On September 1st 2019 Wellfairs GmbH (Germany) and Fair Connections (China) signed a licence agreement for the organisation of the VeggieWorld trade fair series. Accordingly, all VeggieWorld trade fairs in Asia, the Middle East and Oceania will from now on be held independently by Fair Connections.
According to Euromonitor International, China is the world’s fastest-growing vegan market with a predicted growth rate of 17.2% between 2015 and 2020, followed by UAE (10.6%) and Australia 9.6%. In absolute numbers, China is home to 20 million vegans, the largest single-country vegan community world-wide.
Wellfairs Managing Director Hendrik Schellkes comments on the reasons for further expansion in the form of licensing: “Together with our local partners we can manage the European trade fairs very well from Germany. At trade fairs on other continents, however, we quickly noticed that we lack access. Differences in language, time and culture are difficult to offset. That’s why we decided to place our trade fairs in the hands of professionals. Michael Dreyer and Ken Zheng of Fair Connections have been our partners for many years and we know that our brand is in the best hands with these trade fair professionals”.
For founder Michael Dreyer it was quickly clear that VeggieWorld represents a very interesting opportunity. “Discussing opportunities regarding plant based business with Hendrik, we quickly realized the large potential of this market. In Asia, veganism has developed way beyond being a lifestyle trend. Veganism has arrived in the centre of the society. And the development potential is huge.”
In the next 12 months, Fair Connections will organise VeggieWorlds in Beijing (08.-10.11.2019), Hong Kong (07.-08.03.2020), Shanghai (15.-17.05.2020) and Shenzhen (August 2020). In addition to further events in China, Fair Connections will also establish VeggieWorld events in Bangkok and Singapore in the immediate future. In the medium term, Korea and Japan as well as the Middle East and Australia will also become VeggieWorld locations.
