BioFach 2014: exhibitors very pleased with quality of visitors

About 42,000 trade visitors from 134 countries clearly didn’t want to miss the 25th anniversary of BioFach and the eighth edition of Vivaness. 2,235 exhibitors attended this year. Petra Wolf, a member of the management of  NürnbergMesse: “Four intense and inspiring days are now behind us that have once again confirmed that this 25th Biofach is the organic trade fair highlight as the new year gets underway.“ According to a survey carried out by an independent institute, over 93 % of  trade buyers were satisfied with their visit. About 90 % are already saying that they intend to come to this event at the beginning of 2015 that will again bring the international organic industry together. This year, the Congress attracted 6,530 attendees to 74 individual events. (Photo: Main entrance coming from the subway)

Exhibitor Heiko Grobecker from the Dutch raw materials specialist Tradin was delighted: "BioFach went splendidly for us this year. The first three days were very busy." Siegmar Schulze, Bulk Sales Manager at Bohlsener Mühle, was very pleased too: “We had productive discussions and interesting enquiries and we made very promising contacts." Maren Speckmann-Munz from Dr. Hauschka: "We were very pleased that our packaging re-launch got such a positive response. The days we spent at Vivaness were inspiring. We come to the conclusion that BioFach/Vivaness are the industry get-together.” (Picture on right: Stand of Bohlsener Mühle)

The stand team from All Organic Trading AOT had their hands full. Marketing executive Maria Holzner was thrilled by the level of interest and the many enquiries. She is expecting the fair to generate a lot of business. The management duo at Bingenheimer Saatgut AG, Petra Boie and Gebhard Rossmanith, took the opportunity of BioFach to hold a whole series of discussions with associations, other breeding initiatives and the trade, while the team sent by Bingenheimer Saatgut AG discussed the topics organic seed, CMS hybrids and organic breeding with retailers and other interested parties on the joint Demeter stand. "BioFach is for us a versatile and valuable platform," explained Petra Boie. The same kind of positive feedback came from stands in all the other halls.

(Picture gallery: New products stand, coffee stand in the specialist trade café, dessert buffet on Friday evening at BioFach)











The fact that BioFach with its huge range of supplementary offerings is far more than a typical trade fair with only exhibition halls and stands is shown by the various action areas and services, all of which were well received by attendees. They include the five Experience Worlds – special areas devoted to specific products that the fair management has been keen to increase over the last two years. The fair had already gained experience with a coffee tasting stand, the theme of cheese and olive oil tastings. This year, it gave visitors the opportunity to experience the worlds of cheese, wine, olive oil, coffee and fish and, as people taking part confirmed, this was a great success. A 36-page brochure listed all the firms whose products were there to be tasted in these Experience Worlds.
(Photo to the left: Olive oil testing section)

 “We had 400 different sorts of cheese on display, including some new products like truffle cheese,” said a happy employee of the cheese wholesaler Jürgen Würth. Many of the different sorts of cheese were cut into medium-size cubes and the plates plus product information were placed on the cheese counters and the adjacent areas so that people could experience the world of cheese. Crowds of people turned up to taste the samples. The stand staff had to quickly cut more cheese and top up the plates. “The success was sensational. We prepared a good 400 kg of cheese as samples for people to taste – we’ve never experienced that before,“ said Würth employee Mathias Langer. He said that the silent tastings proved to be a magnet that relieved the pressure on the 12 m long counter. The World of Cheese covered 350 m². "Many trade visitors came especially from Wednesday to Friday, which meant a lot of discussions and enquiries,” said Langer. (Photo: Cheese section) 

On the theme of fish, Naturland supplied information in the form of brochures and a stand to advise visitors. The catering company Bankett in Fulda (it belongs to Tegut) provided the tasty samples. There was a show cooker for frying salmon, dorade, trout, herring, tuna and also algae. “Each day, we prepared 800-900 portions that sold in no time,” was Bankett cook Fabius Busch’s estimate. “We presented a great offer based round information,” added Stefan Holler, who was in charge of the stand for Naturland. They also put on two daily events, each with a lecture and a panel discussion, and about ten tables set out for the audience to sit and listen.
(Photo to the left: organic Restaurant from Naturland)

 “An excellent initiative on the part of the trade fair,” was the commonly held view of owners and employees of specialist wholefood stores when the specialist trade venue in Hall 9 was mentioned. The chairs round the tables in the café were usually all taken, and at lunch time there was a run on the meals. On the menu were pumpkin-ginger soup, salads, open sandwiches plus many other tasty titbits. The products for the meals and the drinks were sponsored by a large number of wholefood manufacturers such as Minderleinsmühle, Upländer Bauernmolkerei, Voelkel, Öma, Bohlsener Mühle, Söbbeke, Lammsbräu, Bioverde and Andechser. The specialist trade venue – much more widely known than in previous years -  was for many retailers a place for meeting other people, either planned or unplanned. Other places to meet were the restaurant areas of the associations Bioland and Naturland, where lots of people came together, and the Italian restaurant Bio.it. (Photo to the right: Café for German retailers)

What the specialist trade venue is for retailers, the party held on Friday evening each year is for exhibitors – an event that attracts around 1,000 people. Two bands performed this year, entertaining with enjoyable and not too loud music. A splendid buffet, set up at three points in the three storey function room in NCC West, offered a great spread of vegan, vegetarian and meat dishes to choose from. (Photo: Buffet at the party)

The Bio-Job Exchange of Kugler & Rosenberger was held this year under the motto “Generation Future”. Manuela Zauner from the management consultants estimated the number of visitors who called in for information during the four days of the fair at 1,500 – 2,000 predominantly young people. Compared with last year, a much bigger area was provided for a stage, tables and chairs, and people could order snacks and drinks at a counter. Zauner explained that while mainly people with an academic background were looking for jobs, the industry offered mostly jobs in the retail trade. A new idea at the fair: two PC terminals with internet connection where jobseekers could look through the Job Exchange of Kugler & Rosenberger for suitable opportunities.
(Photo right side: Job Exchange discussion)

The new "organic" design of the 25th BioFach was conspicuous at the entrances to the Exhibition Centre, the entrances to the halls and on huge banners. A facelift, you could call it, expressing colourful design and diversity. The technical term for this is Voronoi Diagram. It goes back to the Ukrainian mathematician Georgi Feodosjewitsch Voronoi, who lived at the end of the 19th century and discovered the algorithms behind the structures of leaves and cells. Polygons in the Voronoi configuration, that were already known, were precisely described in a publication in 1908, the year of his death.

In 2015, when Netherlands will be the “Country of the Year”, BioFach will be held from 11–14 February. The motto could be “BioFach –  the Experience Fair” for the biggest marketplace worldwide for organic products.  (Picture on left: Voronoi diagram at the opening event)

Tip: www.biofach.de