ISM/ProSweets Cologne 2024 – THE trade fair for the confectionery and snack industry

This year’s ISM/ProSweets took place in Cologne from January 28 to 31, 2024, bringing together everyone relevant in the confectionery and snack industry or wanting to achieve this status. Naturally, our agency was among the many trade visitors. In the following, we describe our impressions and the food and packaging trends that stood out at the trade fair. But first some general information about ISM/ProSweets.

ISM/ProSweets 2024 in facts and figures

Four trade fair days, 238 exhibitors from 30 countries and over 13,000 trade visitors from around 90 countries: These figures illustrate the importance of ISM/ProSweets Cologne for the confectionery and snack industry. It is the number one meeting place for the industry.

Around 60 percent of this year’s exhibitors and trade visitors came from abroad: in particular from Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands, but also from Turkey, Kazakhstan, China, India, Egypt and Algeria.

Our basic impressions

As in previous years, ISM/ProSweets 2024 once again impressed with an enormously wide range of products. The international flair at the trade fair made it feel as if we had taken a culinary express trip around the globe. The representatives from different continents provided insights into how confectionery and snacks are understood and produced in their culture.

We were particularly impressed by the transparency regarding the type, quality and origin of the ingredients and packaging materials, the increasing focus on health aspects and the omnipresent theme of holistic sustainability, which came to the fore in many ways at the trade fair.

Trends in the confectionery and snack industry

As we were able to see and hear for ourselves at ISM/ProSweets, the current trends in the confectionery and snack industry are more varied than ever. It’s easy to get carried away with a phrase that is often used but rarely really applies: There is something for everyone. But see for yourself.

Vegetables instead of classic sweets

People are increasingly snacking in a healthier way. The vegetable-based snacks from Poshi, for example, encourage this. The brand serves the greens to go marinated and in easy-to-open pouches. The special treats from the Vegilate and Vequi brands also invite you to experience sweets and snacks in a new way. They are a kind of vegetable couverture – ground dried vegetables with a coating of cocoa butter.

Veganism and other alternatives

Vegan and other alternative sweets have been a trend for some time and are still very much in vogue. At the trade fair, we saw numerous varieties of vegan chocolate, among other things. We also came across gluten-free and sugar-free snacks – often in combination with veganism.

Vielfältige Zutaten und Geschmacksrichtungen

Long live variety! From fruit gum brand Forest Gum (great choice of name!), which contain mushrooms, to Greenfresh sweets made from sweet potato pulp and Taler potato chips with real beef jerky, there really is almost nothing that isn’t available these days.

Snacks with additives for well-being

Snacks with additives for physical and mental well-being are also on the rise. Sometimes they contain added vitamins, sometimes an extra portion of protein, sometimes collagens or probiotics. Substances from trendy plants such as guarana or mate are also found in some sweets, especially fruit gums. Energy drinks with natural ingredients are also on the rise.

Mouth-sized pieces

Snacks always have a touch of luxury about them – and hardly anyone would object to luxury. So it’s no wonder that sweets and snacks in the form of balls and other small, bite-sized pieces are all the rage.

Creative dosage forms

Manufacturers are constantly coming up with new ways of presenting food and luxury foods. Eat your Drink, for example, offers small gummy bears to replace cocktails. Some of them even contain alcohol. Cookies and bars are no longer only available with a crunchy texture, but increasingly also with a soft texture. And dates have recently been ground into powder and offered as another sugar substitute.

Crazy Marketing

Brands such as Hot Chip and Kettle Chips use unusual marketing to give their snacks that certain something. In the Hot Chip Challenge, tough lovers of hot chips compete on TikTok. Kettle Chips attracts attention with a special kind of marketing gag: The Chazz Chips with “Magic Truffles” humorously communicate on the packaging that they are only suitable for adults aged 18 and over.

Chocolate in a new format

Whether we like it or not, chocolate bars are getting smaller or thinner.

Customization option for PEZ dispensers

PEZ dispensers are legendary – and continue to evolve. It is now possible to create a customized version using an app. Instead of a popular figure, the dispenser then carries a replica of one’s own head. Funny thing!

Snacks made from waste materials

More and more start-ups from a wide range of industries are being founded with the mission of recycling waste materials. This trend can also be observed in the food sector. Uppa, for example, uses the pulp of cocoa beans for its snacks, which was previously a waste product in the production of chocolate.

Confectionery and snacks in sustainable packaging

With the snacks made from residual materials, we have already arrived at the topic of sustainability. This basically ran through all areas of ISM/ProSweets 2024. Even the trade fair stands appeared to be friends of the environment. The Katjes stand, for example, was made from recycled corrugated cardboard. Many other exhibitors used wooden tables and plants as decorations to convey the idea of sustainability and nature. We also found the protagonists of the trade fair, i.e. the confectionery and snacks, wrapped in sustainable packaging:

– Packaging made from paper or fiber-based material as an alternative to plastic
– Edible packaging/sleeves, for example made from algae
– packaging made from organic materials such as elephant, horse or cow dung, grown mushrooms or microbial cellulose
– Packaging made from waste materials such as eggshells

Other design trends for treats

Manufacturers of sweets and snacks are increasingly opting for striking packaging designs. This is primarily expressed in bright, gaudy colors and bold lettering.

In addition, some brands are daring to step out of the usual product categories and present their treats in a slightly different way. A good example of this is Bernard’s pizza-shaped chocolate. And you don’t see chocolates in tins every day either.

Conclusion

Our visit to ISM/ProSweet Cologne 2024 showed us the enormous variety of international trends in the sweets and snacks industry. We saw creative treats of all kinds in modern, colorful packaging. But as varied as the products and packaging were, there were still two aspects that characterized the entire trade fair: health and sustainability were on everyone’s lips – in the truest sense of the word, if you will.