Month: April 2024

With less than a month to go until the 2nd BFSHOW, held by the Brazilian Footwear Industries Association (Abicalçados) in partnership with NürnbergMesse Brasil, the meeting consolidates itself in the market as the largest footwear fair in Brazil and generates expectation among confirmed visitors. With 270 brands already confirmed and a growth of more than 100% in the exhibition area and the confirmed presence of the main footwear market players in Brazil, BFSHOW expects to receive 10 thousand national and international buyers between May 21st and 23rd, at the Transamerica Expo Center, in São Paulo (SP). In this edition, it will be possible to know firsthand the new releases of the Spring-Summer 2025 collections of the Brazilian footwear sector.

This is the main expectation of the designer Gustavo Silva, from Serafine, from Minas Gerais. The clothing brand is in its third shoe collection and takes advantage of BFSHOW to meet new suppliers and what will be trending for the next season. “I want to see the novelties with regard to materials, soles and colors. It is important for us to select partners and suppliers that are aligned with the trends of our clothing collection. The first edition of the fair was excellent for us, as we were looking for important suppliers. The range offered by BFSHOW is excellent and we expect that in São Paulo this volume of options will be even greater and we will find new suppliers for the brand”.

Another buyer confirmed for the event in São Paulo is Humberto Costa, representative of Grupo Planeta Jeans, a chain of six stores in Paraná. "We hope not only to find the trends for the summer, but also to strengthen the relationship between shopkeeper and factory. The proximity offered by BFSHOW also guarantees us the possibility of doing new business, finding other manufacturers, other products and allowing us to make good deals also in our stores.” Same goal as Mohamad Abdul Majid, from the importer Sad Trading, from Mozambique. “The fair offers networking, new business and partnerships opportunities, in addition to putting on display the new trends for the summer - the next collection to be marketed in Brazil and also in Mozambique.”

The fair has been generating high expectations to visitors from all over Brazil. "Sao Paulo will be a great stage. A place where we will find representatives, manufacturers, importers, exporters and shopkeepers all in one place. We will definitely make great purchases and good deals and thus keep our stores more and more updated with new trends in the footwear market. We are sure that this will be the biggest fair of all time and we will together make this the best year for the footwear sector”, celebrates Francisco Aldemir Bezerra de Souza, commercial director of Planeta Calçados - chain with 8 stores present in the cities of Juazeiro do Norte, Crato, Barbalha, Iguatu, Brejo Santo -, and director of Síndilojas in Juazeiro do Norte (CE).

The business and Relationship Manager of the Brazilian Footwear Industries Association (Abicalçados), Letícia Sperb Masselli, points out that BFSHOW is also an international meeting point for the footwear sector. “The fifth largest footwear industry in the world, the most sustainable among its competitors, has a great showcase at the fair. It is an unmissable event, in which we will have more than 80% of the national footwear production presenting their collections for the hottest season of the year. We are sure that it will be a success that will give a spirit injection to the activity”, she points out.

One of the people responsible for the fair, Ricardo Azeredo, Head of New Business at NürnbergMesse Brasil, highlights the growth of the event. "BFSHOW has doubled in size in this edition, reinforcing the importance of this event for the Brazilian footwear sector. We are preparing a high standard fair to welcome the expected 10 thousand visitors, who are looking for the best products to offer to national and international consumers. Buyers will have an even better experience in this edition.”

Buyer Program
Success in the first edition, the Buyer Program is also back. An initiative of BFSHOW, which has the support of ApexBrasil within the scope of international buyers, the action seeks to encourage business between national and international buyers and exhibitors at the fair. In 2023, the action took to BFSHOW buyers from Brazil and countries such as Australia, Bolivia, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Spain, United States, Portugal, Russia, United Kingdom, among others.

International buyer participating in the program, Emma Damas Malamsha, from Apri Arch Fashion Ltd, importer and distributor of footwear from Tanzania, Africa, highlights that BFSHOW is an important exhibition for the sector. "Today, our main strategic partner is China, but at BFSHOW we have discovered other suppliers with potential, with which we can partner and do business. There is a lot of collaboration in the sector and the fair is a great opportunity to get to know each other”, she says.

Strengthening ties at BFSHOW is also the goal of Grupo Real Calçados, a chain founded in Bahia with more than 100 stores throughout Brazil. “It is a way to interact with suppliers and be closer to see what offers, new releases, novelties and trends are coming. We create bonds there because when we bet on a product, we establish a connection with the supplier themselves, which gives us support and confidence”, says director Ivan Nunes Andrade Filho.

