With the topic of climate change, the topic of BIO has also gained a lot of momentum again in recent months. More and more consumers worldwide are attaching importance to the fact that their food has been produced biologically harmless and as climate neutral as possible.

Reason enough for me to take the time to get an idea of the topic BIO nowadays. So, I made my way to Nürnberg and visited BIOFACH for the first time. My expectations were high and what can I say, the fair was bigger than my expectations.

Shortly before I left for BIOFACH 2020 in Berlin, I accredited myself online. I have to admit that I have rarely been able to use such a professionally designed online accreditation process as the one provided by Messe Nürnberg. Even before my train left, I had already received my positive accreditation confirmation in the form of an e-mail.

I wasn’t on site for the entire duration of the fair, only on the first two days, because the WEINmesse berlin 2020 was taking place in Berlin at the same time, which of course I didn’t want to miss. Spring is always very busy when it comes to trade fairs – after the Internorga in Hamburg, the trade fair marathon ends in mid-March – unless the fair is cancelled because of the current Corona (Covid-19) issues.

Also, at BIOFACH Corona (Covid-19) was already a topic – so every ticket had a little smiley graphic on it, asking you not to shake hands with your counterpart this time, but to “give him a smile”.

At all entrances and toilet areas there were touchless disinfectant dispensers for exhibitors and visitors, and in some areas one can find posters with corresponding instructions. All in all, a very good and above all very well communicated campaign.

In order to inform myself in advance about topics, lectures and exhibitors, I used the performant and very clearly arranged BIOFACH 2020 web presence. As I had already registered in the accreditation process, I was able to save my favourites in a watch list with note function while browsing. According to information on the website, this should also be an advantage for the seamless use of BIOFACH 2020 app.

Shortly after I boarded the train towards Nürnberg, I installed the app and logged in with my BIOFACH user account. The app has a handful of useful functions to help visitors and exhibitors plan their visit to the fair. Here is a short overview of the BIOFACH App 2020.

First and foremost, the integrated plan of the exhibition halls, right on the start page of the app. For me, this is the most important feature, because this way I could always find the fastest route to the next exhibitor on my list – or the nearest exit. At the same time, this is also the list of exhibitors and products with search function. Due to the large number of exhibitors, this view on a smartphone is only suitable for browsing to a limited extent. Here you should know in advance who you are looking for, so that the hall and booth are displayed together with their position on the hall map. It was great that you could search and find exhibitors in the app to make an appointment with them directly.

The start page of the app also had a watch list, so that you could make a “battle plan” in advance or in time, or add a note to exhibitors who you had already visited. I found it a great pity that the watch list, which was already created on the PC in advance, did not work with the app when I synchronized it. So, the invested preparatory work had been going aside.

Also, right on the start page there was – a programme overview for all planned lectures and events, a direct access to product innovations with an interactive view of the hall and booth number when selecting a product, as well as a favourites function with a note option for the app watch list.

The last item on the start page was the Carfinder – with this it is possible to find your car with notes, a map (satellite map) and photos – of course only if you unfortunately have not arrived by public transport!

All other functions of the BIOFACH App could be reached via the burger menu in the upper left corner. From there you can always return to the start page. In addition, you will also find all the functions mentioned above.

In addition, there are the points speakers, travel information, after-work tips on restaurants, bars & nightlife in Nürnberg, social media, contact information, FAQs (on tickets, vouchers and services for people with a handicap and more) and of course the imprint as well as the offered privacy policy.

Except for a few “hangs” of the app, the fact that search results on IOS and Android sometimes differ for the same search item and the fact that the watch lists were not synchronized correctly, I found the app very refreshing. Of course, I would also like to mention that the trade fair companion printed on eco-paper was also a great service – but I still preferred the app.

When the BIOFACH App 2020 was launched, there was always a splash screen with the motto “What’s your eco?” and the associated question “What are you doing for a sustainable future?” The creators of BIOFACH thus put the most important aspect of the entire event in a nutshell – only if all of us, i.e. each and every one of us, does something for a sustainable future can it become something at all!

I think an APP of this kind would also be good for trade fairs in Berlin – but given the size of the Messe Berlin exhibition grounds, ideally with a GPS-supported location finder. That way, the experience of visiting the International Green Week, FRUIT LOGISTICA or WEINmesse berlin could be optimised even further and be even more up-to-date.

Every trade fair it thrives on the exhibitors as well as from the visitors – at BIOFACH it was clear to me from the opening event that this is really what it’s all about.

Unfortunately, at the beginning it was the same as at the International Green Week or FRUIT LOGISTICA – they started an unspeakable aria of greetings for the ministers, members of the Bundestag, political dignitaries and even some state secretaries who attended. I would like to make a clear exception to the figureheads of the associations, who prove every day that for them it is all about the cause.

Basically, it is the merit of the organisers that BIOFACH has been such a success for such a long time – not the merit of the civil servants. For me, these are just normal trade fair visitors – basically people who are paid by the taxpayer to guarantee the best possible conditions for such a trade fair, from professional backgrounds so to speak.

Under no circumstances should such events offer a platform on which state or national civil servants distinguish themselves or are courted in such a way. The seats in the front rows should have been better reserved for deserving organic activists and volunteers – this would have given the “political forces” the opportunity to mingle with the people.

