Coronavirus and Ciara impact Ambiente 2020

Trends, new products and international business are traditionally the main focus at Ambiente, the world’s largest consumer goods trade fair, which took place Feb. 7-11 in Frankfurt, Germany. This year Ambiente was the first leading trade fair to face the coronavirus’ effect on travel. Storm Ciara likewise had a noticeable effect.

More than 108,000 buyers from 160 countries attended the 2020 edition, seeking inspiration and looking to procure products for their new collections. Sixty-two percent came from countries outside of Germany. Over the years, the number of exhibitors has grown to 4,635 from 93 countries.

This year, many German and international retail companies banned their employees from travelling due to the coronavirus. Ultimately, however, business in the halls did not suffer as much as expected.

“If a trade fair is impacted by two such events, it really does face enormous challenges,” said Detlef Braun, member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt. “But our exhibitors assessed the situation correctly, and the trade visitors came to Frankfurt with a positive mindset and keen to place orders.” Satisfaction ratings among visitors remained at a level of 95%, and there was growth in the numbers of visitors from Estonia, Japan, Jordan, Colombia, Romania and Turkey. There were, however, noticeable shifts in attendance from the top ten visitor nations: Italy, France, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, Turkey, the United States, Russia, Japan and China.

Thomas Grothkopp, managing director of the German Trade Association for Residential Accommodation and Offices, added, “Ambiente has demonstrated yet again that there’s a need for the real world of products, brands and people as an environment for concluding mutually beneficial deals. Retailers made extensive use of the opportunities Messe Frankfurt provided at Ambiente.”

Exhibitors had overwhelmingly positive things to say about their experience at Ambiente 2020:

Dining

Dianne Doolaard, trade and shopper marketer, English & Crystal Living brands at Continental Europe Fiskars: “Seeing that this is the leading trade fair for tableware and interior design, it was of major importance for us to take part in this year’s Ambiente as a new exhibitor. We met a large number of customers from the entire world, and we leveraged Ambiente’s international reach to present four brands of the Fiskars Group, including our new Olio collection. We received highly positive responses to both our stand and our new products.”

Mayda Pérez, executive vice president, Front of the House: “Measuring the success of this trade fair, we can clearly give it a 10 out of 10. We’re a new exhibitor, a US company founded in 2002 with a clear focus on HoReCa channels of distribution, and we produce and design all our products ourselves. Ambiente’s clear focus on front-of-house business has greatly helped us to have a successful trade fair so that we can grow both smartly and sustainably. The new HoReCa hall more than exceeded our expectations. It really was a magnificent show for us.”

Erwin Rupp, sales manager, Ritterwerk: “Ambiente is absolutely the leading trade fair for us. We don’t go to any other trade fairs in Germany, and we consider Ambiente to have the first place among international trade fairs as well. It’s the best place for us to reach out to international customers. This year’s Ambiente was no exception. Despite the special situation this year, the quality of visitors remained the same.

Living

Stefan Rothenberger, country manager for German-speaking countries, Normann Copenhagen: “It was really nice to be part of it all in Frankfurt again. We felt very well looked-after at Ambiente 2020. We are particularly pleased that, despite the special circumstances of the storm and the coronavirus, we succeeded in reviving previous customer relationships and at the same time also managed to reach out to totally new customers.”

Mirko Micalef, managing director for German-speaking countries, Qeeboo: “Qeeboo exhibited at Ambiente for the first time in 2020. The brand environment we found in Hall 8.0 was of a very high standard, and the trade fair brought us a sizeable international audience. We received large numbers of visitors, particularly from Israel, Mexico, the United States and, of course, from the whole of Europe, so we are really pleased.”

Giving

Alexander Selch, CEO, Reisenthel Accessoires GmbH & Co. KG: “Obviously, circumstances were very unusual. Still, what impressed me at Ambiente 2020 was the quality of the conversations we had, particularly with countless new prospects, as we were able to talk far more in-depth. Ambiente 2020 has also been extremely valuable in the development of our international brand recognition. The international response was outstandingly good, and we gained many new customers.”

Susanne Stahlschmidt, B2C sales director, Troika Germany GmbH: “We reached a large number of new international leads at Ambiente 2020. These included exciting markets such as South America and Eastern Europe. One positive element I noticed was that we didn’t just have excellent future-focused conversations, but also that some of our new customers placed their orders then and there.”

HoReCa and contract business

Ambiente’s dining section notably expanded this year to include a separate platform for the hotel, restaurant and catering industry. Hall 6.0 attracted national and international decision-makers in the hospitality industry, including hotel chains, restaurant owners, caterers, cruise lines and airlines. In this space, exhibitors presented their latest collections, inviting attendees to gain insights into front-of-house operations.

Top international speakers at the HoReCa Academy, including Maham Anjum, Ido Garini, Adam Tihany, Jozef Youssef and Francesca Zampollo, provided an in-depth look into relevant industry trends. The specialized HoReCa range also gave buyers a unique opportunity to order not only tableware and kitchenware, but also products from the latest lifestyle collections in the Giving and Living Halls. Visitors also responded well to daily trend tours, where HoReCa specialist Pierre Nierhaus highlighted a number of new trends and design concepts from selected front-of-house exhibitors in Dining and Living.

Sustainability

Ambiente plays a pioneering role for the industry in sustainability. Once again, Ambiente’s long-standing co-operative ventures with the World Fair Trade Organization and MADE51 helped create presentations and informative events for attendees. The Ethical Style Guide, which lists environmentally and socially responsible manufacturers exhibiting at Ambiente, reflects this focus on sustainability. The 2020 Ethical Style Guide included 314 companies from 49 countries, 27% more companies than last year.

Focus on design

Ambiente also provided fresh inspiration in the design world. The new presentation “Focus on Design” highlighted products from Brazil, and Galleria 1 featured products from five Brazilian design studios: Rodrigo Almeida, Bianca Barbato, Brunno Jahara, Sérgio J. Matos and Rain. The Ambiente Trends show and the German Design Award exhibition also attracted large audiences despite the effects of the coronavirus and Storm Ciara on travel.

The next Ambiente will take place from Feb. 19-23, 2021.