In its first edition, BFSHOW received international buyers from five continents who generated more than R$ 315 million in business with the international market.

About Abicalçados
Abicalçados represents the Brazilian footwear industry, fifth largest in the world and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. Founded in 1983, Abicalçados is based in Novo Hamburgo, state of Rio Grande do Sul, and its members are companies of all sizes accounting for more than 65 percent of the footwear produced in the country. The entity represents an industry that employs more than 300,000 people. Its mission is to represent, defend, develop, and promote Brazil’s footwear industry with respect, excellency, and results.

About the organizers
NürnbergMesse Brasil is a subsidiary of the NürnbergMesse Group, one of the 15 largest fair organizers in the world. The group’s portfolio includes more than 120 international fairs and congresses (14 of them in Brazil) and more than 40 pavilions. Every year, more than 30,000 expositors and more than 1,5 million visitors meet in events hosted by NürnbergMesse, which also has subsidiaries in China, United States, Brazil, Greece, Italy, and India, The group also established a network with sone 50 representatives operating in more than 116 countries.

The largest Brazilian footwear fair, BFSHOW already has more than 220 confirmed brands, 183 of them exclusive. The companies bet on the national fair, held by the Brazilian Footwear Industries Association (Abicalçados) in partnership with NürnbergMesse Brasil, to launch their Spring/Summer collections, the most important season of the year for Brazilian footwear and which absorbs more than 70% of the total sales of the industry. The 2nd edition of BFSHOW takes place at the Transamerica Expo Center, in São Paulo/SP, between May 21st and 23rd, and accreditation is already open on the website.

One of the companies that are only confirmed at BFSHOW is Grendene. The commercial director of the footwear company, Paulo Barth, points out that expectations for the fair are quite positive. “We believe that we will have a very significant number of customers visiting the fair, both from the domestic market and from the foreign market”, he predicts. According to him, the show, also due to the fact that it has confirmed large suppliers, should attract the attention of the main players in the market, being a relevant opportunity for the presentation of Summer collections, the most important one for Grendene. “The second semester is historically our most representative semester and we have a very positive expectation for the business we will carry out during BFSHOW”, highlights the director, adding that, in addition to the hot season's collections, the company will offer high-turnover products for prompt delivery.

Another giant confirmed exclusively at BFSHOW is Alpargatas. “We are very happy to participate in the BFSHOW fair, an event that provides a unique opportunity to emphasize the importance of the footwear market for Alpargatas and Havaianas, a leading brand in the segment of flip flops”, evaluates the specialized commercial director of Havaianas Brasil, Bruno Correa Marques. For him, more than presenting the summer collections, the footwear fair will further strengthen partnerships and relationships in the sector, as it is a meeting point for Brazilian footwear with the world.

With confirmed presence at BFSHOW, Petite Jolie is another company that will launch its summer products exclusively at the footwear fair held by Abicalçados. “We need to be where the customers are and our expectation is that they will be, largely, at the BFSHOW. In addition, participating in this moment, in which we have the possibility of seeing a new great fair performing in the city of São Paulo is very important for our visibility”, comments the National Commercial Manager of Petite Jolie, Ruy Ferreira. For BFSHOW, the shoemaker will take the entire team of regional representatives to welcome the shopkeepers. “The fair marks the presentation of the brand's Summer I collection, so the client will find all the novelties related to trends and colors of the most joyful season of the year,” says the director.

Meeting point
BFSHOW is a fair created by Abicalçados in partnership with NürnbergMesse Brasil to be the meeting point of Brazilian footwear with customers from all over the world, in an objective, business-focused and transparent way. The show should bring together, in May, about 250 brands of all sizes and Brazilian footwear poles that together account for more than 80% of the national production of the sector. The visitation is estimated at more than 10 thousand buyers and professionals of the activity, both from Brazil and from the international market. In the first edition of BFSHOW, which took place in Rio Grande do Sul, were generated, only in international business, more than R＄ 315 million.

About Abicalçados
Abicalçados represents the Brazilian footwear industry, fifth largest in the world and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. Founded in 1983, Abicalçados is based in Novo Hamburgo, state of Rio Grande do Sul, and its members are companies of all sizes accounting for more than 65 percent of the footwear produced in the country. The entity represents an industry that employs more than 300,000 people. Its mission is to represent, defend, develop, and promote Brazil’s footwear industry with respect, excellency, and results.