The situation is quite different with the outgoing mayor, Dr. Ulrich Maly – he has rendered outstanding services to the trade fair since the first BIOFACH and has done so out of dedication, not political calculation. I found his speech really refreshing. It was clearly noticeable that all the constraints that other politicians impose on themselves on such occasions had been taken from him – so it was a pleasure to listen to him.

Also the discussion rounds similar part with the chairman of the BÖLW (Federal ecological food economy), Felix Prinz zu Löwenstein and five further interlocutors was something different. In between the speeches a handful of musicians called “a cappella group” scattered their songs – strangely enough accompanied by a guitar – but still quite OK.

For me, and certainly for many others, the most interesting part of the opening ceremony came with the keynote – this year, this part was performed by primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall. I grew up with the documentaries about her work and was looking forward to hearing what she had to say on the subject.

I was not disappointed here. Dr. Goodall spoke very empathetically, comprehensibly and authentically. You could clearly see how much she was on the topic. She was amazed that “man, as the most intelligent being on earth, is behaving so unintelligently” and “we send robots to Mars but have forgotten that this blue-green planet is the only one we can exist on”. She’s absolutely right, but for many decision makers, the proverbial “shirt” seems to be closer than the future of their grandchildren. I hope that the approximately 1000 visitors to the opening event have taken this speech to heart.

BIOFACH is the world’s largest trade fair for the organic sector and with 47,000 trade visitors and 3,792 exhibitors from 110 countries this year it is already a real “heavyweight” in the trade fair business. This year a whole 10,000 visitors attended the congress.

In my opinion, the decisive factor for the trade fair was all the extremely good-humoured people – one liked to walk through the halls, could talk to anyone – without hectic, without jostling – even when it was full, the atmosphere was much more balanced than at other trade fairs of this size.

I found it nice that the Nürnberg Trade Fair offered a relaxed event with its blogger breakfast, so that people like me could exchange ideas with like-minded people in a relaxed atmosphere. The whole thing took place in one of the restaurants – here they had set up a small but nice organic buffet where the bloggers could refresh themselves before they went straight from there to the Blogger Congress.

It was a pity that only beauty bloggers were there – those who visited VIVANESS – it would have been nice to meet food bloggers too. For me this time the BIOFACH side and the culinary part of it were in the foreground – at VIVANESS only cucumber masks would have been of interest, which you could have eaten after the application…

In general, I found BIOFACH really refreshing – of course there were a few things that didn’t run optimally (shuttle service, press cloakroom, sync of the web app) but all in all it was a really fabulous event.

In contrast to the International Green Week in Berlin, at BIOFACH you could certainly taste more than 90% of the products – free of charge. Not that the visitors wanted to fill their stomachs – everything was relaxed here. Whether it was the super tasty steaks at BIOPark Markt GmbH, the fresh truffle ham and Parmesan cheese at the Italians – the new black organic garlic at NERO Fermento from Italy or the many delicious ice cream varieties at JYMY from Finland.

You could try everything, because the manufacturers wanted to know exactly what each individual really thought of their products – the man and woman from the street, so to speak, and the trade visitors are ultimately only consumers.

Of course, in addition to the conventional trade fair catering in the hall crossings there were also booths that were charging for their services – but this was rightly punished by not paying attention to them – after all, this is not the Green Week, where it seems to be part of good manners to charge several euros for a small piece of smoked ham.

One of the main reasons for my detour to Nürnberg was of course that I was able to meet some exhibitors with whom I had worked a lot digitally, but whom I had not met live before. For example, Stephano from NERO Fermento, Natividad Vaquero Cabello de Alba from La Abuela Carmen or Horst Neumann from JYMY in Finland – what an ice cream!

I had already met Francisco Giménez from Amefruits and their black garlic, or Lorenz Hartmann de Barros with his new papaya innovation – the SAMBA – from HLB Tropical Food GmbH at FRUIT LOGISTICA 2020 in Berlin – here I had also allowed myself a little technical excursion and had a look at the sorting machines from TOMRA.

Since there was so much more to see at BIOFACH 2020 than you can even grasp in such a short time – and I hadn’t even been to the halls of VIVANESS – I decided to “ship” most of the flying visits for you into one contribution to BIOFACH 2020 instead of writing individual contributions.

Only at BIOPark Markt GmbH, NERO Fermento, jams Gummies from Vavesaaren Tila, JYMY ice cream from Finland and the “BIO veteran” LaSelva from Tuscany were the discussions long enough to gain deeper insights, so that there are a handful of individual reports.

Of course, the other exhibitors and their products were also very interesting, but the time to get to know them was simply too short. Maybe I will get in contact with one or the other of them to see if it would be a good idea to write a single article about their products afterwards. But now I have to “work through” my BackLog which has been built up in the last two months due to the many fair visits.

At this point I would like to thank the Messe Nürnberg for the invitation to BIOFACH. I think the exhibition team has done a brilliant job and I felt very comfortable in Nürnberg. Thanks also to Stadtlandbio, the evening event had been lovingly planned – it is a pity that so many guests simply did not show up – a sacrilege.

I wish you, as always, much pleasure with the contributions.