Top decision-making competence of the visitors underlines the significance of the international trading platform Kind + Jugend and sets a clear business signal

High number of foreign visitors, dynamic business, satisfied exhibitors: Kind + Jugend from 8 to 10 September 2022 was a successful trade fair experience in all respects. With an impressive number of around 500 exhibitors from 38 countries, from top players through to newcomers, the trade fair offered a comprehensive overview of the industry again this year. Around 10,000 trade visitors from 103 countries attended, 75 percent of whom came from abroad. They showed a high interest in new and existing products from all exhibition segments and ensured good order books and high hopes for a good post-fair business.

"This on-site edition of Kind + Jugend with such high-quality encounters, has impressively demonstrated that the industry and trade need and intensively use the marketing tool, trade fairs, more than ever," commented Oliver Frese, Chief Operating Officer of Koelnmesse GmbH. "The first event after the RE-START edition has already accentuated this. This was an important step in returning to the old strength of Kind + Jugend," Frese added.

Alongside the excellent visitor numbers, the trade fair's international attendance was particularly impressive – over 75 percent of the visitors came from abroad. The majority of the visitors travelled to the trade fair from all countries of Europe. A high number of buyers from Turkey also attended Kind + Jugend in Cologne. Furthermore, a large number of visitors attended from North America and Australia, as well as from the Near and Middle East, particularly from Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Many visitors also travelled to Cologne from Korea, India and Japan as well as from other Asiatic countries. 

The exhibitors unanimously praised the high degree of decision-making competence of the visitors. They came from the international wholesale and retail trade, from the online trade, from drugstores and furniture stores, from purchasing associations as well as from the import trade. 

This year, the exhibitors came from all areas of the baby and toddler outfitting sector and included products from the segments of strollers, child seats and carriers, children’s furniture and room furnishings, safety and monitoring, fashion and streetwear for babies and pregnant mothers, toys for kids and, of course, care and nutrition. 85 percent of the exhibitors came from abroad.

Along with numerous leading manufacturers and brands, many small and medium-sized suppliers as well as young companies and start-ups were represented at Kind + Jugend. The majority of the exhibitors came from European countries and Turkey. However, companies from China, India, Israel, Canada, Korea, Pakistan, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore and the USA were also represented at this year's trade fair. 

The industry is expecting stable turnovers in spite of the partly challenging framework conditions. For example, the birth rates rose in Germany again recently. Parents and grandparents haven't shown any buying restraint yet when it comes down to purchasing items for the tiny tots, according to the German Association of the Toy Retail Trade (BVS). However, themes like sustainability are increasingly occupying both the manufacturers and the trade, because parents are enquiring about and demanding these more and more. Many companies thus offer products from regrowing raw materials or which originate from a circular economy or organic cultivation or are compensating for their carbon footprint. 

Kind + Jugend was rounded off by a focused lecture programme precisely aligned to suit the demands of the industry. The Innovation Award was presented again this year, for the first time in nine categories.