Tendence 2016: 42 suppliers of sustainable products in the Ethical Style Guide

Their products are environmentally friendly, they set store by fair and social conditions and they put emphasis on recycling and upcyling: 42 exhibitors in all, from eleven countries, were chosen to feature in Tendence's Ethical Style Guide.

“The guide enables us to give buyers orientation and transparency in this highly complex product segment“, says Philipp Ferger, Tendence's Group Show Director. It provides a specially selected list of sustainable and ethically manufactured products and, in future, it will be a part of the Fair's catalogue. “Following the successful introduction of the Ethical Style Guide at Ambiente 2016, it is our intention to press ahead with this important issue at Tendence as well. This is because, in terms of consumer goods, so-called ‘green products’ are one of the growing market segments that we would consciously like to promote“, Ferger adds.

The Ethical Style Guide provides information about different aspects of sustainability and about exhibitors whose products display these qualities, broken down into six categories: ‘Eco-Friendly Materials’, ‘Eco-Optimised Production’, ‘Fair & Social Production’, ‘Re-/Upcycling Design’‚ ‘Handmade Manufacturing’ and ‘Sustainable Innovation’.

Members of the jury of independent experts include Rudi Dalvai, WFTO (World Fair Trade Organization), Kees Bronk, CBI (Centre for the Promotion of Imports from Developing Countries), Lutz Dietzold, Rat für Formgebung (German Design Council) and Ralf Müller, TÜV Rheinland, among others. And also on the jury are Gerhard Friesacher, Changemaker AG, Sabine Meyer, Side by Side, as well Max Gilgenmann, who is an expert for sustainability criteria in textiles, and Mimi Sewalski from the online shop, avocadostore.de. “Many companies are already active in terms of sustainability and fair production. The Ethical Style Guide makes it possible for them to show this added value and also makes it more visible to buyers. The companies we have chosen for this year's Tendence stand out because they employ a wide range of sustainable and social measures, which are bound to inspire other companies as well to take a step in this direction in the future“, says Sewalski.

Kees Bronk of the CBI has an equally positive take on the whole thing: “I think that the Ethical Style Guide will help to make the discussion about sustainability in industry and the retail trade an integral part of business negotiations, as well as marketing communications.” In response to concrete questions about the exhibitors who are listed in the guide, Bronk says: “Every one of the companies in the Ethical Style Guide makes a ‘green’ statement in its own way. The guide enables exhibitors to show that they are part of this new ‘green’ movement in the home decoration and home textiles industry, because ‘green’ is the new added value - and the companies in the Ethical Style Guide are pioneers of this movement.”

Exhibitors such as Capventure, David Fussenegger, Gerlinde Hofer, IHR Ideal Home Range, Koziol, Pad Home Design and Tudi Billo Papers, for example, were chosen by the jury for the ‘Eco-Friendly Materials’ category. Listed in the ‘Eco-Optimised Production’ category are companies such as Holzpost, Olbrish, Wax Industri Nusantara and Werkhaus. ‘Re-/Upcycling Design’ is part of the creative profile of firms like Daff, Handed by, House of Emotions, Ninelives and Paprcuts. Generally speaking, many of the exhibitors can be found in more than just one of the six categories. To help locate the Ethical Style exhibitors more easily on the ground, their stands will display a green label. They are also listed separately on the exhibitor search page on Tendence's website.

Source: Messe Frankfurt Exhbition GmbH

Top image: The supplier Daff was chosen for the Ethical Style Guide at Tendence 2016

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