Key takeaways of BABY EXPO 2018. Interview with Nataliia Fidorenko, Project Director

Nataliia Fidorenko, Project Director of Baby Expo, International Trade Fair of Children’s Goods held annually in Kiev, Ukraine, told the Ukrainian Toy Industry Association (UTIA) about the outcomes of Baby Expo 2018, progress in toy design and technology in Ukraine, pressing problems in the toy market, and participation terms and conditions for Baby Expo 2019.

Your mission as Project Director of Baby Expo cannot be overemphasized. What challenges do you like the most?

I have been organizing trade fairs for over 22 years. I am Project Director of Baby Expo since its very first edition. Having started as a small exposition, Baby Expo evolved into a large-scale international trade fair including three expositions (Toy Fair, Baby Product Fair, and Children’s Fashion Fair) and various business events. Baby Expo success is a result of diligent work and dedication of the entire staff of ACCO International.

The trade fair was developing steadily together with our exhibitors, gaining new practices and experiences. Participation in Baby Expo was the first step towards success taken by today’s market leaders still remaining our exhibitors. We are very pleased with increase of Ukrainian manufacturers offering their products at international trade fairs.

This is the most exciting thing in our work – to see exhibitor achievements, market developments, and feel we have contributed to them. With that in my mind, I’m working with much enthusiasm.

Children’s toys made in Ukraine today have much better quality and more diverse range. What impressions did jury members have when choosing the best toy 2018?

Yes, a wide range of various toys and games (including by world’s best known brands) is represented in the Ukrainian market. They are hard to compete with, so we highly appreciate courage and dedication of the Ukrainian toy manufacturers. To support domestic production, we founded Best Toy Contest fifteen years ago. Plush and stuffed toys were mainly submitted for its first edition, but the number of toys with more technological content increased year by year. Forty three product samples were submitted for this year’s edition. The jury noted that manufacturers had started investing in process equipment and technologies.

Out experts are not only decide on the winners but also give helpful advice on improvements to the submitted samples. That’s why toys and games by the contest participants become much more attractive.

Twenty two editions of Baby Expo have already been held. How have exhibitor numbers changed over the years? What have been the factors affecting them?

As of today, about 30–40 % of exhibitors participate in Baby Expo regularly. These rates have been higher before, and the overall exhibitor numbers were larger until 2014. I guess that the decrease was mainly caused by events of 2013–2014. Companies from Crimea found themselves outside of Ukraine and unable to participate, companies from Donetsk and Luhansk regions dissolved or changed their business area. We have been observing positive changes only since 2017.

It is no question that Baby Expo is the top industry event. What can you tell about foreign exhibitors? Is their number increasing or decreasing?

The presence of foreign exhibitors at the trade fair is mainly affected by political and economic situation in Ukraine. In 2013, we had the largest number of foreign exhibitors ever (including from Poland, Italy, France, Spain, China, Turkey, and Russia). 2014 was a year of heavy decline being exhibitors’ response to the events in Ukraine. And their number has been increasing again only since 2017.

I know that display of counterfeit products by some exhibitors was recorded. Could you please comment?

Yes, such violation was reported to us as the Organizers by the representatives of some interested companies. Together, we issued a warning and demanded to remove counterfeit products.

Before the trade fairs, I personally inform all exhibitors that display of any counterfeit products is strictly prohibited. But we are not able to track down such products early to prevent their display. There can only be one or two counterfeit items among a great range of displayed products.

I am ready for cooperation with controlling departments of manufacturers and authorized distributors to prevent similar violations. We hope that we will succeed to develop some anti-counterfeit methods jointly with UTIA next year. Whatever the case, we should strive for business integrity and civilized children’s product market in Ukraine by our combined efforts.

What organizational challenges have you experienced this year?

Organization of such large fairs is not an easy task anyway. We have a lot of challenging issues to be worked out.

The most important one is reservation of dates and spaces at exhibition centres. There are two high seasons, from February till April and from September till November, when fairs are mostly held. And I have to honestly say that Kiev has not enough venues.

It just so happened, that only one large-scale venue (International Exhibition Centre) had left in Kiev in 2018, so a lot of trade fair organizers began to compete for the best dates. In view of this, Baby Expo 2018 had to change its usual dates for the dates between Catholic and Orthodox Easter with negative effect on its attendance.

Are there any alternative similar scale venues in Kiev?

The answer is a resounding “no”. There is no other venue of at least 10,000 sq. m in Kiev. Moreover, access ways, large parking space and much more options are needed.

What is the application deadline for Baby Expo 2019? When trade fair dates and participation conditions will be known?

We hope to reserve the last or second last week of March 2019 and start stand registration at the end of October 2018. So November and December 2018 are optimal terms for large exhibitors to apply and chose stand layouts. We hope that the trade fair dates will be already known in September. UTIA President and Members will be promptly informed of them.

On 03 April 2018, within Baby Expo, UTIA President made a presentation about the main global trends influencing the Ukrainian toy market. You are a person who deals with the exhibitors directly, so please answer what topics may be of interest to them at the next trade fair edition?

Yes, UTIA President provided the most update and relevant information in his presentation.

Baby Expo exhibitors and visitors are mainly engaged in retail and wholesale trade. My guess is that merchandising, store management, sales, staff training and motivation will whet their appetite.

Do you have any useful tips for exhibitors at Baby Expo 2019?

Dear exhibitors, I earnestly ask you prepare for the trade fair early and be active. And also prepare your customers – tell they can meet you at Baby Expo. Draw more attention to yourself — held a show, presentation, performance, lottery, giveaway, etc. Seize the opportunity to publish your info about new brand designs, promotion offers, etc. on our online resources (website, Facebook page, weekly e-newsletters).

We are ready for fruitful cooperation. Don’t hesitate to contact us with your proposals and suggestions. We are always glad to help you.