After the last two years had restricted us all significantly more than we would have liked, the year 2023 began right away with a bang. The International Green Week (IGW) opened its doors and the world came to visit Berlin, as it had for many decades before.

Of course, the Hippologica with its live horse events and a hall full of farm animals was again “part of the bag-pack” – so it was ensured that also olfactory memories were served to the central theme of agriculture.

     

Unfortunately, we did not find even this time sufficient space to devote ourselves to the total work of art of this worldwide unique event.

To be honest, this was more of an ad hoc flying visit of only a few hours on Saturday, the penultimate day of the event.

To say that the show was well attended on this day would be an understatement – we think it was rather one of the most visited days, which certainly did not speed up our round through the lovingly designed exhibition halls.

However, quite a few of the exhibitors let us know that the trade fair was also extremely well attended on the days before – i.e., within the week, this year.

It was very clear that the visitors – especially those from Berlin itself – had made it their goal to make up for the shortfall in attendance as quickly as possible.

This year, the Green Week app accompanied us on our Android smartphones (also available for IOS, of course), which made the visit much more pleasant. Besides digital hall plans, the “discover” option offered the possibility to search for events & exhibitors as well as directly for products – a real plus.

Of course, the menu item My IGM, should also be mentioned here, interested visitors can put together their personal tour with all the highlights in advance in order to create their very own trade fair experience – including an offer for souvenir selfies.

For all fans of FRUIT LOGISTICA – Messe-Berlin also offers its own app, so it’s best to download it before your visit and see what there will be to marvel at.

Of course, we rushed to the hall with the Finnish booths first – but lo and behold, there were unfortunately significantly fewer Finnish companies exhibiting in 2023. Of these, we knew only two personally, which was a pity – but the reunion was all the more cordial.

I think many exhibitors are still sparing on the right side when it comes to their trade fair activities – here they are looking closely at whether it will be the IGW, the FRUIT LOGISTICA or even the Nürnberger BIOFACH, because all three events are very close to each other in terms of date. I hope that this post-pandemic will change again quickly.

At least the Finnish company Kalaneuvos from Sastamala contributed with its truly delicious rainbow trout to revive our culinary memories of this wonderful country.

 

Of course, we also kept an eye out for new and old producers of black garlic, one of our favourite foods of recent years. Surprisingly, the IGW app told us that there was only one supplier at the fair – and unfortunately, he was only represented.

But at least Mustumami from the Estonian town of Harjumaa showed that this delicacy had now also made it to the European north in terms of production. If it offers itself, we will gladly also time a more exact view of the products of this manufacturer throws.

The fact that the legends of the Vikings have now made it into every European living room and beyond is of course also due to the well-known Netflix series, but also to the general frosty charm of the North Men, their culinary world and not least the best-known ambassador, the mead.

Here at the stand of the Swedes the company GRIMFROST leads ahead by a nose. This innovative manufacturer refines mead – the Nordic honey wine – in such an appealing way that there is something for every taste.

From honey-sweet, over fruity up to the “dry” pleasure – unfortunately we could not try all varieties on site, but perhaps this offers itself in the future for a separate contribution.

Another highlight of this year’s IGW was our visit to the booth of the coffee house Or`Doñez, this small and fine coffee manufactory and roastery refines the greatest trans-fair coffees of Colombia.

We were lucky to meet Constanza Ordoñez -Mönkehues directly on site, a very sympathetic lady with immense knowledge of the black gold.

She lets the long family tradition live – already for over 20 years she maintains the Galeria Eldorado, and this not only on the basis of the best coffee varieties, but also with products such as noblest cocoa, the whole cane sugar (panela) up to traditional arts and crafts – a well-rounded affair with style & charm under the wings of the hummingbird.

Of course, our appetites also got the better of us after being hurried past the thousands of delicacies, but sometimes also pushed past.

So, we decided to go to the hall with the food trucks. Once there, the air was filled with the most diverse culinary scents – from Indian curry, garlic and herbs from Provence to cinnamon and chocolate – our noses were literally “invaded” olfactorily. Unfortunately, so were the booths, which made it almost impossible for us to grab something tasty without a long wait.

We decided to at least have something to drink – so we chose a memory from childhood days, a real colourful Slush Puppie. Provided with the most diverse food colours, this kind of ice cream – very close to becoming liquid – is still a stimulus for our cerebral convolutions…only just millimetres away from the so-called “brain freeze” if you get too greedy. But greedy unfortunately also became the motto here, because the small cup of apple-cherry juice drink for the kids really cost 5.50 euros – a real NoGo, here it needs regulation.

A few steps further we stumbled quite by chance still on a gem from the Black Forest – Weber distillates from Achern-Mösbach – Frank Weber, his sign the owner of this small and fine distillery drew us with his sympathetic nature and fresh vacation tan formally to him at the stand.

With his Black Forest understatement, he led us from aromatic liqueurs to fine fruit brandies to his excellent GIN variations.

His refreshing “performance” combined with the wonderful products made all the difference here for us.

We would have loved to try more here, but the kids wanted to move on – too bad, because especially the Black Cherry GIN limited edition and a handful of liqueurs would have certainly still ended in a revelation…but let’s see if Weber distillates perhaps paired with Weber’s farm luck as a total package would not also be a good candidate for a separate post.

Towards the end of the hall, we found an affordable snack at a friendly butcher – baguettes with mince and ham at “honest prices”, which gave us back a bit of faith in humanity and the trade fair business.

Last but not least, we met one of the highlights of this year’s IGW with Petit Coin de France and the founder and soul of this meat-affine manufactory Gildas Voland.

The Berlin-based company knows how to get the best out of the sausage and natural states – there I praise myself the possibility of my Berlin sausage humidor in the future to fill with these top products.

The delicacies acquired at the fair are now already nearing the end, so that perhaps soon a visit to Gildas would be an idea – although orders there quite professionally online are also possible.

But to really understand the hams, salamis pâtés and spreads, it is certainly worth writing a separate article here – as soon as time is available.

All in all, our ad hoc visit to IGW 2023 was an unintentionally educational experience. In 2024, we will certainly avoid visiting on the weekend. Even if it is necessary to keep at least one weekday free, this will certainly be much more relaxed in the result than this year.

But this time, of course, it was all up to us and the lack of time as well as the spontaneous decision – that’s just how it is sometimes. Nevertheless, I hope to have given you with my report a small impression, but above all also hints to one or the other exhibitor, because of which this fair is still one of our favourite events, because the sum of the enthusiastic exhibitors makes here the soul of the event!

If everything falls into place, we will be there again next year and in addition to the actual fair, as in 2020, try to visit the accompanying events to capture the spirit of the International Green Week for you – until then all the best and our best culinary greetings to you!

uns und der fehlenden Zeit sowie der spontanen Entscheidung – so ist das halt manchmal. Dennoch hoffe ich Euch mit meinem Bericht einen kleinen Eindruck, vor allem aber auch Hinweise auf den einen oder anderen Austeller gegeben zu haben, wegen denen diese Messe noch immer zu den von uns besuchten Lieblings-Events zählt, denn die Summe der enthusiastischen Aussteller macht hier die Seele der Veranstaltung aus!