About ISM Snacks & Sweets
Koelnmesse's ISM is the world's largest trade fair for sweets and snacks, held every year in Cologne. It covers the confectionery and snack industry's whole value chain, including private-label products in both sweet and savoury segments.
Exhibitors present chocolate and confectionery, biscuits and fine bakery, savoury snacks, nuts and related products, from global brands to smaller specialists. Admission is for trade visitors only. They are mainly buyers from food retail chains, wholesale, cash and carry, convenience, food service and import and export businesses, and the audience is strongly international.
ISM has developed into a broader platform. Alongside the main fair, ISM Ingredients covers raw materials and ingredients, with a focus on themes such as sugar reduction, sustainable sourcing and solutions for taste, texture and functionality, and ISM Manufacturing covers production and packaging technology. Together they trace the journey from the first idea and ingredients through production to the marketable product.
For confectionery and snack brands, the fair is a key place to win listings and distribution. Category buyers use it to scout new lines and meet suppliers from many countries in a few days, which can open doors that would take months of sales calls to reach. The flip side is intense competition for attention. Stands that work tend to have bold branding readable from the aisle, newest products front and centre, hygienic sampling points, and a semi-private area for pricing and logistics discussions with key accounts.
Next edition
ISM Snacks & Sweets 2027: what to expect
The 2027 edition runs from 31 January to 3 February at Koelnmesse, with the main fair now branded ISM Snacks & Sweets as part of a trio with ISM Ingredients and ISM Manufacturing. Koelnmesse reports that ISM Ingredients has grown by more than 30 per cent in space and doubled its registered exhibitors compared with its 2026 premiere, with Barry Callebaut exhibiting for the first time.
For scale, the organiser reported 1,567 exhibitors, around 32,000 trade visitors and about 100,000 square metres of gross exhibition space at ISM 2026.
The fair overlaps with spoga horse and other events in Cologne, so hotel availability will be tight. Check Koelnmesse's rules on food handling, sampling and power early.