Yesterday afternoon it was announced that Kind+Jugend will not be happening this September. This was hardly surprising as many in the industry felt that they were not prepared to risk going to a trade show while Coronavirus was still circulating. The likelihood of a local flare up either in Cologne or nearer to where each of us lives, made many reluctant to book. Many visitors to the show come from countries that are currently restricting travel. Cancellation was probably inevitable. All tickets that have been paid for will be refunded; this will happen automatically over the next few weeks.

In many ways, this is disappointing news. Kind+Jugend is an important event in our calendar. Seeing new products is essential if the trade is to offer the best to our customers.

Lee-Anne Simpson of Purflo summed up everyone’s sentiments when she said “Obviously we are disappointed that we won’t be seeing our customers at Cologne this year in person. It has however given us an opportunity to look at other ways in which we can support our trade customers in a digital capacity. We are thinking creatively about how we can share our new range of products, line extensions and growth plans for 2021. The Covid -19 situation has undoubtably changed the way we go about business and many of those practices will probably be adopted longer term.“

The next Kind+Jugend will be held 16-19 September 2021 and the organisers have promised ‘an important phase of redesign and realignment to bring fresh impetus to the market’. They want to make Kind+Jugend the worldwide retail and innovation platform that the industry needs. So the slogan for the future is ‘Business Moves.’ We look forward to seeing what this brings.

In the meantime, CBME is currently going ahead in Shanghai in October having been rescheduled from mid-July. Our own Harrogate Nursery Fair is currently also on track to take place also in October – the 18th to 20th.