October 2013
Interview with Petra Wolf, new Executive Director for BIOFACH and VIVANESS
- Exhibition duo’s new Executive Director has many years of experience in the international organic exhibition business
Petra Wolf took over the Exhibitions II Division of NürnbergMesse on 1 October 2013. Together with over 40 colleagues, she is now responsible for the trade fairs BIOFACH and VIVANESS, POWTECH and TechnoPharm, fensterbau/frontale, Stone+tec, it-sa and CO-REACH, the exhibition for cross-media marketing. As a Member of the Management Board she is also responsible for the new focus on 'Product and Innovation Management'. She succeeds Claus Rättich, who took over the Marketing & Communications Division in March. In this interview Petra Wolf answers our questions on her new role regarding BIOFACH and VIVANESS.
Ms Wolf, the two CEOs of the NürnbergMesse Group, Peter Ottmann and Dr. Roland Fleck, presented you as a “passionate exhibition organizer” on your
appointment as new Executive Director Exhibitions II. What actually is your career history so far?
I have worked for NürnbergMesse for a total of almost 17 years. As a graduate Germanist and sociologist and qualified editor, I started as press consultant in 1997. From 2000 onwards I was
responsible as team director for marketing and public relations for almost 20 themes in Nürnberg and worldwide, including the leading exhibitions Chillventa, IWA OutdoorClassics, POWTECH and
GaLaBau. I then took over as Executive Director International Division in 2009, was granted joint power of representation and since then I have been a Member of the Management Board of
NürnbergMesse.
You are already very familiar with the international organic stage. As Executive Director International you have been responsible for BIOFACH’s international daughter exhibitions since
2009
Yes, this function has enabled me to get to know the worldwide organic sector and the respective markets on the ground. This means I not only have many years of expertise in the exhibition
business, but also experience of this dynamic and inspiring sector. I am very pleased to now take over responsibility for BIOFACH and VIVANESS in Nürnberg in my new role. The duo is a major part
and the origin of the BIOFACH World with daughters in Japan, the USA, Brazil, China and India. So I will now be able to become more deeply involved in this subject and in the sector.
BIOFACH will be 25 in 2014. The event is geared to Organic 3.0, and thus to the future of organic agriculture and the organic food industry. What do you think is especially important for
the future of BIOFACH?
I hope that BIOFACH, the World’s leading Trade Fair for Organic Food, will continue to retain its position as the biggest complete show of its market in the world. And, of course, that our
customers will also be delighted with the open-minded and international atmosphere at the BIOFACH and VIVANESS duo in future. The trade fairs live from this character – but without neglecting
aspects like regionality or regional and sustainable economic cycles.
What do you consider particularly important for the further strategic orientation of the event?
Our focus is quite clearly on our strengths. We consistently concentrate on certified and tested organic products at BIOFACH. Together with Udo Funke, Director Exhibitions BIOFACH and VIVANESS, and
his whole team, we are continuously working on achieving an inspiring and powerful start to the year for the organic sector. This is also intended to generate creative and innovative as well as
powerful economic and political impetus for the future development of the market every year. This is the cause I would like to champion in my new appointment and I’m looking forward to it.
All exhibitors and their current product information can be found at:
www.biofach.de/exhibitors-products
