New: The Green Directory

A sustainable procurement tool

The results of a study, conducted on behalf of Messe Frankfurt in 2010, show that the market segment for sustainable home textiles has posted above-average growth compared with the market as a whole”, explains Olaf Schmidt, Vice President Textile Fairs, Messe Frankfurt GmbH.

In the Trend Book for 2011/2012, entitled “Reconnect”, sustainability is a keyword which crops up time and again alongside “a desire for quality and longevity” and “changed consumer behaviour”. In this context, trends are prescribed by the behaviour of end consumers.

Consumers want to buy products, which stand out due to their high ecological quality and improved working conditions involved in their manufacture.

According to Schmidt, “Many exhibitors already offer fabrics made from ecological materials or take account of sustainability criteria in their production process”. To simplify buying for trade visitors, the Green Directory, which lists exhibitors and their products, will be making its debut at Heimtextil 2011. A green leaf represents environmentally-friendly raw materials, a blue leaf an environmentally-friendly manufacturing process and a brown leaf social aspects and transparency.