Messe Frankfurt says the show, along with Christmasworld and Creativeworld, is growing both qualitatively and quantitatively ahead of the 2024 events.
Julia Uherek and Philipp Ferger, vice presidents consumer goods fairs, at Messe Frankfurt recently hosted a press conference about next year’s trade fair trio. While the consumer goods industry worldwide is facing a variety of challenges, the pair said that the global trade fair business is back in full swing.
Philipp commented: “The mood on the international trade fair stage is good. We are growing both qualitatively and quantitatively; in terms of area, we are expanding by three new hall levels. And we are creating more space for our exhibitors’ presentations, as we are condensing the space in the halls and additionally placing the supporting programme items in the foyers.”
The HoReCan Academy, for example, is moving from Hall 11 to the foyer of the same hall in order to generate more exhibition space.
Growth areas of the Ambiente Dining and Working will also be expanded, as well as the Global Sourcing sector, where the Table segment and Office and Stationery will grow.
Returning exhibitor numbers are strong. Phillip continued: “The registration level is excellent for all three fairs – we are already overbooked in terms of space.”
The big players are back at Ambiente Dining, with brands such as Rosenthal, Royal Tableware and Villeroy & Boch signed up for the event. Ambiente Living will again welcome George Jensen, Blomus, Bloomingwille, Broste Copenhagen, IB Laursen and more.
A diverse programme is planned throughout the fair, as well as the continuation of five academies with speakers and industry insight for each target group.
Julia explained: “For 2024, we are planning a new structure for our supporting programme: We are introducing monothematic theme days to better pick up and serve the streams of visitors we know.”
All award ceremonies will take place on Friday – Awards Day; The Saturday will be Designer Day; Sunday’s focus will be trade; And Monday will be Hotelier’s Day. Julia continued: “To this end we are planning an exciting project: Jozef Youssef, the award-winning celebrity chef and creative force behind the design studio Kitchen Theory, will conduct a survey exclusively for Ambiente and share his results live with the industry on this day.”
Ambiente 2024 will kick off with another highlight: “We can already reveal this much: The designer Elena Salmistraro (pictured) from Milan is the ‘Ambiente Designer 2024’,” says Julia. “With ‘The Lounge’ she designs a special presentation in Galleria 1 that creates a thematic interface between interior design and HoReCa. We are delighted to be joining forces with her to kick off 2024.”
The event is the beginning of an ongoing project where each year, Ambiente will select an up and coming designer with an exclusively designed presentation. Long term, it is planned to build up a designer community.
Elena commented: “I am very pleased to be taking part in Ambiente in Frankfurt for the first time and to be designing the exciting project ‘The Lounge’. I have chosen a theme that offers an innovative perspective, not through a formally strict approach, but with a light-hearted look at contemporary design and a focus on the pursuit of happiness.”
The meta topics of sustainability, new work and digitalisation run as a recurrent theme in 2024. The topic of sustainability is being continuously promoted. The Ethical Style programme of the three fairs identifies exhibitors with ecologically and socially produced products. Companies can apply until 24 November, and an international jury will review and curate the entries.
Julia said: “New is that we will present the jury’s selection centred on two larger Ethical Style Spots on the grounds. The spots each bundle products from the three fairs and put them in the limelight. We want to raise awareness of the important, future-oriented topic of sustainability.”
