A trade fair does good! Successful RE-START EDITION of Kind + Jugend 2021

Handle and try things out: industry uses the opportunity for personal encounters

Good visitor turnout from the DACH region and European neighbours

Digital platform Kind+Jugend @home still open until the end of October

A trade fair does good! That was the unanimous summary of the RE-START EDITION of Kind + Jugend from 9 to 11 September 2021. Over a period of three days, around 150 providers presented a select spectrum of baby and toddler outfitting. For the first time since the trade fair-free drought due to the pandemic, the trade public could once again gather first-hand information to their hearts' content, handle, test and evaluate products and, most importantly, speak to manufacturers directly about business and place orders. Around 2,000 visitors from the wholesale, retail and online trade, more than half of them from abroad, did not pass up on this chance. They came for the most part from the DACH region and neighbouring European countries. "The successful re-start of Kind + Jugend 2021 confirms how important it was that the trade fair take place this year. The industry had been missing the personal contact and the exchange, and this year's trade fair provided central impulses here. These are also very good omens in favour of Kind + Jugend 2022", is how Oliver Frese, Chief Operating Officer of Koelnmesse, summarises the three days of the trade fair. Koelnmesse realised a hybrid trade fair concept for the first time with Kind + Jugend 2021. "It was possible to very successfully supplement the physical trade fair with the digital format Kind + Jugend @home from the start, This offers a lot more potential for the future", according to Frese.

"We were able to see our customers, and not only virtually, but also physically“, is how Patrick Osann, Managing Director of Osann GmbH, described the course of the trade fair. "We are therefore completely satisfied with the good response of visitors from German-speaking Europe and from other European countries. Most importantly, the quality of the visitors was good across the board. This re-start was important for the industry, but also for us as a company." 

Paul Rosenquist, Trade Show & Event Manager at Thule AB, adds: "For us as a company, this Kind + Jugend was an excellent possibility to present ourselves clearly visibly. We wanted to meet our customers and are now pleased about a surprisingly good trade fair with really good contacts. It was important to encounter one another again personally. The re-start was important for us as a company, but surely also for the trade fair." 

Nele Burmeister from Lässig GmbH also expressed herself positively: "The trade fair went even considerably better than expected. Many of our customers were on site and very happy to be able to evaluate our products and inform themselves personally. This is why it was very important for us to exhibit here."

The exhibitors confirmed unanimously that the quality of the trade visitors was very high. Many reported orders, while others were anticipating good follow-up business after the trade fair. In the informal trade fair atmosphere, especially smaller companies were able to draw attention to themselves and were correspondingly pleased about the increased attention of the trade. Interest in new products was great here. Sustainable materials and concepts were also very popular. 

Michael Stahl, Export Manager of Sterntaler GmbH, emphasised how important Kind + Jugend is to the company, which has participated regularly for many decades. "This year too, we received good feedback about our assortment, including from non-European participants", according to Stahl. With a view to 2022, he is looking forward to even more exhibitors and customers, because "this trade fair is the most important international platform".

Stan Gardin, Export Manager at Nuby, is also hoping for more participation in the coming year. "Our stand was approximately a quarter of our usual size at Kind + Jugend. And that in any case really paid off for us", according to Gardin. The company, which has already been exhibiting for 20 years at the trade fair, was also able to welcome customers from Tunisia, Jordan, Poland and Bulgaria, among other countries. 

First-time exhibitor Asa Selection GmbH, which presented dishes and accessories suitable for children, also felt themselves at home in the Kind + Jugend environment and can see itself as an exhibitor at the trade fair in future.

"The re-start of Kind + Jugend was an important impetus for the entire industry", noted Gosia Sokolawska from the Polish company Little Lights (LLMNF Krzysztof Stefaniak), and added: "I am already looking forward to next year.“

Supplementing the physical trade fair, Kind + Jugend also took place digitally for the first time. The platform Kind + Jugend @home presents all exhibiting companies with their products, as well as the informative event program and offers countless networking options. Kind + Jugend @home will remain accessible until the end of October 2021. Tickets can still be purchased.

Dates of Kind + Jugend 2022
Next year, Kind + Jugend will take place from 8 to 10 September 2022.

Kind + Jugend 2021 in figures:
149 companies from 24 countries took part in Kind + Jugend 2021, 85 percent of which were from abroad. These included 22 exhibitors from Germany without any additionally represented companies, as well as 127 exhibitors from abroad. Including estimates for the last day of the trade fair, around 2,000 visitors from 59 countries attended Kind + Jugend 2021. The share of foreign trade visitors was 56 percent.*
* All figures are calculated in accordance with the guidelines of the Association for the Voluntary Control of Trade Fair and Exhibition Statistics (FKM). (www.fkm.de).

https://www.kindundjugend.de