Four exhibitors on the role of the world’s leading trade fair for the glass industry

A head start through networking and innovation: glasstec in Düsseldorf has been the world’s leading trade fair for the international glass industry for decades. But how relevant will it still be in 2026 for the strategic goals of its exhibitors, especially in view of new market mechanisms, digital channels and changing visitor groups? The trade fair posed this question to companies from various sectors for their assessment. Christophe Schulz, Head of Marketing at Saint-Gobain Glass Germany, Marlen Debrot, Group Communication Manager at Bucher Emhart Glass, Bernhard Hötger, CEO of HEGLA and Oliver Pichler, CFO of the LiSEC Group, provided insights into their expectations and challenges. They also showed why glasstec remains an indispensable industry meeting place.

Trade fairs have been under increased pressure since the COVID-19 pandemic began, as many companies are scrutinising their budgets more closely and trying to assess the specific ROI of trade fair participation. In addition, travel restrictions, staff shortages and rising costs are making participation more difficult for international exhibitors and visitors alike. What expectations do exhibitors have of their trade fair presence? What role does the trade fair play today in sales and innovation strategies? How do exhibitors deal with changing visitor groups?

For Christophe Schulz, Head of Marketing at Saint-Gobain Glass Germany, exhibiting at glasstec is a tradition: “glasstec has been one of our most important trade fairs for many years. We meet our direct customers at our own customer evening and at the trade fair itself. We use the event to present innovations and launch new campaigns. It is a good start to the year! The trade fair also has an important internal, integrative function for us: Here, employees from the global group come together and use the time not only for customer meetings but also for internal networking.

Visitor interest at our stand remains high even in post-pandemic times, with growth currently expected primarily from Asia. Some voices in the glass industry share the concern that the trade fair is developing too much into a machine show, but we see that glasstec is very committed to working for and with our industry, both editorially and with excellent conferences on truly relevant topics such as sustainable construction, circularity and digitalisation. With the excellent special show “glass technology live”, it offers every visitor the opportunity to look into the future.”

Marlen Debrot, Group Communication Manager at Bucher Emhart Glass, positions the company as a manufacturer of technologies for the production and inspection of hollow glass containers in a niche market: “At glasstec, we meet our customers every two years to have good discussions and present our developments. This fits in well with our innovation cycle. Between trade fairs, we support our customers in their day-to-day business and organise small events in various markets to engage with customers on an even more personal level.” Debrot also gives their assessment of changing visitor groups: “The groups of trade visitors have changed somewhat after the COVID-19 pandemic and due to global developments. There are slightly fewer technicians due to travel restrictions and cost constraints, but we still see international decision-makers from Asia, America, Europe and Africa who use our hollow glass solutions for the food and medical sectors.”

Bernhard Hötger, CEO of HEGLA, sees the trade fair’s growing relevance in an international context: “For us, as a machine manufacturer, glasstec is more than ever the world’s leading trade fair for the glass industry in the Western world. China has decoupled itself and found its own platform in China Glass to serve the Asia & Pacific region. As European manufacturers, we have to counter this with our consulting and service expertise as well as continue to set trends with technical and innovative solutions.

Therefore, at the trade fair, we will be presenting our innovations from the past two years so that everyone can see where the trade and industry are heading: transparency builds trust. All decision-makers from the glass and machine industry are visitors and/or exhibitors at glasstec. They network, gather information and cultivate relationships. The exhibition stands of their associated customers and suppliers serve as quiet spots for a meet & greet. It will be exciting to see how visits from North America develop, but we think that, as is already the case, it will mainly be decision-makers and specialists with specific interests who will come. The trips have to be worthwhile from a business perspective, i.e. the focus will be on specific technologies, partnerships or innovations.”

Oliver Pichler, CFO of the LiSEC Group, sees the relevance of the trade fair in a similar light: “glasstec remains the world’s leading trade fair for glass processing. The decision-makers and target groups that are important to us are all there. The last two trade fairs after the COVID-19 pandemic have shown that. LiSEC uses glasstec not only for customer care and networking, but above all to present new solutions and innovations. In sales, the focus is on customer contacts for existing customer care and acquisition. In line with our innovation strategy, we use glasstec to showcase the latest developments alongside relevant machine demonstrations. We always base our presentation on a specific trade fair theme in order to showcase our comprehensive solution expertise. Since we can usually only showcase one or two machines live at the trade fair, we present the rest of our ‘all.in.one:solutions’ digitally or virtually to bring interested parties up to date and provide them with relevant information. In the digital age, trade fairs are certainly no longer the only or main source of information for interested parties.” Pichler also sees changes in the specific behaviour of visitors: “We notice that visitors usually come to the trade fair with specific agendas, e.g. looking for specific information, or they inform themselves in advance or make appointments with the relevant contact persons in order to make good use of their time on site. Spontaneous visits to trade fairs have become rather rare. We also notice that trade fair visitors want to use their time more efficiently and no longer stay on site for as long as they used to. For LiSEC, this means that relevant information is readily available to customers during the preparation phase and that their visitor journey, from the promotion of the trade fair to the visit on site and the follow-up, is designed to be as high quality as possible and tailored to their needs.”

Especially in uncertain times, it is important to know where to make an impact: glasstec will once again bring together international decision-makers, all areas of the glass industry and research in Düsseldorf in 2026. If you would like to showcase your innovations live and open doors to new markets, register now as an exhibitor: www.glasstec.de.