About the organizers
NürnbergMesse Brasil is a subsidiary of the NürnbergMesse Group, one of the 15 largest fair organizers in the world. The group’s portfolio includes more than 120 international fairs and congresses (14 of them in Brazil) and more than 40 pavilions. Every year, more than 30,000 expositors and more than 1,5 million visitors meet in events hosted by NürnbergMesse, which also has subsidiaries in China, United States, Brazil, Greece, Italy, and India, The group also established a network with sone 50 representatives operating in more than 116 countries.

More than sustainable products, the Brazilian footwear industry, in line with a growing movement worldwide, has been adopting socially and environmentally correct production practices. Currently, the fifth largest footwear producer on the planet, the largest outside Asia, has been standing out as an international reference for clean production and aligned with ESG concepts. As it had to be, between the 21st and 23rd of May, at the Transamerica Expo Center, in São Paulo/SP, the protagonism of the sector in the area will also be exposed in the 2nd edition of BFSHOW, the largest footwear fair in Brazil.

A research released last year by the Brazilian Footwear Industries Association (Abicalçados) points out that more than 95% of Brazilian companies in the sector work with environmentally adequate disposal of their productive waste; 79% of industries perform control of restricted substances; and 62% of industries consume electricity 100% from renewable sources. "These are data that corroborate the intense work carried out to adapt the production of footwear to the new reality of a more conscious consumption and oriented towards sustainability not only environmental, but also social. Today, people want to know what they are consuming, where the product they are wearing comes from, and companies that are not adapted to this new world tend to have many difficulties in the market, especially internationally”, evaluates the executive president of the entity, Haroldo Ferreira.

In practice
At BFSHOW, a fair that already has more than 230 footwear brands that account for 80% of the national production of the sector, 75% of the footwear industries certified in the Sustainable Origin program, the only ESG certification for companies in the footwear production chain in the world, will be present. One of the companies confirmed at BFSHOW is Tess, manufacturer of the Kenner and Redley brands, which bets on the footwear show to leverage an ambitious internationalization project. “We do not want to export price, we want to export added value to demanding markets and these markets require sustainability, with consumers wanting to know the origin of the manufacture of their products,” says the company's CEO, Thomas Simon.

Among the highlights of Tess is environmental sustainability in its production process. With heavy investments in technology and innovation, Tess reduced raw material disposal by 50% from 2021 to 2023. By 2026, the goal is to reduce another 50%. “Another important point is our product. We have developed a shoe to last more than ten years, without exaggeration. With this, we reduce the waste disposal”, highlights Simon.

Representing the sustainability of the children's footwear segment, Bibi will also be at BFSHOW. The company, certified in Sustainable Origin, counts as one of its pillars the concern with sustainability and has created goals and commitments in the area to be achieved by 2030. Among the commitments are: to achieve 100% compliance of products manufactured in the Reach Standard (Regulation No. 1907/2006 European Parliament) regarding toxicity, to reduce by 20% the generation of waste in the development of new products and industrial operations, among others. "We believe that, increasingly, consumers are prioritizing brands with initiatives that contribute to society and the environment. In this way, in addition to offering a quality product that respects the happy and healthy development of children, we are a company that aims to reduce the impacts of operations on nature”, comments the company's president, Andrea Kohlrausch.

The fair
Created by Abicalçados in partnership with NürnbergMesse Brasil, BFSHOW is already the largest Brazilian footwear fair in occupied space, with hundreds of the main Brazilian footwear brands, from all segments, sizes and footwear poles. The visitation is estimated at more than 10 thousand buyers and professionals of the activity, both from Brazil and from the international market. In the first edition of BFSHOW, which took place in Rio Grande do Sul, were generated, only in international business, more than R＄ 315 million. Accreditation for visitation is open on the website.

About Abicalçados
Abicalçados represents the Brazilian footwear industry, fifth largest in the world and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. Founded in 1983, Abicalçados is based in Novo Hamburgo, state of Rio Grande do Sul, and its members are companies of all sizes accounting for more than 65 percent of the footwear produced in the country. The entity represents an industry that employs more than 300,000 people. Its mission is to represent, defend, develop, and promote Brazil’s footwear industry with respect, excellency, and results.

About the organizers
NürnbergMesse Brasil is a subsidiary of the NürnbergMesse Group, one of the 15 largest fair organizers in the world. The group’s portfolio includes more than 120 international fairs and congresses (14 of them in Brazil) and more than 40 pavilions. Every year, more than 30,000 expositors and more than 1,5 million visitors meet in events hosted by NürnbergMesse, which also has subsidiaries in China, United States, Brazil, Greece, Italy, and India, The group also established a network with sone 50 representatives operating in more than 116 countries.