With 7,000 trade visitors and 434 exhibitors, the 24,000 square metres of the Karlsruhe exhibition centre focused on the asparagus and berry cultivation and the direct marketing of agricultural products on the 16th and 17th November 2016. Schumacher emphasises: "the trade fair has broken all previous records and has once again established itself as Europe's leading trade fair for asparagus and berry production".
Positive reports from exhibitors
"The exhibitors especially appreciated a positive mood at the fair and reported great new contacts, high quality talks and successful business deals," Schumacher summarised his conversations with the exhibitors. The high level of satisfaction also depended on the willingness of the visitors to invest: according to a survey, the turnover or order volume of the visitors averaged 24,300 euros. 82 percent of the interviewees felt that it was quite possible to buy, to order, or to sign a deal at the fair. Among the 434 exhibitors - with a total of around 260 different product categories - 82 new exhibitors were presented this year. A total of 345 companies exhibited at expoSE and 89 at expoDirekt. The trade fair is becoming more and more important internationally, and in 2016, 92 exhibitors came from abroad. A total of 14 nations were represented.
High expectations of visitors fully met
More than 90 percent said that the visit to the trade fair was worth their time and that they would recommend the trade fair to colleagues or business partners. Just as many were "repeat offenders", that is, they had attended expoSE and expoDirekt before. The main reasons given for visiting the trade fair were for news and information about certain products, general market orientation and also to make and maintain contacts.
The combination of the production and marketing fair is perfect for asparagus and berry cultivation: operators, who often manage sales, and production managers who are mostly responsible for production can come together to discuss investment. November is the ideal time before the new season. The long journey to Karlsruhe was also worth it for around 1,200 international producers and marketers, mainly from Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria and France.
Next year, expoSE and expoDirekt will take place on the 22nd and 23rd of November in the exhibition centre in Karlsruhe.
For more information: www.expo-se.de.