Climate change as the challenge of our times and now the energy crisis on top of it: environmental and resource protection can no longer be avoided.
The forthcoming EuroShop – The World’s No. 1 Retail Trade Fair, in Düsseldorf from 26 February to 2 March, will be shining a special highlight on these issues.
It is already evident today how intensively exhibitors are focusing on future-proofing their products, services and indeed their own operations and this holds true for all eight Dimensions. Some examples below:
Shopfitting, Store Design & Visual Merchandising
Be it lampshades made of coffee grounds, cash desks made of worn, shredded denim pants or completely biodegradable display mannequins: sustainable store furnishings have long added to the shopping experience and offer retailers plenty of material for storytelling. “Paying attention to sustainability in the entire business environment will become an existential yardstick,” says ppm Planung + Projektmanagement with conviction. Reduce, reuse, recycle is therefore the list of priorities set up by the Dormagen-based company and in exactly that order. “As early as in the planning stage we already pay attention to using as little material as possible and securing subsequent reuse of the materials and/or furnishings. If our customers’ store concept provides for this, we re-fresh what is still usable. If the store is “deconstructed” we try to use the furniture and materials for other projects again or to at least recycle them in a clean-grade manner,” explains CEO Frank Bittel. In addition, ppm has developed a tool which allows the eco-balance of the furnishings to be established already at the conceptual stage. “This gives us the opportunity to take decisions on materials at a very early stage with our customers and to avoid wasting resources.”
At umdasch The Store Makers this will also be the recurring theme for the entire EuroShop presentation. The Austrian company that operates an Innovation Hub in Duisburg and whose focuses include ecological store materials will showcase a “wide spectrum of design options for an innovative, sustainable customer journey,” announces Marketing Director Petra Böttinger-Barth. For the last EuroShop umdasch had the “Liquid Dispenser” in the pipeline – a refilling station for such liquids as washing agents and shampoos; in terms of its carbon footprint it outperforms conventional, off-the-shelf single-use containers in no time and has therefore made inroads in retail. Now resource-saving product innovations have been announced again. However, the shopfitting specialist also intends to present concrete use cases.
The German Shopfitting Association (Deutscher Ladenbau Verband dlv), which is also represented at EuroShop 2023, is currently busy surveying the various areas where its member companies already work sustainably or have introduced standards. You can already look forward to seeing the evaluation at the trade fair in February.
Materials & Surfaces
The significance of materials and surfaces for sustainability has already been alluded to. Panespol, a Spanish producer of decorative panels, is oriented towards the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals to protect the planet. Their set of measures includes both the increasing use of completely biodegradable and/or recycled raw materials and the focus on regional suppliers, reports Sonia Bernabeu, International Key Account Manager at Panespol.
Lighting
It is widely known that lighting accounts for a high proportion of retailers’ energy costs. Modern LED light sources and efficient controls substantially contribute to cutting energy consumption. The Swedish ITAB Group (German branch: Cologne) has announced it will exhibit a dynamic lighting solution at EuroShop that can cut energy costs by up to 50% and improve the customer journey at the same time. “We succeeded in doubling the efficiency rate, which also makes for shorter payback periods at the end of the day,” illustrates Chris Bright, Vice President Solution Design. As another added value retailers receive a CO2-estimate for calculating their own carbon footprint.
Retail Technology
Like sustainability, digitalisation is one of the megatrends of our time. When digitalisation is used to save resources, these topics “cross-pollinate”. At times, however, these digital tools consume enormous resources themselves. More and more providers recognise these conflicting interests and respond to them with effective solutions. Digital price labelling, for example, is increasing in relevance across all retail sectors currently. Swiss company Instore Solutions has developed “Green Tag” – an electronic shelf label without batteries, that will be centrestage at their EuroShop appearance. Green Tags obtain the required energy from the environment, from LED lighting, to be precise. They harvest energy via solar modules. This saves batteries and plenty of special heavy metal waste later on as well as the enormous work involved in replacing batteries regularly.
Retail Marketing
Oechsle Display Systeme demonstrates that sales promotion and sustainability are not mutually exclusive. Over the past few months this company from Leipheim has consistently extended its material input to include raw materials made from waste or recycled in-house from old products – one step towards the circular economy. “Another milestone is the use of fibre-based materials such as wooden materials as an alternative to plastics,” reports Managing Director Bernd Neumaier and goes on to say: “Beyond this, Oechsle is currently the only provider offering shelf dividers from cellulose or recycled fibres. These products are printable and suitable for high-end finishing. At EuroShop these solutions will be introduced to the broad public for the first time“.
Online Software AG from Heidelberg serves up a completely different approach to sustainability – showing just how broad the spectrum is. Its live streaming solution “tierwohl.tv” assists food retailers in credible, transparent communication. “Based on our software ‘PRESTIGEenterprise’ retailers use POS screens on shelves or counters to provide their shoppers with insights into the animal welfare standards for the products – be it milk, eggs or meat – they sell. This is as transparent as it gets when it comes to animal welfare. tierwohl.tv prompts consumers to pay a fair price for products that are evidently produced in a species-appropriate manner,” explains Jürgen Berens von Rautenfeld, board member at Online Software AG.
