There are new developments at BIOFACH, World Leading Lrade Trade Fair for Organic Food. In July 2023, Steffen Waris took on the role of Exhibition Director for the trade fair, reinforcing the team led by Danila Brunner, Executive Director Exhibitions. Brunner will continue to have overall responsibility for the combined BIOFACH and VIVANESS trade fair.

Steffen Waris has wide-ranging experience in trade fair and event management. For more than a decade, he held various roles at Mineralientage Munchen (the trade fair for minerals, fossils, gemstones, and jewellery in Munich). These included positions in marketing, leading the technical services, and event management. He will now give BIOFACH the benefit of his extensive expertise.

“After a brief excursion into the logistics segment, I am very pleased to be finally breathing in the trade fair atmosphere again. Bringing people together and helping them to network is what drives me. I also live and love team spirit, which is why the close contact to our customers, exhibitors, visitors, and media representatives is so hugely important to me,” says Waris.

“In Steffen Waris we have gained an experienced trade fair expert,” explains Brunner. “I am looking forward to working with him and our entire team as we continue to successfully develop BIOFACH and VIVANESS and create inspiring experiences for our customers.”

Waris made a conscious decision in favour of BIOFACH and the organic food sector. Not only does it match his personal values and expectations; it also aligns with his professional objectives. “BIOFACH offers an incredibly fascinating environment. The segment is facing some challenges due to both market forces and political decisions, and there is a lot of movement within it. It is an honour to be part of such an exciting and dynamic sector!”

BIOFACH and VIVANESS returned to their February slot with an impressive first in-person show following the one-off Summer Edition in 2022. During the four-day event from 14 to 17 February 2023, they attracted almost 36,000 trade visitors from 135 countries. ‘Strong’ and ‘confident’ describe the start to the year’s international events for the organic foodstuffs and natural and organic personal care sector. The focus was on variety, networking and professional interaction, and the highly topical Congress theme of “Organic. Food Sovereignty. True Prices”. The organic sector and the combined trade fair event proved crisis-resistant, as they demonstrated with revenues of €15.3 billion for the German organic market in 2022 (BÖLW) and €125 billion globally in 2021 (IFOAM/FiBL), in addition to an impressive total of 2,765 exhibitors from 95 countries at BIOFACH and VIVANESS 2023.

Tina Andres, Chair of the Bund Ökologische Lebensmittelwirtschaft (German Federation of the Organic Food Industry, BÖLW): “We are caught between a paradigm shift and a polycrisis, and we need to provide the right answers now to deal with the crises affecting energy, the climate and biodiversity. Organics offers direct, functional and trailblazing answers to achieve a social and environmental transformation, and thus an agricultural and food industry that is suitable for the coming generations without overstretching the planet’s resources. With its slogan Paving the Path, BIOFACH is showing the way as the World’s Leading Trade Fair for Organic Food.
It sets the tone and serves as an anchor and a model for the entire sector. It is a place for innovative, committed business operators and visionaries to network, with a clear focus on ‘30 percent organic’ by 2030, and using positive, powerful examples to illustrate how we can shape the future differently.”

Petra Wolf, Member of the Executive Board, NürnbergMesse: “BIOFACH and VIVANESS are not only back in their February slot but also impressively demonstrated their role as an international sector gathering and a launch pad for the year’s activities during the past four days. The industry players here in Nuremberg showed themselves to be full of strength and strategies for the future. The positive atmosphere that was palpable in the exhibition halls was deeply moving and filled me with joy at a personal level. It is remarkable how rich, inspiring, solution-focused and forward-looking this sector is. Organic is the future!”

BIOFACH and VIVANESS Congress: Organic. Food Sovereignty. True Prices

The BIOFACH and VIVANESS Congress, with a total of 120 professionally polished individual sessions and high-calibre participants, attracted almost 8,000 delegates and once again proved to be a forward-looking forum for the sector. In addition to the keynote theme of “Organic. Food Sovereignty. True Prices”, with up to 125 interested listeners and participants in the individual sessions, the focus was also on questions of current market developments and trends, as well as the political and legal framework. The session on the international market situation, “Global Organic Market Overview”, as part of the BIOFACH Forum, drew the highest attendance in 2023 with 242 participants.

