Cologne is a major hub for the design world, with several exhibitions covering the interior and design segment.
For the wood-based panels, surfacing and related sectors, this May will be a chance to put their latest products and brands in front of a big visitor audience at the Interzum fair, which has over 60 years of history.
From May 20-23, international suppliers to the furniture and interior design industries will gather for the exhibition. The final preparations are now in full swing.
There are clearly worse places to visit than the beautiful 2,000-year-old city spanning the River Rhine in western Germany, and its date proximity to the LIGNA fair in Hannover (May 26-30) gives the possibility for an extended stay to see fully what the world of both materials and machinery/technology offers (see LIGNA preview pp30-50).
WBPI joined a throng of journalists and Interzum show director Maik Fischer at a preview event to see how the 2025 edition was shaping up.
Mr Fischer said the high level of registrations for this year’s event was confirmation of the relevance of the leading international trade fair for the sector.
“The impressive level of registrations shows how big the anticipation surrounding Interzum is within the industry, despite the continuing global economic and social challenges,” said Mr Fischer.
“The event is set to be a pivotal gathering for international suppliers yet again.”
High-quality materials, surface finishes, smart components and technologies – the full spectrum of the value chain in the furniture production and interior design industries will be on show.
Among the wood-based panels exhibitors are Unilin, Pyrus Panels, AGT, Altripan, Egger, Koskisen, Lamitex, Lombardo, Maderas Beniganim, Merino Industries, Kastamonu, Greenlam Industries, PAGED Plywood, Praveedh Décor, Rushil Decor, Samrat Plywood, Starwood, Saviola, Camsan, Swiss Krono and Finsa, while surfacing specialists include Interprint, Schattdecor and Surteco.
Mr Fischer said that the last Interzum in 2023 saw quite a few new features work well, so the same layout in the Koelnmesse will be repeated at this edition. The Materials & Nature segment will be held in Halls 1, 5 and 6, while Function & Components will be in Halls 4, 7, 8 and 10. Textiles and machinery make up the remaining segments.
For the first time at Interzum, the West entrance is to be opened, allowing direct access to Hall 1. The show timing will take place from 9am-6pm, except this year, Friday will close an hour earlier for convenience for everyone and due to its being a traditional quiet time at the end of the show.
Entrance tickets will only be available in the show app, no PDF documents will be able to be used. Tickets are interchangeable with LIGNA, facilitating easy access between both events, also allowing visitors to see some of Germany in between the two shows.
On the exhibitor side, the show organisers are upbeat about numbers, with the return of some of the big brands that were missing in 2023.
“Some of the big brands took a decision in 2022 [about not attending] at the end of the pandemic, but many of them said afterwards it was the wrong decision,” said Mr Fischer.
“Almost everybody has returned this time, such as Swiss Krono, Toppan and Rehau. The Material & Nature segment was the area we had the most companies missing two years ago, so were happy about them coming back,” he added.
More than 80% of exhibitors come from continental Europe, with the biggest contingent being from Italy. Companies from Germany, Turkey and Austria are also prominent exhibitors, while China is the largest exhibitor nation from Asia.
The exhibitor night on the Monday night before the show starts is a popular event where exhibitors from the full range of companies have a party and network together at the Rheinterrassen Köln on the banks of the Rhine.
VISITOR PROFILE
Visitor numbers at Interzum reached an all-time high in 2019 just before Covid, when more than 74,000 visitors were recorded. The 2021 event was cancelled and the 2023 event was effectively a reset.
“We saw a downturn just after Covid and had over 62,000 visitors in 2023. But the quality of visitors rose tremendously and it’s this group who make the purchase decisions,” explained Mr Fischer.
Mr Fischer expects the decision-making visitor presence in 2025 to be as strong, if not stronger, than two years ago. Some 73% of visitors last time were purchase decision makers.
“It’s difficult to predict the numbers beforehand. There is a strong correlation between how the exhibitor group is developing (rising) and the visitor side. The target is to grow visitor numbers at least 5%. I’m quite confident that we will have at least a bigger show in terms of visitor numbers and more on track to the 2019 numbers.”
The majority of visitors are from outside Germany, with a strong presence from continental Europe and Asia. China and India represent two of the biggest overseas visitor nations. With visa problems dogging 2023 exhibitor attendance for the Chinese, strong growth is expected from the country this year.
