ISM opens its doors with a host of global confectionery sector launches
This year’s combined ISM and ProSweets events have opened with a broad array of new and expanded product ranges on show, reports Neill Barston.
The event, which has been delayed from its traditional January position to be staged between 23-25 April at Koelnmesse, in Cologne, Germany, due to concerns over inflation and energy crisis, opened on a positive, with companies keen to display their latest core portfolios across the condensed three-day format of the show.
Among its highlights were trends presentations from Euromonitor and Innova market insights on some of the key issues facing manufacturers in the sector, as the industry continues to grapple with a number of supply chain challenges.
As previously reported, ProSweets features in a compact format, with businesses located within the boulevard halls ISM, which many visitors noted had helped create a sense of there being a greater level of dynamism to the event.
Speaking to Confectionery Production on the event, Matthew Stephenson, director of UK confectionery business Sweetdreams explained that the business was visiting rather than exhibiting, and believed there were some strong innovations on show.
He said: “I think the show is better this year – it’s smaller than it has previously been with less exhibitors, but it’s more focused, which means there is more space for those that are here.
“We are not exhibiting here for the first time in many years, which is because our export strategy isn’t really about the EU, it’s about a more global approach, which we took forward with being at Gulfood recently. But my first impressions of ISM are that it’s going to be a good show for everyone,” explained the director of the business, which has just extended its confectionery portfolio with a new premium brand, Gozo, through a sourcing partnership with Luker Chocolate.
See our further coverage of the event this week, including a full show in our upcoming June edition of the magazine