Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Under new management, Feria Mueble & Madera in Bogotá successfully confirmed its position as the largest and most important trade fair for industrial wood processing, furniture production and interior design in Colombia, Central America and the Andes region. The new organiser alliance comprising of the Colombian trade fair organisation, Corferias, and Koelnmesse set a new quality standard in Latin America in terms of its organisation and level of internationality. From March 6 to 9, 2018. 192 exhibitors from 16 countries presented numerous new products, industry trends and innovations to 13.437 trade visitors on exhibition space covering 15,000 m2. Doubling the international participation up to 92 exhibitors shows that the new partnership for companies from abroad offers an interesting trade and communication platform. “The growing level of internationality of Feria Mueble & Madera confirms the importance of Colombia as an important centre for the development of new business potential. With its global know-how and industry competence for companies of the furniture supplier and wood processing industries, Koelnmesse is an important pioneer and partner for the entry into promising regional target markets,” explained Gerald Böse, President and Chief Executive Officer of Koelnmesse GmbH. The trade fair optimally brings regional demand and competence together with a global offer and international industry know-how. Andrés López Valderrama, Chairman of Corferias also emphasised the success and the future orientation of the event: “With the valuable support of Interzum, the world’s leading trade fair for furniture production and interior design, organized by Koelnmesse, we are convinced that we will be able to transform the Feria Tecnológica e Industrial del Mueble y la Madera in the HUB of the sector in the region, strengthening the offer of the productive chain and making available to the professional visitors a strengthened platform, with the best alternative solutions for the industry, being an ideal scenario to achieve business agreements in two ways.”
In his speech during the opening ceremony of the event, Daniel Arango Ángel, Colombia’s Deputy Minister for Business Development at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry & Tourism, emphasised the influence of the trade fair on the regional development of the wood industry and the sustainable economic development. „We are very pleased with the work that Corferias and Koelnmesse have done to provide a high-profile scenario like this, such an ideal platform to strengthen the growth and expansion of the sector.” “The furniture and wood industry makes a big contribution to the national economy and is of fundamental significance for the employement and regional development of this country.” At the same time he emphasised the keen interest of Colombia in international know-how, solutions for sustainable wood production, the digitalisation of furniture production as well as the central location of the country aa an ideal starting point for market entry. “The big Latin American companies see Colombia as a potential supplier; we also have a strategic geographical location, which facilitates the access to the most important sales markets for timber products.”
International field of exhibitors
192 companies, 100 of which were national and 92 of whom came from abroad, took part in the Feria Mueble & Madera, from 16 countries in total and presented their products and services to the trade audience. With a direct international participation of 48%, the fair impressively demonstrated the growing economic relevance and attractiveness of Colombia’s market and the Andes region, above all for international companies. Top companies such as Blum, Häfele, Makita, Jowat, Lamitech, Rehau, SIGE, Swiss Krono and Vauth-Sagel were represented with their own stands. Numerous exhibitors emphasised the central significance of Mueble & Madera for the region, because it covers the entire value chain of the wood processing sector through to furniture production. On the first day already, both national and international exhibitors reported that they had sold wood processing machinery and furniture supply products. They also reported promising contacts as well as high-quality trade visitors. “We are surprised because the visitors who came to examine our products are decision-makers. We sold the exhibited machine on the second day of the fair and have at least 30 leads. Even if these lead to only one or two contracts that would bring us millions in revenue,” commented Heinz Marx, Managing Director of INTECFOR Germany GmbH & Co. KG. Furthermore, many top industry brands such as Alpi, Biesse, Cefla, Homag, Holzmann, Salice and SCM were represented via their national representatives. “For us the trade fair for wood and furniture is a benchmark for the industry. It unites all sgements of the wood industry at one location,” is how Bruno Catapano, Marketing Manager at Madecentro, summed the fair up.