Extending the trade fair experience digitally

Around one in four of the participants in BIOFACH and VIVANESS 2023 also made use of the services offered by the digital event platform, most of them as hybrid participants. They attended in person, but also used the platform as a digital add-on before and during the combined trade fair. The Congress content will continue to be available after the event.

Save the date: BIOFACH and VIVANESS 2024, the next event in the series, will take place at the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg from 13 to 16 February 2024.

Experiencing BIOFACH and VIVANESS means benefiting from the best of two worlds. This works by creating a meaningful combination of digital opportunities and on-site trade fair activities. The global organic foodstuffs and natural and organic personal care community will hold its next gathering at the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg from 14 to 17 February 2023, when international trade visitors will be inspired by the products and services offered by an expected 2,700 exhibitors from about 100 countries. And though there is no substitute for a first-hand experience with all senses, the digital event platform has provided the ideal complement since the unique Summer Edition was held in 2022. The future of the World’s Leading Fair for Organic Food and the International Trade Fair for Natural and Organic Personal Care is hybrid. Added value: The ability to plan your trade fair visit with the aid of a floor plan and an overview of products and services; arranging appointments in-person and online; matchmaking; and the fact the Congress will be available in digital form beyond the actual event timeframe. All the content and functions of the digital event platform are available on the app in addition to the desktop version.

One in four of the more than 24,000 trade visitors who participated in the unique Summer Edition of BIOFACH and VIVANESS in 2022 also made use of the services offered by the digital event platform, most of them as hybrid participants. They attended in person, but used the platform as a digital add-on before, during and after the event.

How to take advantage of the benefits the platform offers for BIOFACH and VIVANESS 2023, and what highlights there are to look forward to: These questions were put to Dominik Dietz, the BIOFACH and VIVANESS team member responsible for the digital platform.

Briefly, what are the key added values offered by the digital event platform?

With the digital event platform, we offer the organic food and natural and organic personal care community the full package, in other words, an all-in-one service covering all aspects of BIOFACH and VIVANESS – from preparation to on-site use, follow-up and access to congress presentations after the event. That means a wide range of functions from exhibitor and product searches to appointment and agenda scheduling, and many opportunities to interact – digitally, in person and in hybrid form! The right feature is therefore available to suit every requirement at the right time, either during the trade fair or at the preparation stage – all in an intuitive, state- of-the-art platform solution, including the app!

Will there be new developments in 2023 – upgrades or special features?

In collaboration with our partner talque, we are constantly working on both upgrading and creating new features in order to drive forward the fusion of in-person (i.e. on-site) and digital added value. For 2023, exhibitors, visitors and media contacts will be able to enjoy improvements in usability, such as a revised chat design and design improvements in the area of personal participant profiles. As a further “special”, the mobile app will have a BIOFACH/VIVANESS design in 2023.

Not to be missed: What do I need to know and take into account beforehand in order to get the most out of my attendance or visit to the trade fair?

The important thing is to take time to prepare and maintain your profile, both the company profile for exhibitors and your personal participant profile in general. A detailed, perfect “fit” in the product search process is a key factor for success in ensuring people can find you. This can be boosted further by adding additional product profiles. Carefully maintaining your personal matchmaking details is also an important element in finding the right suggestions and best matches when you are looking for contacts. Recommendation: Keep your profile and choice of search and offer criteria up to date at all times so you can continue finding new matches.

Over a four-day period from 26–29 July 2022, all the passion of the international organic community was on display in Nuremberg. BIOFACH, the World’s Leading Fair for Organic Food, and VIVANESS, the International Trade Fair for Natural and Organic Personal Care, celebrated their comeback with a one-off ‘summer edition’. The more than 24,000 trade visitors from 137 countries were absolutely delighted to be reunited. Relishing the opportunity for personal exchanges, networking and in-depth discussions of topical issues, they discovered innovations and trends and enjoyed the multi-sensory experience of a diverse range of products from the 2,276 exhibitors from 94 countries.

Petra Wolf, member of the management board at NürnbergMesse says: “The organic food and natural and organic cosmetics sector got back down to business in Nuremberg for its highly international community gathering, and we’d like to say a big thank-you for what was a massive response! The mood in the halls was impressive. Everywhere you could hear people saying how glad they were to finally see one another again and be back in Nuremberg. Exhibitors and visitors alike emphasised the unique trade fair experience on site.”

