Sustainable giving! This is what the giving trends at Ambiente 2024 are all about

Messe Frankfurt's Ethical Style programme provides orientation in the growing range of sustainable products and suppliers. Exhibiting companies at Ambiente that conform to ecological and ethical criteria can apply for the programme curated by independent experts.

Conscious and sustainable gifting was the top trend at Ambiente 2024. So is was good that the Ethical Style by Ambiente programme now lists over 300 exhibitors with their corresponding range of products. At the trade fair, retailers also discovered a wealth of product ideas in two Ethical Style spots with cross-references to sustainable offerings at the parallel Christmasworld and Creativeworld trade fairs. The "Ms. Paper & Friends" area showed how sustainable gift ideas can be transformed into a special shopping experience, using recycled presentation furniture from a florist shop in 2024, among other things.

Noble material alternatives

New materials that can be found across all product ranges present themselves as sustainably beautiful. Among other things, the focus is on innovative material alternatives that combine high quality and ethical consumption. Greek brand The Writing Fields, for example, is expanding its Flexbook notebook collection with elegant covers made from cactus leather. This high-quality alternative to real leather is already being used successfully in fashion and the automotive industry. It is obtained in Mexico from the indigenous fig cactus, which requires minimal water and can be harvested sustainably.

Artebene relies on classic vegan leather for the elegant notebooks of the premium brand Majoie, which it is currently expanding to include matching accessories and bags. All pieces are lovingly handcrafted, making them real "wow pieces" that will give pleasure for a long time. Fans of genuine leather will also find a large selection of responsible collections. The German company Sonnenleder uses leather from vegetable tanning processes that preserve the natural character of this living material. A new addition to the programme is the elegant "Hauff" writing case, which is only made more beautiful by its signs of wear. The Spanish brand Soruka, on the other hand, is a zero-waste company that processes upcycled leather leftovers and waste into beautifully individual, colourful bags.

Genuine experiences

Overall, Ambiente showed that the mindset of consumers has changed noticeably in many aspects. The need for deceleration, less consumption and "real" experiences continues to grow - and with it the abundance of small gifts that invite visitors to engage in non-digital activities. With around 200 different colourful finger puppets and lucky animals, the fair trade company Titicaca Trade not only attracts children from behind the screen, but also encourages the young at heart to play. The great thing is that each piece supports families and craftspeople in the two production countries of Bolivia and Peru.

The numerous green ideas from TDJ Stadtgärtner motivate children to garden together. They range from fun flower marbles and mini greenhouses for indoors to fully equipped plant boxes for outdoors. Painting together is fun and stimulates the senses. But where to put the artwork? Werkhaus has developed a colourful collection as well as interchangeable picture frame for young and old artists that can hold up to 150 works of art. And the "old school" photo albums from the Dutch stationery brand Komoni, whose poetic stationery products show just how valuable recycled paper can be, provide the perfect place for shared moments.

NEW: Trade fair dates 2025

Ambiente, Christmasworld and Creativeworld will continue to take place at the same time at the Frankfurt exhibition centre. They will, however, be moved to the beginning of February to ensure that major global trade fair dates are aligned.

• Ambiente/Christmasworld: 07 to 11 February 2025
• Creativeworld: 07 to 10 February 2025