SPIELZEUGinternational 10/2021 Oktober

Toys international
Spielwarenmesse
New ToyAward Category
Introduction of the new Sustainability category in 2022 – Expert jury welcomes three new members
– Online entries launched on 1 October 2021 – Awards ceremony to take place during the
PressPreview of Spielwarenmesse in Nuremberg
Sustainability and climate protection
are increasingly edging into focus in
the toy industry. Demand for toys made
from ecological materials or that encourage
environmentally friendly behaviour
is on the rise. In response, Spielwarenmesse
eG is reflecting the topic of sustainability
in the ToyAward as well. The
team is introducing the new Sustainability
category in time for the 72 nd edition of
the world’s leading toy fair (2.-6.2.2022).
Entries for the coveted awards opened
on 1 October. All submissions will be
considered by a jury of international
experts, which is welcoming some new
members this year.
Sustainability in focus
In the Sustainability category, exhibitors
at the Spielwarenmesse can submit
innovations that encourage environmentally
friendly behavior in children.
The category is also open to products
that are made from ecological materials,
have a sustainable supply chain or have
been upcycled or recycled. The Startup
category along with the four age-specific
categories Baby & Infant (0-3 years),
PreSchool (3-6 years), SchoolKids (6-10
years), Teenager & Adults (from 10 years)
remain unchanged. Exhibitors can enter
up to three innovations for the ToyAward
on the website www.toyaward.
com. The closing date for entries is 6 December.
Three products in each of the six
categories will be nominated for the accolade
by the expert jury, which has become
more international. Contributing
their expertise are the newly recruited
members Sue Warfield, President of the
US association ASTRA, Jean Youn, Head
of Toy Business at the Korean company
Kakaokids, and Dr. Harald Käb, owner
of Narocon Innovation Consulting from
Germany.
The innovations nominated for the
ToyAward will be unveiled at the worldleading
fair’s main press conference
on 27 January 2022 and publicized for
maximum exposure in numerous communication
campaigns across the industry’s
biggest international network. The
winners will be announced in the new
setting of the PressPreview for the first
time. The awards ceremony will represent
the climax of the innovation show
which will be staged for international
media representatives at Nuremberg’s
Exhibition Center, NCC Ost on 1 February
2022.
Koelnmesse
Re-Start Edition of Kind + Jugend 2021
Handle and try things out: industry uses the opportunity for personal encounters – Good visitor
turnout from the DACH region and European neighbours – Digital platform Kind+Jugend @home
still open until the end of October 2021
trade fair does good! That was the
A unanimous summary of the Re-
Start Edition of Kind + Jugend from 9 to
11 September 2021. Over a period of three
days, around 150 providers presented a
select spectrum of baby and toddler outfitting.
For the first time since the trade
fair-free drought due to the pandemic,
the trade public could once again gather
first-hand information to their hearts‘
content, handle, test and evaluate products
and, most importantly, speak to
manufacturers directly about business
and place orders. Around 2,000 visitors
from the wholesale, retail and online
trade, more than half of them from
abroad, did not pass up on this chance.
The share of foreign trade visitors was
56 percent.* They came for the most part
from the DACH region and neighbouring
European countries. „The successful
re-start of Kind + Jugend 2021 confirms
how important it was that the trade fair
take place this year. The industry had
been missing the personal contact and
the exchange, and this year‘s trade fair
provided central impulses here. These
are also very good omens in favour of
Kind + Jugend 2022“, is how Oliver Frese,
Chief Operating Officer of Koelnmesse,
summarises the three days of the trade
fair. Koelnmesse realised a hybrid
trade fair concept for the first time with
Kind + Jugend 2021. „It was possible to
very successfully supplement the physical
trade fair with the digital format
Kind + Jugend @home from the start,
This offers a lot more potential for the
future“, according to Frese.
Next year, Kind + Jugend will take
place from 8 to 10 September 2022.
* All figures are calculated in accordance with the
guidelines of the Association for the Voluntary
Control of Trade Fair and Exhibition Statistics
(FKM). (www.fkm.de).
62 SPIELZEUG international · 10/2021 Oktober