The strongest non-Colombian participating countries came from Brazil, China, Germany, Italy and Turkey. Furthermore, the Feria Mueble & Madera registered exhibitors from Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, Austria, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain, Taiwan and the USA. And the seven international country pavilions from Brazil, China, Germany, Italy, Spain, Turkey and the USA, two of which were represented at the Feria Mueble & Madera for the first time, underlined the growing internationality of the event and Koelnmesse’s contribution in this section. Numerous associations and group organisers contributed towards the success of the international participations. For example, the German Pavilion, which was applied for by the Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA) and sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), offered eleven renowned German companies an ideal presentation platform. The Spanish Pavilion was organised by the ASOCIACIÓN DE FABRICANTES ESPAÑOLAS DE MAQUINARIA PARA LA MADERA (AFEMMA). The American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) was responsible for the US participation, there was also an Italian and a Turkish Pavilion.
The visual appearance of the trade fair that reached a new international level with this edition was also praised. The quality of the stands and the machines and live presentations of the companies convinced the international trade audience. The exhibitors emphasised that their commitment in the course of their trade fair participation had paid off in many ways. International exhibitors who had participated at the Feria Mueble & Madera for the first time were impressed by the high-quality of the trade fair. Among others they accentuated the stand construction and high visitor quality. “This is a very important platform and the visitors are very qualified. This year we can see that the quality of the stands had improved and that the event was better organised. We will, of course, take part in the next edition, in order to further expand our business,” stressed Holger Munhoz-Millenet, Sales Manager at Vauth-Sagel Systemtechnik GmbH & Co. KG.
In total 13,437 trade visitors informed themselves about new products and developments. Numerous experts from the industrial wood processing and woodworking sections as well as from the furniture production segment were represented, together with architects, industrial designers and decision-makers from national and regional trade organisations. “We had many visitors from Ecuador, Guatemala, Peru and Venezuela – countries that we are represented in. Attracting a broader public guarantees us being able to achieve good sales results and more awareness for our brand in Colombia and the Andes region,” is how Adolfo Aristizábal, General Manager von Aristizábal y Jinete, summed the event up. Furthermore ten visitor delegations from Brazil, Chile, China, Germany, Ecuador, Italy, Austria, Spain, Turkey, the USA gained an overview of what the trade fair had to offer.
Event and congress programme
As the first visible sign, the comprehensive event and congress programme of the Feria Mueble & Madera 2018 additionally impressively demonstrated the connection to the global leading trade fair interzum. In line with the claim of interzum, the Feria Mueble & Madera was the central, regional knowledge-transform platform for both the exhibitors and visitors this year. The Global Forest and Trade Network of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the Federación Argentina de la Industria Maderera y Afines (FAIMA) as well as the Federación Nacional de Industriales de la Madera (FEDEMADERAS) were responsible for the concept and presentation of the high-quality and future-looking programme. Many interested parties took advantage of the access to the latest market trends and developments on themes such as sustainability, digitalisation, the export of processed wood, import of machines and trends in furniture and interior design. These characterised the Feria Mueble & Madera in all sections. Exhibitors also presented numerous new products to the trade audience in sessions in the “Speakers Corner”.
Feria Mueble & Madera – inspired by interzum
The Feria Mueble & Madera also bears the addendum “inspired by interzum” and in terms of its concept will in the future also profit more strongly from its connection to the global leading fair interzum. The event is part of the global competence portfolio of Koelnmesse, which among others focuses on the furniture supplier and wood processing industries. The portfolio includes, among others, the leading international trade fair interzum in Cologne, as well as other regional industry platforms in Germany, China, and now with Feria Mueble & Madera in Colombia.
15th Feria Mueble & Madera in May 2020
The next Feria Mueble & Madera is scheduled to take place in Bogotá from 26 to 29 May 2020. With the changed schedule from March to May, Koelnmesse and Corferias are reacting to the feedback of the industry. The new date fits in ideally with their production and sales cycles. At the same time Feria Mueble & Madera will be held in alternation with the global leading fair interzum and offers global operating companies ideal opportunities to be represented at the most important industry platforms worldwide in different regions.
