ISM and the co-located supplier fair ProSweets Cologne are under starter’s orders and will open their doors on 30 January 2022. A few weeks before the opening of the fair, with current registration figures of around 1,200 exhibitors from over 60 countries, the leading trade fair for sweets and snacks is looking optimistically ahead to the upcoming 2022 event. With around 230 exhibitors, ProSweets Cologne also boasts a very good booking situation. In total, the trade fair duo will cover exhibition space spanning 139,000 square metres.
Furthermore, 26 country pavilions have registered from over 20 countries. Most of which boast stand sizes that are comparable to the previous years. Registrations from many start-ups and newcomers also underline how important ISM is for the sweets and snacks market. We are also noting a positive development on the buyer side too after receiving many registrations from important trade buyers including Aldi, Catz BV, Edeka, Galeria Markthalle, Gebr. Heinemann, Hagen Grote, Kaufland, Metro, REWE, Spar and Suntjen.
“With the support of the national and international exhibitors, our long-standing partner associations and important buyers, we are offering an excellent starting point for the re-start of both trade fairs. After a two-year break, it is important that in the scope of ISM we finally offer our exhibiting companies a global platform again so they can present their new products and important future trends. Beyond this, we also know from discussions with significant industry representatives that getting together face-to-face is essential for the business of the participating companies,” explained Gerald Böse, President and Chief Executive Officer of Koelnmesse GmbH.
Important exhibitors and the industry sponsors of the trade fair are also showing great commitment to ISM: In their capacity as a business meeting point, trend or innovation platform, both trade fairs have key importance for the sweets and snacks industry particularly in these ongoing challenging times. In addition, the new hybrid format with the new digital platform, ISM & ProSweets @home, particularly offers those industry players, who are not able to attend the trade fairs live, the opportunity to come into contact with business partners, discover new products and engage in intensive networking.
The long-standing exhibitor Lambertz is also looking forward to the trade fair in 2022. “ISM is the largest and most important sweets trade fair in the world. It offers the ideal forum to present product ranges, concepts and philosophies on the product world of sweets to distributors from all over the globe. Beyond this it is a platform for encounters between manufacturers, distributors, agencies and consultants of the sweets industry. Nothing can replace this personal exchange of experiences and it is something that simply can’t be reproduced virtually. At the start of next year I think it is going to be particularly important to set the signal that a normal business life based on face-to-face encounters can and has to take place again. We can rest assured that Koelnmesse will take all necessary precautions so that ISM can be staged in a Corona-conform way,” explained Dr. Hermann Bühlbecker, sole shareholder of the Lambertz group.
With its tried and trusted safety and hygiene concept, #B-SAFE4business, ISM, ensures the highest degree of safety and grants access to people, who have been vaccinated against, recovered from or who have tested negative for COVID-19. Moreover, with its new hall layout, which among others includes wider aisles of at least 5 metres, ISM will have no problem making sure the minimum distances are observed at all times.
