What the exhibitors say…
Show Review Ambiente 2016
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Appetite for Ambiente A positive mood, plenty of orders, clear trends – think eco and health – and lots of product innovation, especially in the categories of bakeware and beverage appliances, were the results of this year’s fantastic Frankfurt fair
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mbiente, the world’s leading trade fair for the consumer-goods industry, opened its doors on February 12 on both a positive economic and retail note. “Frankfurt in February is where the trends are set for the international consumer-goods industry over the coming year. An impressive demonstration of this is to be seen in the good propensity to order and the high standard of German and international buyers. The economic signs are set to go,” said Braun Deflauf, member of the board of management, Messe Frankfurt, as the doors to the fiveday event opened. The proof of course was very much in the proverbial pudding, with the current positive economic signs and positive vibe in retail reflected in the very upbeat mood and subsequent orders at the fair. “The general mood in retail is good and the trade fair went well for us ,” says Markus H. Kepka, managing director of German premium cookware brand Fissler.
Confirming this, Bernd Ehrengart, managing partner of German housewares brand Lambert, says the “mood in the sector is very good and this was reflected by a great willingness to purchase, resulting in very full order books for us”. CEO of Zak Designs, Uwe Jahn, concurs, saying he is “pleased with the results and noticed a good prevailing mood among visitors” while managing director of Wusthof Dreizackwerk, Harald Wusthof, says he felt “the number of visitors to our stand was good to very good and the mood and receptiveness of the visitors was also very good”. The number of visitors was up on last year – 137,000 buyers, up 2,500 on last year – with “large parts of the German and European retail trade attending Ambiente 2016”, says Thomas Grothkopp, director general, German Association Tableware, Housewares and Home Accessories. “Ambiente was very wellattended – I would say much better than last year.”
And for the first time ever, the proportion of visitors from outside Germany accounted for 55 per cent of the total, up two per cent from last year with visitors hailing from 143 different countries. But it wasn’t just about the numbers but the quality. “It’s vital that all ‘opinion leaders’ – buyers from big trading companies – are present… and this was the case up to and including the highest managerial levels,” says Uwe of Zak Designs. Visitors were described, without exception, as being receptive with the show delivering “a high level of satisfaction – 96 per cent, a level of visitor satisfaction that is higher than the previous year”, says Thomas of the German Association for Tableware and Housewares. And many exhibitors felt visitors were highly interested in concepts, in particular, a sign that retailers and buyers are interested in reaching new target markets. “Ambiente is still the platform and the industry’s leading trade fair but the focus is no longer exclusively on new products;
For our brand, Asia continues to be the biggest growth market and we meet many of our customers at Ambiente. US buyers are somewhat restrained but that is not unusual in an election year. Positive signs are coming from Iran following the end of trade restrictions. The mood and receptiveness of the visitors was good. Harald Wusthof, managing director, Wusthof Dreizackwerk KG
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The fair has been a complete success for us and we were able to welcome significantly more visitors to our stand than in 2015. The new Eva Solo collection was well-received by all. Christian Daugbjerg, sales manager, Eva Solo
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The industry had forecast signs of recovery and at Ambiente we also felt that the general economic situation is improving. The show was well-attended and we had positive feedback from customers. There was great interest in our innovative coating systems and especially the five new non-stick coating technologies for bakeware, cookware and small electrics that we introduced. Laura Scanzi, marketing manager, Whitford
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What the retailer says… “I’ve been attending Ambiente for 30 years and this year I spent a day longer there than usual and it was certainly worth it. There are so many suppliers who launch at Frankfurt and there is product on show there that you just don’t ever see in the UK, at British shows. Juicing is really big now and baking products and accessories are getting more and more elaborate every year. There were some lovely new knife ranges from Lion Sabatier and Le Creuset launched new cookware and stoneware items, which we loved.” Gary Gordon, owner Kitchen Kapers, chain of four specialist cookshops in UK 86 TABLEWARE INTERNATIONAL