ISM

Update for the Event

ISM 2023 will be held between 23.04.2023 and 25.04.2023. Messe Cologne will not feature Covid-19 safety measures. Germany does not have travel restrictions.

Introduction

Founded in 1971, ISM is one of the leading trade fairs for the sweets and snacks sector of the F&B industry. It is an annual event that presents confectionery, sweets, and snacks innovations. It is held in Messe Cologne alongside ProSweets Cologne. This allows participants to access new markets, earn recognition and network. This results in over 39,000 participants from over 140 countries attending the event. The group includes more than 37,000 visitors. 70% of them represent a foreign country. 93% are involved in purchasing and procurement decisions, and 79% have executive positions. The attendant group also features around 1,800 exhibitors. 87.5% of them travel from abroad. Additionally, more than 600 journalists from 27 countries visit the fair. Participants represent countries such as the USA, France, Argentina, Egypt, Japan, and Australia. They vary from manufacturers through suppliers to distributors. This includes wholesalers, importers, exporters, purchasers, trade chains, department stores, and hypermarkets. Food services, pastry shops, cafés, bakeries, confectioneries, and retailers also attend. So do online food retailers, vending machine operators and nutrition scientists. Food chemists and sweets/snack producers likewise visit ISM.

About ISM

ISM receives participants from industries such as F&B, food processing, packaging, and wholesale. Additionally, the retail, import & export, nutrition, health, distribution and HoReCa sectors attend the trade fair. So do the vending machine, chemical, and agriculture industries.

ISM is a trade fair with a comprehensive support schedule. For instance, one of its showstoppers is the detailed exhibition. It features seven exhibitor sections. These include chocolate, sugar confectionery, biscuits, snack foods, trend & natural snacks, breakfast snacks, and ice cream. Another must-attend sub-event is the Finest Creation-Hand-Crafted. The ISM Expert Stage, ISM Award, Trend [email protected], Halal Market, and Sweet Kitchen should not be disregarded. This also applies to the New Product Showcase, ISM Start-up Area, and ISM Newcomer Area. The Cologne Coffee Forum and the Sweet Traditions Special Show are also must-attends.

Participants include a diverse range of leading exhibitor companies. Among them are Kaufland, Kroger, Metro, Coop, Whole Foods and Edeka. Aldi, Carrefour, Amazon, Walgreens, Costco, Roshen, Spar, Billa AG, Sainsbury, DM partners, Mercadona, REWE and Toms Confectionery also attend.

ISM Accommodation

Seek hotels for ISM before all the good deals are taken and land your dream price with Travel 2 Fairs Ltd. Tell us how many rooms you need, how much you are willing to spend, and where you want to be located. Travel 2 Fairs Ltd manages the rest. Book hotels close to Messe Cologne and gain valuable access to public transport. We advise you on the best routes to take to the venue. Asides from affordable hotel accommodation for exhibitions, we also provide transport services. One way to travel to your hotel is to have a rent-a-car wait for you at the airport. Another is to schedule an airport transfer in both directions.

Due to the corona pandemic (COVID-19), trade fair and event information may be obsolete. You can get more information from the organiser.

Past Editions

2022

ISM and ProSweets 2022 took place as hybrid events between 30.01.2022–02.02.2022. The events comprised a live exhibition hosted at Messe Cologne and a digital platform – ISM & [email protected] The renditions' live aspect featured the latest Covid-19 safety precautions. Attendees were required to show documents such as proof of recovery certificates. They also had to maintain a safe distance of 1.5 metres. The events received around 15,000 trade visitors from 96 countries, with 78% of them being foreign participants. Among the attending countries were Russia, the USA, Belgium, Turkey, France, Great Britain, and the Netherlands.