Greater demand than ever for regional specialities

When shopping for food and drinks, 92 per cent of consumers in Germany prefer regional products. This was the remarkable finding of a representative study, the “Eco-barometer“ (August 2013), that was commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection.

This consumer trend is also benefiting the displays by Germany’s federal states at the International Green Week Berlin 2014. The world’s largest exhibition for agriculture, the food industry and horticulture is taking place from 17 to 26 January on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds (Berlin ExpoCenter City).



“Regional products are enjoying growing popularity and have been a major theme at the Green Week for several years. Consumers trust regional products because they know where these products come from, and how they are cultivated and produced“, explains Dr. Christian Göke, Chief Executive Officer of Messe Berlin GmbH. It is against this background that Messe Berlin has created the “Germany Tour“, comprising a series of seven interconnected halls featuring 13 displays by individual states. For the more than 400,000 visitors this is where they can find a wealth of regional specialities, foodstuffs and luxury foods and beverages from the northern coast to the Alps. “With over 500 exhibitors the Green Week features the widest range of regional specialities to be found at any trade show“, according to Göke.

By joining forces to stage their displays at the Green Week, with a programme of presentations on the stage and stand designs that emphasise their individual characteristics, this is a unique opportunity for the various federal states to promote their products. As well as regionally produced food and beverages the states are increasingly highlighting their holiday and leisure attractions in the countryside, which have become a major feature of the presentations by the federal states. Visitors to the Green Week seek out specific presentations because they have already enjoyed local specialities while on holiday there. In addition the attractive displays arouse their interest in a particular state and in the possibilities for including it in a vacation trip.

The federal states also make use of the Green Week to test the market for new products and to try out entire marketing concepts, which may also include packaging. The degree of interest shown by consumers in new products is also evident from their purchasing behaviour. Each year visitors to the Green Week spend some 45 million euros on items for personal consumption or on buying or ordering products. The presentations by the federal states also benefit from the presence of large numbers of trade visitors at the fair. It attracts some 100,000 trade visitors from all areas of agriculture and the food industry, including 7,500 representatives of the retail food trade, 9,000 from the hotel and restaurant sector and 10,000 from the food industry, who come in search of business contacts, new trading partners and suppliers.

The importance of the “regional“ trend is emphasised by a special accompanying event at the Green Week. The Regional Marketing Forum is taking place under the heading of “Added value for the land and society – regional products from the producer to the consumer“ from 12 to 5 p.m. on 21 January 2014 in the Roof Garden Foyer at the ICC Berlin. Among the subjects to be discussed at this event, which is being presented jointly by the German Farmers’ Union, the National Association of the German Retail Trade and Messe Berlin, are regional added value from the viewpoint of the producer and the retail trade, and the “Regional added value chain – producer, wholesale trade, retail food trade“.

For more information:
Wolfgang Rogall
Messe Berlin GmbH
Tel.: +49(0)30-3038-2218
Fax: +49(0)30-3038-2287
Email: rogall@messe-berlin.de