Kind und Jugend at the heart of the Industry

Talking exclusively with Ni, Markus Oster, Vice President of Business Unit Communications, Art and Fashion, Koelnmesse GmbH tells us what to expect from this year's show...

Published: 28 August, 2009

When was Kind and Jugend established?

Koelnmesse conducted its first trade fair for the baby and toddler outfitting sector in 1960. The event was called, simply enough, "baby". At that first event, which took place from 7th to 10th January 1960, a total of 50 exhibitors presented prams, 27 showed buggies and 52 suppliers exhibited babies' and children's fashion at the event. The event's gross exhibition space was approximately 17,000 m². Since then, the trade fair has developed in a very positive fashion and has been complemented with further segments.

How many halls are there and what can we expect to see in each?

In addition to the four hall levels occupied at previous events, this year Kind + Jugend will also take place in Hall 11.3 for the first time. With this step we are enlarging the gross exhibition space to about 100,000 m². By once again expanding the fair's capacity, we have responded to the constantly growing demand generated by Kind + Jugend. This is enabling us to achieve an even better segmentation and to dedicate a spacious area in Hall 11.3 to the growth segment of toys for the zero to 4-year-old age group. More than 200 companies will be presenting their new products in this segment. Among these exhibitors will be renowned manufacturers including Mattel, Chicco, Tomy, RC2, Haba, Vulli and Kids II. Vtech meanwhile, will be taking part for the first time at Kind + Jugend. In the other four hall levels we've also created a clearer structure that minimises the distances visitors have to walk to find the products they are looking for. Children's furniture and textiles are to be found in Hall 10.1; prams, safety seats and accessories in Halls 10.2 and 11.1; and nursery products and electrical appliances on Level 11.2. The range of products in

Hall 11.3 is rounded off by fashions for babies and toddlers as well as maternity wear.

What types of retailer visit and from where in the world?

Last year about 17,000 visitors came to Kind + Jugend to experience the exhibitors' products, including over 13,000 from abroad who travelled to Cologne specifically for the trade fair. They come from all areas of the baby and toddler outfitting sector. Representatives from baby outfitting specialist stores and specialist retailers, for instance, meet buyers from department stores and representatives from the wholesale trade or furniture stores. The trade fair also attracts decision-makers from purchasing associations located in Germany and abroad, as well as buyers from crèches and kindergartens. As you can see, Kind + Jugend provides a complete overview of the sector.

What do you have to offer our UK nursery retailers?

This year we will have a UK pavilion for the first time, where many British companies will exhibit their products. The group includes numerous new companies that are bringing their design-oriented products to Cologne for the first time. This enables the visitors to evaluate the broad product range of the British companies from the baby and toddler outfitting sector on a continuous area in Hall 10.1. And with its 800 exhibitors, Kind + Jugend also offers a comprehensive range of products exhibited by companies from more than 40 countries. In Cologne you therefore gain an overview of the entire baby and toddler outfitting sector in Europe and overseas. And Cologne is only a little over an hour from London by air, which means that even a day trip is sufficient to allow you to supplement your product offerings with interesting products from the worldwide sector and engage in talks with manufacturers from around the world.

Can we look forward to any exciting product launches?

As is true every year, many exhibitors will once again be using Kind + Jugend to present their new products on the market. And when it comes to making exciting discoveries, once again there will be a special platform: the Kind + Jugend Innovation Award, which will be presented this September for the fifth time. Almost 170 companies have already entered their new products in the award competition. This shows how important it is for them to present their new products in Cologne. The best new products will then be honoured at the trade fair with the Kind + Jugend Innovation Award and exhibited at the Innovation Area in Hall 11.3. To ensure better comparability of the products in the individual categories, we have modified the award selection process somewhat and restructured the product groups. This means that the awards will be presented in eight categories this year.

Do you have any other awards/events taking place?

Safety continues to be one of the most important topics, especially when it comes to children's everyday lives. In cooperation with a new partner, we have responded to this concern by organizing the "Children's Congress", which will debut during Kind + Jugend in Cologne on 17th and 18th September 2009. The motto of the congress is: "Traffic safety is quality of life - Children's paths in the city".

How is the baby products market coping in the current economic climate?

All in all, the mood in the sector is positive. Family life is very highly valued, so the public will invest in it even in a difficult economy. We can see this in the baby and toddler outfitting sector, which currently ranges from stable to displaying an upward trend. Even though the fashion sector, for example, has been subject to considerable fluctuations and the predicted increase of turnover currently is only about one per cent, the baby and toddler outfitting sector is proving to be an exception to this trend. Each newborn baby contributes to the turnover, and the sector is recording an increase of three per cent. This is surely also because children are deciding what they want to wear at increasingly younger ages than in the past, and they favour expensive brand products. In general, you can say that the sector's end consumers put a high value on quality. Consumers are clearly willing to spend money on high-quality products, and it is such products in particular that are the sector's "crisis-resistant" goods. As you can see, these are good conditions for a successful Kind + Jugend 2009.

What do you hope to achieve from this year's show?

Particularly in these uncertain times, we believe it is important for Kind + Jugend to generate positive momentum for its sector. One very encouraging signal before the fair even begins is the fact that 220 new exhibitors will take part in Kind + Jugend for the first time. This indicates that participation in Kind + Jugend and visiting the trade fair - especially now - is considered a "must" in the sector.

All photos are included courtesy of Koelnmesse

Tel: +49 180 511 7017

Web: www.kindundjugend.com

Email: info@koelnmesse.co.uk