Expo & Event Marketing
“We make ideas happen” is the slogan of thamm, a Bonn-based service provider specialising in large-format digital printing. “Our aluminium section consists of 30% recycled aluminium and can be reused or completely recycled,” reports Managing Director Floris van Boxtel commenting on his commitment to sustainability. “For printable materials you can chose our ‘GREEN GRAFX’ line. These especially sustainable materials include some based on collected marine plastic or 100% recycled PET bottles. Even for panels many sustainable alternatives can now be found: recycled acrylic glass or honeycomb panels made of 100% cardboard will definitely find a place at our EuroShop exhibition stands,” announces Floris van Boxtel.
At the previous EuroShop there was no avoiding FOTOBODEN™, the product from visuals united AG. Custom-printed with photorealistic images these vinyl floors covered a total of 2,630 sqm – at the firm’s own, and many other trade fair stands. At the end of the event the floor coverings were collected, then recycled and used for producing new photo floors. This is also planned at this edition. “All in line with our next EuroShop motto ‘We make the World a Special Place’ we offer each customer the chance to return the material so we can take care of recycling,” says General Manager Mischa-Ron Ferenschild-Baetzel. Also exciting: “We are working on a new product focused on sustainability, which we hope to present at EuroShop.”
In addition, there will be a joint stand in the Expo + Event dimension that will focus on the customer journey around a sustainable trade fair presence.
Food Service Equipment
Food service plays an ever more important role in retail, being used by retailers to increase customers’ quality of stay. Since 2020 EuroShop has catered to this trend with the “Food Service Equipment” Dimension – and sustainably so. For instance: Rational AG. This company from Landsberg am Lech will launch two new cooking systems – ‘iCombi Pro’, a combined steamer, and ‘iVario’, which works with contact heat. “Both are proven to save resources while increasing productivity in the kitchen,” promises Dr. Maximilian Schwaller, Segment Director Retail. In addition, the iCombi Pro scores points with a phosphorus and phosphate-free cleaning product of which up to 50% less is required compared to the previous formula. Dr. Maximilian Schwaller, who values a holistic approach, stresses: “We also support our customers in the development of sustainable food concepts.”
Refrigeration & Energy Management
Resource savings, climate protection and cost cutting naturally all feature high on the agenda of providers in the Energy Management Dimension. Refrigeration still holds plenty of potential. Here, climate-conforming refrigeration will be called for in future. Rivacold CI, the Italian manufacturer of refrigeration products and systems with its German branch in Fellbach will showcase the latest development in future-proof and natural cooling agents: R290 (propane) and R744 (CO2). The aim: to limit greenhouse gas potential as far as possible. This is also helped by Low-GWP refrigerants as a bridge technology to meet the challenges of the so-called F-gases regulation and the requirements of a fast-changing market. To this end, exhibits with refrigerants of the A2L Safety Class will be on display. “EuroShop 2020 was the last face-to-face trade fair for the manufacturers and users of refrigeration and air-conditioning technology shortly before the pandemic started. Like most exhibitors we have dearly missed the opportunities of a face-to-face trade fair since then and therefore expect great motivation and strong interest on the trade visitors’ part,” says Lorenzo Milano, Product Manager with power of attorney at Rivavcold CI, with great anticipation.
Award-winning sustainability
The renowned EuroShop Retail Design Award, which has been presented since 2008, will present itself with a new face at EuroShop 2023, as it will now be awarded in five different categories, including sustainability. www.euroshop-award.com
The right framework conditions
The organiser, Messe Düsseldorf, ensures the right framework conditions. For over a decade this company has locked environmental and climate protection into its Corporate Governance Code – and never merely paid lip service. Be it the three photovoltaic system producing 550,000 kWh annually (covering the needs of some 138 households), the CHP, the automated refrigeration network or the demand-driven switching of air-handling systems, heating and lighting systems – Messe Düsseldorf has invested heavily. Result: despite growing exhibition space between 4,200 and 5,000 tons of CO2 were saved compared to the reference year 2011. This roughly corresponds to the annual per-capita consumption of 500 people. Heating energy requirements were reduced by 30%, electricity consumption by 20%. And this is just the start: in October 2021 the already highly committed trade fair company also joined the “Net Zero Carbon Events Initiative” of the global events industry. It has set itself the goal of halving its emissions by 2030 and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. The message reads: with its modern site infrastructures Messe Düsseldorf provides the perfect setting for thoroughly sustainable events geared to innovation. EuroShop in turn will set a milestone in this direction.
EuroShop 2023 is open to trade visitors from Sunday, 26 February to Thursday, 2 March 2023, from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm daily. Admission tickets are only available online. 1-day tickets cost Euro 70, 2-day tickets Euro 120, and the season ticket is Euro 165. Students pay Euro 20 for a 1-day ticket.