The event offered numerous highlights including the Agriculture Forum in the congress, the dedicated display area “Unpackaged”, and the Workshop Area at VIVANESS, all of which made their debut in 2022. From the beginning, however, the major issues of our times like climate protection, sustainability and global food security were also a key theme.
“Again and again, participants emphasised the immense value of the personal encounters, but also the in-depth professional discussions, for highlighting the solutions offered by the organic system, especially in the current global circumstances. We are absolutely delighted that the sector has been discussing these very issues, both on-site and online, and helping to shape the future, from this venue at our one-off summer edition!” Wolf continues.

BIOFACH and VIVANESS Congress explored the issues of the day – live and on demand

The 123 technically informed sessions led by high-calibre presenters made the BIOFACH and VIVANESS Congress a cutting-edge forum for the sector. Alongside the main theme “Organic.Climate.Resilience”, the 2022 round of the congress explored issues relating to current market developments and trends as well as political and legislative frameworks.

Congress theme for BIOFACH 2023 already decided

As the World Agriculture Report states: “We need an agro-ecological evolution of agriculture, food production and consumption.” The BIOFACH Congress 2023 therefore aims to put the spotlight on the relationship between the organic system as the agriculture of the future, transformation, global crisis management and food security, including true cost. The ways in which the organic system contributes to more sustainable agricultural, social and nutritional choices will be identified, analysed and discussed. What potential does the organic system offer the planet? What global development tasks lie ahead for policymakers, the media and society, and specifically, the (organic) farming sector? Where does the organic system currently stand? From 14-17 February at BIOFACH and VIVANESS 2023, the opportunities and risks will be explored in the context of the key question: “Organic farming, climate protection and health: What’s the connection between healthy soil and healthy people?” The thematic focus of the congress will be jointly developed by IFOAM – Organics International, BÖLW (German Federation of Organic Food Producers) and BIOFACH.

Make a note of the date now: The next iteration of BIOFACH and VIVANESS will take place from 14–17 February 2023 at Exhibition Centre Nuremberg.

In 2021 BIOFACH and VIVANESS will take place as a purely digital format. The World’s Leading Trade Fair for Organic Food and the International Trade Fair for Natural and Organic Personal Care will be held as a BIOFACH / VIVANESS eSpecial. In making this decision, organiser NürnbergMesse is responding to the altered circumstances of the dynamically evolving pandemic and its effects on the global organic food and natural and organic cosmetics community. At the same time, this move will allow secure planning for the entire globally connected sector. The dates for the BIOFACH / VIVANESS 2021 eSpecial are 17-19 February.

Petra Wolf, member of the NürnbergMesse management board, had this to say: “The numerous conversations and in-depth dialogue we have had in recent weeks and months have made one thing clear to us. Within the organic food and natural and organic cosmetics sector the desire for interaction, networking and knowledge transfer with experts, and to discover trends and innovations, remains huge and unabated, especially in these exceptional times. Even in this era of coronavirus, the entire sector is absolutely determined to come together to discuss the latest issues, even if only in the digital sphere. However, in the light of the pandemic and based on our ongoing dialogue with the community and a comprehensive survey of exhibitors and visitors, we trust that our decision to host a digital event will now enable all players from the sector to plan ahead in good time. I very much regret that the physical trade fair cannot take place and stress that this decision was an extremely difficult one for all of us. However, before we all meet again on site in Nuremberg in 2022, the BIOFACH / VIVANESS eSpecial will offer an ideal platform for professional dialogue in 2021.”

Exhibitor presentations – networking – congress

The BIOFACH / VIVANESS 2021 eSpecial provides a comprehensive range of innovative options such as corporate and product presentations, discussion and dialogue formats like round tables, and other formats for networking with industry experts. Sophisticated matchmaking functions that help interested parties to find the right exhibitors and vice versa are another integral part of the eSpecial format. BIOFACH and VIVANESS 2021 also offers the organic food and natural and organic cosmetics community extensive access to knowledge transfer at the BIOFACH and VIVANESS Congress, which has a global reach. The main congress theme in 2021 will be: Shaping Transformation. Stronger. Together.