After a two-year break, ISM 2022 is back with 1,085 exhibiting companies from 56 countries. The world’s leading trade fair for sweets and snacks will present the entire product range – from chocolate, confectionery and biscuits through to snacks, trend snacks and natural snacks, ice cream, frozen sweets as well as breakfast snacks – on around 90,000 square metres of exhibition space at the Cologne fair grounds. With 213 exhibitors, ProSweets Cologne, the international supplier fair for the sweets and snacks industry, is once again being staged parallel to ISM. Together both trade fairs cover the entire value chain in the production of sweets and snacks, a unique constellation worldwide.
“After a two-year break due to the pandemic, we are delighted that so many of our clients have decided to participate at the trade fair in spite of these challenging times. Meeting up face-to-face with important trade buyers as well as winning over new customers is indispensable for our exhibiting companies. This is precisely what we consider our task to be, offering support in the form of corresponding formats and especially by staging ISM now bringing important markets as well as the supply and demand together,” explained Gerald Böse, President and Chief Executive Officer of Koelnmesse GmbH.
Traditionally, both market leaders as well as medium-sized and smaller companies participate at ISM. With a foreign share of exhibitors of 87 percent, the leading global trade fair for sweets and snacks is maintaining a stable, international level. The foreign participations with the highest number of exhibitors come from Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Turkey and the USA. We are also noting a positive development on the buyer side after receiving a high number of registrations from important trade buyers, above all from Europe. Hardly any international buyers, for example from the Asiatic region, are awaited at ISM this year.
ISM will once again offer diversified product segments this year and will pick up on the industry’s current trends. Alongside the traditional product groups, such as sweets and snack items ranging from chocolate products and confectionery through to ice cream, the industry’s leading trade fair will also be presenting segments that focus on the themes snacking, to-go items, breakfast as well as gourmet products.
As a conceptual innovation there is going to be a specialised trade section focusing on the small volume business with sweets and snacks for the first time at ISM 2022, which is entitled “Finest Creations – hand-crafted”. This exhibition section unites craft businesses, whose visitor target group comprises of confectioners, cake shops and specialised sweet shops. The new exhibition section will be located in Hall 5.2.
ISM with a hybrid concept
The leading global trade fair for sweets and snacks is treading new paths for the first time with its hybrid concept for the trade fair, which foresees the physical trade fair on-site in Cologne being additionally enhanced by the digital format, ISM & ProSweets @home. In addition to the Showrooms of the exhibiting companies, the digital counterpart to the exhibition stand, there are for instance target group-specific specialised stages such as the Expert Stage, which will provide valuable information and analyses on industry developments as well as interesting start-up pitches or panel discussions. The trade fair participants can engage in extensive networking opportunities on various specialist areas and fields of interest per audio, video or chat communication options. Beyond this, the digital platform offers a host of new opportunities for increasing one’s international reach and participation models for the generation of leads and networking. The platform is available to the exhibitors and visitors from 01.-02.02.2022. All programme items will also be subsequently available on demand up until 30 April 2022.
New products and trends
Product innovations and trends are as always a central theme of ISM. In addition to a diversified event programme on the Expert Stage in Hall 5.2, the New Product Showcase on the Boulevard is the central port of call for innovations and a major attraction for all participating trade visitors. What’s more, in the Start-up Area around 18 companies, which were founded no longer than five years ago, will present their ideas and concepts in the Trend Court in Hall 5.2. Also the new products tool on the ISM website is already offering initial interesting insights into the new products of the exhibiting companies. In the scope of the future congress “#CONNECT2030 in transition”, together with ProSweets Cologne, ISM is placing its focus on the future of the sweets and snacks industry. The congress addresses suppliers, manufacturers and the trade in equal measures. The centre of attention lies on themes like saving resources, CO2 reduction, zero food waste and the effects of the climate change on the availability of raw materials.
Award-winning moments
The highlights of ISM include the presentation of the ISM Award for exceptional services within the sweets and snacks industry as well as the selection of the winners of the New Product Showcase on 30 January 2022.
