LivingKitchen Cologne 2015, the full spectrum of the kitchen world

It’s just this market structure that the international kitchen event LivingKitchen will be delivering in Cologne this coming January: As well as large producers, the trade fair will also present a number of smaller companies, many of which are foreign, that will bring more life to the fair and make it a considerably more attractive prospect for visitors.

Exhibitors and visitors alike are already hotly anticipating the coming LivingKitchen fair, which will once again be a successful mix of product shows and events. The most important German and international companies from the kitchen furniture, appliances and accessories industries will be there.

However, ultimately it is not just the big companies that will set the trends and create a furore: Smaller companies and specialist manufacturers are characterised by the creation of many new developments and in particular by being brave enough to stray from the beaten track. There are lots of smaller and less well-known companies – many of them from abroad – that have registered for LivingKitchen that have attracted attention in the past thanks to an interesting product portfolio, or that have the potential to do so in the future. They are the kind of companies that really make the market ‘colourful’, says Eike Fuchs, LivingKitchen Project Manager.

It’s exactly these manufacturers that LivingKitchen seeks to offer the right platform to do big business with an international clientele alongside the big players. These include, for example, German companies like the manufacturer Paxmann and the design studio Walter Wendel and the companies Spekva from Denmark and Jokodomus from Italy. We decided on LivingKitchen as a landmark trade fair for the kitchen industry in order to secure more contacts throughout Europe and internationally. We are looking for trade contacts and also interior designers and architects – we’ll meet all of these in Cologne, explains Josi Kosta, CEO of Jokodomus. LivingKitchen is good both for maintaining existing contacts and getting to know potential new business partners. Many of these new partnerships develop organically when people see our products with their unique designs at the stand and experience the product quality for themselves.

There are also many interesting accessories companies floating around the market, pursuing similar goals to Jokodomus – namely to secure international contacts at LivingKitchen. As well as Lithuanian kitchen sink manufacturer Aquasanita, there are producers like Concept Swiss from Lucerne in Switzerland, which offers a wide range of products from sinks to vents, materials specialist Polyston from Slovakia, Idealstones from Poland, with worktops and sinks made from quartz, or fittings supplier Insinkerator from England. Johannes Artmayr, CEO of Strasser Steine from Austria, gets straight to the point: We have an extraordinary, aesthetically new natural stone product in our range – and we want to present it for the first time to a wide audience. That’s why we chose LivingKitchen. We believe that with this product we will be one of the highlights of the fair and we expect to attract a corresponding amount of attention over the course of the trade fair.

It’s a similar story with electronic appliance providers. As well as Bosch, Siemens and Miele etc. there are many other manufacturers providing high-quality appliances. For example: the Italians from Irinox with high-end freezers and wine cooling cabinets, Clarice from Brazil with gas cookers and ovens, and Akpo from Poland with extractor hoods and induction hobs. The main purpose of our participation in the exhibition is to commemorate Galvamet celebrating 40 years of business in the field of cooker hoods in
2014 by presenting three new models to be added to our brand collection. We think that Germany is a growing market and the fair, being on an international level, will give us the opportunity to show our products to the world. We expect a lot from this exhibition. We will be presenting something new with a very attractive and Italian-style design – we believe that the new products will be excellent ambassadors for our company, says Mrs Stefania Marinello, Sales Executive at Galvamet, Italy.

The appliance manufacturers U-Line from the USA, Antonio Meireles from Portugal and last but not least PITT cooking have also decided to participate in LivingKitchen. General Director Maikel Bink sums up their motivation for taking part: We are a young and rapidly growing company from the Netherlands. We are specialized in gas hobs that can be directly integrated into a countertop. Our main ambition is to offer anyone, from amateur chefs to professionals, a carefree and perfect cooking experience combined with an exclusive kitchen design. We exhibit at LivingKitchen 2015 because we cannot wait to show our cooking system to the rest of the world. Our goal is to inform the visitors about the possibilities of our products, and to learn from other people’s feedback. As well as this we of course would like to increase awareness of our brand and convince every visitor that PITT cooking is the new way of cooking.

Internationalisation
For 90 years, Koelnmesse has been bringing people and markets together. The success story of Cologne trade fairs began in 1924 with the opening of the first event on the exhibition grounds in Cologne-Deutz. During the "economic miracle" of the post-World War II era, the Rheinische Messe became a global trading center. Today Koelnmesse has the world@¬#s fifth-largest exhibition complex and organizes approximately 75 trade fairs in Cologne and all over the world. During its anniversary year of 2014, Koelnmesse is bringing its history to the public’s attention through numerous activities, publications, and exhibitions.

Continuing internationalisation is a key factor for the future success of Koelnmesse. This includes organising international trade fairs, like the CIKB – the China International Kitchen and Bathroom Expo. The CIKB is being positioned as the new, all-encompassing kitchen event in China. Koelnmesse organises the event together with the China National Hardware Association.

As well as presenting kitchen furniture, the CIKB is a showcase for kitchen devices, sinks, fittings, worktops, lighting solutions, accessories and other components. The fair takes place for the second time from 5- 7 November 2014 in the Shanghai World Expo Centre.

The next trade fair duo Imm Cologne/ LivingKitchen will take place from 19 – 25 January 2015

* For further information:  www.livingkitchen-cologne.com