FURNITURE RETAILERS
More than 50% of Interzum visitors are from the furniture industry.
“We see the retailers are coming more and more to Interzum, not the classical wood retailers you would normally see at the exhibition, but furniture retailers,” said Mr Fischer.
“They tend to come because they want to know what is coming up in the future. They want to be at the same information level as their suppliers, so they are sending more people from their purchasing departments.”
Other visitor groups in attendance include interior construction, the automotive industry, aviation, shipping and the rail segment. They’re small but growing.
BMW came two years ago and this year Mercedes, Hyundai and Volkswagen will be in attendance, as interior designers of the automotive industry have identified Interzum as a good source of inspiration and a good sourcing platform.
Equally, aviation industry representation saw a delegation from Lufthansa attend in 2023 to find ideas in cabin design.
Unsurprisingly, representation from the kitchen, bedding, office and shopfitting sector is high.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY FOCUS
A super trend which will be prominent throughout Interzum is the circular economy. In the Circular and Biobased Solutions trend – the trade fair will focus on material cycles and innovative bio-based materials.
The latter encourages “bio-based interiors” as a substitute for oil-based products, such as in foils and glues. The Rethinking Resources Boulevard is designed for exhibitors who want to position themselves around this 2025 global lead theme.
Three Trend Forums in specific halls at the exhibition will include “Bio circular materials” in Hall 6 (Materials and Nature industry), hosted by Haute Innovation.
R&D institutes and universities will share research, to give an idea of what materials are coming up for possible use in the furniture industry and interior design.
The other forums cover textiles and Function & Components, the latter in Hall 10 and titled “Rethink Furniture – less, but better” by byform. This aims to show how furniture can be produced with less effort, and a leaner production process, less material input, but with an outcome that is the same or better.
The Interzum trends stage also has presentations, round tables and discussion panels with well-known experts. Topics will include AI, while a product stage will be for exhibitors to share information about their new products.
Interzum Award is running again and is awarded to the most innovative products, with 145 entries submitted by 80 exhibitors from 25 countries.
WBPI asked Mr Fischer what the market pulse was among exhibitors currently.
“We hear from a lot of exhibitors that the situation is still very challenging for them,” he said.
“We don’t see any growth in the major markets in Germany. I think everyone knows that China is not growing, they’re probably in a recession. There are some markets like the US which are apparently growing. Nevertheless, the overall situation is very tough. But they say they need Interzum to stimulate the market and to present innovations to customers, who in turn can stimulate the final consumer market.
“Everyone is really putting a lot of hope and effort in their Interzum presentations to have a positive spirit and we all hope it will be a point to send positive signals to the industry. We hear the same from our visitor side, they are struggling even more, but they hope with new products and components in their retail stores the customer demands can pick up. In Germany, predictions suggest there could be a growth path after the summer, so we see some slight positive signals.”
IDD COLOGNE
Mr Fischer also presented news of the launch of a new trade show in the interior design / furniture sector – IDD Cologne.
The exhibition is aimed at high-end furniture producers and the top brands of the industry. The former IMM Cologne show, also run by Koelnmesse, has faced some tough times over recent years and the edition scheduled for January 2025 was cancelled last autumn due to a lack of exhibitor interest.
“We also decided that we wanted to develop new concepts for the market,” added Mr Fischer.
“We had intense and long discussions with the industry, so decided to split the old IMM into two new shows. The new IMM stays with the same brand but a new concept, focusing only on the low and medium scale products for consumer-oriented design.
The show, still taking place at the regular time – January 20-23, 2026 – will be a sourcing platform for the big retailers in Germany and Europe.
For premium products, IDD Cologne will run every two years in October and the concept is broadened from residential to also include hospitality and contract business, whether it is for offices, kitchen/bathroom/ bedroom furniture producers, and even decorative lighting and wall decorations.
Target visitors include premium furniture retailers and facilities managers for banks and insurance companies.
“It will start as small but very exclusive and a premium show for the European industry,” said Mr Fischer.
An IDD Downtown feature encourages exhibitors to open their showrooms in Cologne and encourage visitors to visit them, while also highlighting Cologne as a design city.
For more information on Interzum and ticket information, visit: https://www.interzum.com/en/
