and the expert council of the German Federal Government, to continue to reduce contacts to a minimum and to cancel all major events. At present, there are even further international fears that the critical infrastructure will not be maintained due to the highly contagious Omicron variant. The majority of exhibiting and visiting companies at Christmasworld, Paperworld, and Creativeworld as well as Ambiente are currently reacting to this overall situation with travel and trade fair attendance bans for reasons of duty of care towards their employees to protect them from health risks. The global willingness to travel is dropping enormously at the moment.

“This decision was anything but easy for us. However, in agreement with large parts of the industries represented at the fairs, it is now our responsibility to take this difficult step. The last few months have been characterised by optimism, energy and ideas to give Christmasworld, Paperworld, Creativeworld, and Ambiente a successful new start after the compulsory break in 2021”, says Detlef Braun, Member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt. “Our thanks therefore go to all our partners from the consumer-goods sector, be they exhibitors, visitors, associations or the media, who worked with us on the trade fairs until the very end and, like us, put their heart and soul, energy and passion into staging them.”

There are no plans to postpone the event. Braun explains: “Since the trend-oriented order cycles of the international consumer goods industry require an annual event at the beginning of the year, a shift to the second half of the year would not meet the needs of the exhibiting companies and visitors.”

AMBIENTE 2022: SEE YOU IN FRANKFURT!

From February 11 to 15, 2022, Ambiente will showcase the most important themes of the entire consumer goods range in the Dining, Living and Giving segments. At last, industry and trade can experience trade fairs again: Ordering on site, making international and national contacts and touching products.

Frankfurt am Main, 15th July 2021 – “Every day we are in conversation with our customers who want to be at the upcoming Ambiente to present their products live. That’s why we’re delighted that the world’s largest consumer goods trade show is also a set date for the industry in 2022. Especially after the pandemic period, the trade needs new impulses to boost consumption, the trade fair experience on site and direct ordering. Exhibitors and visitors will find these at Ambiente,” says Philipp Ferger, Vice President Consumer Goods Fairs.

As the leading international trade fair for the consumer goods industry, Ambiente is the ideal platform for marketing innovations and products internationally. Renowned dining brands are preparing for Ambiente. Numerous industry giants from the living and giving sector have already registered.

“Even if the good sales of many members sometimes suggest otherwise: Ambiente is missing. Above all, it is missing as a real leading trade fair that brings buyers from all over the world to Germany and whose customers we can neither win digitally nor retain in the long term. But it is also missing as a business and communication platform, the latter hopefully in the future also in the direction of the end consumer,” says Jens-Heinrich Beckmann, General Manager of the German Knives and Housewares Association (Industrieverband Schneid- und Haushaltwaren e.V. IVSH). Ambiente is a trendsetter and source of inspiration for the consumer goods sector. As a platform for new products, it presents the trends that end consumers are waiting for in the retail trade. At the same time, it is the hotspot for topics such as sustainability, hospitality and contract business. In addition, it offers a high standard of design topics around the consumer goods range.

Digital supplementary offer
As the leading international trade fair for the consumer goods sector, Ambiente is constantly being developed with an eye to the future. In order to bring industry and trade together even more efficiently and in a more targeted manner, the physical event will be supplemented by online services, such as matchmaking, and live streams from the lecture program. It thus offers exhibitors and visitors new opportunities. Messe Frankfurt has already set up the Nextrade and Conzoom Solutions online platforms from 2019, which provide the consumer goods industry with industry-relevant content 365 days a year and offer digital order and data management. This means that manufacturers and retailers can continue to expand their international reach even after the event, keep up to date with the latest industry topics and benefit from the networking functions on offer.

The next Ambiente will take place from 11 to 15 February 2022.

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