COLOGNE, Germany – With a strong performance, euvend & coffeena underlined its significance as the most important platform for business and networking within the international vending and coffee industry. 162 exhibitors from 22 countries presented the latest trends and innovations related to the themes automated sales solutions, professional coffee systems, coffee, hot and cold beverages, snacks and filling products, multi-payment solutions, cups and services.
In total, around 4,200 trade visitors from 66 countries came to Cologne from 9 to 11 May 2019. Just under 40 percent of both the exhibitors and visitors came from abroad.
“The continual growth in the number of trade visitors and exhibitors from abroad confirms the standing of euvend & coffeena as the industry’s most important business platform. We also set benchmarks in terms of the quality and diversity of the offer with regards to the current and future trends and innovations,” explained Anne Schumacher, Vice President Food and Food Technology, Koelnmesse GmbH.
The German Vending Association e.V. (BDV), industry sponsor of euvend & coffeena added: “The industry is very satisfied with this year’s event. The trade fair is an important source of inspiration for the entire vending and Office Coffee Service sector. Whether regarding vending technology or in the sections payment and sustainable cup solutions, the new and innovative ideas and concepts will contribute positively towards the development of the sector,” explained Karl-Heinz Blum, spokesman of the BDV board.
euvend & coffeena convinced with its wide range of themes. From the view of the exhibitors, above all the good quality of the visitors was of central importance for the success of the trade fair. It was reported that not only the contacts were high-quality, but for some of the exhibitors they also led to contracts being transacted.
According to an independent survey, just under 82 percent of the exhibitors were satisfied with the order business already transacted. Around 80 percent would recommend a partner company to participate at euvend & coffeena. Robert Ropel, Plant Manager of the new exhibitor, Pear Group GmbH & Co KG (brand representative of the energy drink CARABAO) said: “euvend & coffeena enabled CARABAO to reach a new target group.” Hassan Nagi, Business Development Payment at Feig Electronic GmbH added: “The trade fair was fabulous. We will be back next time. The strategic realignment is a clever move.”
In terms of the number of visitors, at around 40 percent (plus three percent compared to 2017) above all significant growth was recorded from abroad. An increased number of visitors was particularly registered here from the Netherlands, the Ukraine, Hungary, Spain and Poland. But interested parties from China, Chile, Israel, Japan and South Africa were also recorded in Cologne. Big buyers such as Autobahn Tank & Rast, Compass Group, Deutsche Post, Dorint, Eurest, Eurowings, Fraport, Geile, Lekkerland, Real, Rewe, Selecta, Sodexo and Volkswagen attended the trade fair. From the growth market Office Coffee Service, euvend & coffeena welcomed visitors from companies like Coffee at Work, Coffee Perfect, Kaffee Partner and Seeberger.
Trends and themes
The theme Office Coffee Service was one of the strongest themes at this year’s trade fair. Under the keyword New York and the related changing worlds of work and the creation of collaborative working areas, providing the employees and customers with refreshments plays an ever increasingly important role. This current trend could be directly experienced in the “Office Coworking Lab” special zone. In the payment section, which according to industry representatives was represented in its entirety at the trade fair, digital solutions like contact-free payment per girocard or per smartphone play a central role.
Further important themes included healthy filling products and sustainable cup solutions ranging from reusable concepts through to 100 percent recyclable material. Machine-based kiosk solutions (micromarkets) were also more strongly represented at euvend & coffeena this year. These are shop systems, where the goods are not offered in vending machines, but in “normal” shelves and refrigerators. Payment is effected by automated cash register systems. In this way, euvend & coffeena addresses the current unattended retail trend.
The conference programme “Visions of Vending – the future of vending” additionally picked up on these trend themes. Industry experts provided answers to important questions on the themes New Work, new retail and market developments abroad taking China as the example.
Vending Star 2019
Since 2007, Koelnmesse as the organiser and the German Vending Association (BDV) as the industry sponsor of the trade fair have been conferring the Vending Star to the industry’s best innovations. This year’s award ceremony was held during the euvend & coffeena Night. The winners are:
- Technical Device: SandenVendo German Branch of Sanden International (Europe) Ltd – G SNACK EVOLUTION
- Aids for optimising the operation of vending machines: Huhtamaki Foodservice Germany Sales GmbH & Co. KG – Future Smart Cups
- Concept: Card4Vend GmbH – Card4Vend TOPP
- Innovative Vending Product: Heil- & Mineralbrunnen Johann Spielmann GmbH – Landpark Bio-Quelle Naturell/Lemon in the 0.5 litre sustainable Tetra Pak
New potential in the trade fair year 2020
Koelnmesse and the German Vending Association e.V. (BDV) as the industry sponsor of the trade fair, have decided to stage euvend & coffeena every two years parallel to ORGATEC as an independent trade fair. In this way, euvend & coffeena is enhancing its strategic alignment and will in future become the leading international trade fair for vending and Office Coffee Service. This will enable the existing strengths of the trade fair to be enhanced by further potential in the section Office Project Business and additional target groups.
The next euvend & coffeena is scheduled to take place in Cologne from 29 to 31 October 2020.
