Partnering in Business with Germany at BIOFACH 2025: successful networking for German SMEs

With 35,000 visitors from 140 countries and more than 2,000 exhibitors, BIOFACH is the world’s leading trade fair for organic food and sustainable agriculture. It is thus an ideal platform to present the services offered by the foreign trade and investment promotion instrument Partnering in Business with Germany (PG) to German and international companies and foster the networking with German SMEs in a targeted manner.

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A successful presentation at the trade fair to strengthen international cooperation

The programme was represented at BIOFACH for the first time this year with a stand of its own from 11 to 14 February. In addition to entrepreneurs from Egypt, Tunisia, Moldova and Ukraine, who held targeted B2B talks and presented their products at the event, representatives of the division which is responsible for the Partnering in Business with Germany programme at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) outlined the benefits of participating in the programme. At a panel presentation, Mr Ulrich Niemann, head of division at the Economic Affairs and Climate Action Ministry, and his deputy, Mr Manuel Palz, informed the audience about the opportunities which the programme offers for German SMEs and its international business partners.

PG Connect: targeted networking for German SMEs

A Special highlight: the new registration tool PG Connect now offers free registration and exclusive access to selected international business executives for German SMEs. On the platform, companies can find out at an early stage when delegations with potential business partners are coming to Germany, they can indicate their cooperation wishes and thus make contacts in a targeted manner. The PG Connect platform provides a new possibility especially for German SMEs to easily tap the export and import potential.

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Manuel Palz presents the programme ©GIZ/Matthias Merz

Examples of successful participation in the programme

Mr Peter Nagueh, Business Development Manager at Spice Kingdom from Egypt, is one example of how companies can benefit from participating in the PG programme. Visiting the trade fair helped him to make valuable contacts with German business partners and further develop his export strategy for Germany. Ms Oumayma Hamza, who is responsible for the quality management at Agro Melanges Technologies from Tunisia, used the opportunity to talk with representatives of German mechanical engineering firms – a crucial step for her planned investments.

Participating in BIOFACH was a great success and has shown how valuable such events are for international networking. Such events not only provide the opportunity to meet with representatives of companies from the partner countries, but also contribute to making the Partnering in Business with Germany programme even more visible among German SMEs. Mr Ulrich Niemann said: “BIOFACH has impressively shown how valuable personal discussions are for lasting business partnerships. By establishing PG Connect, we have created a platform that helps German SMEs to access international markets and speed up their internationalisation in a targeted manner.”

Oumayma Hamza in dialogue with a German company ©GIZ/Matthias Merz

Oumayma Hamza, Agro Melanges Technologies

What impressed you most about the trade fair? Was it your first experience of this sort?

It was my first time attending BIOFACH, and I was impressed by the variety of exhibitors and the opportunity to engage directly with suppliers of raw materials, ingredients, and machinery. This fair allowed me to explore innovations in the organic sector, particularly in terms of ingredient quality, sustainable packaging, and advanced technological solutions.

How has Partnering in Business with Germany enabled you to present your product better at the trade fair?

Our company already works with several German suppliers, and our machines are also made in Germany. The programme provided a great opportunity to strengthen and enhance this cooperation by facilitating exchanges during B2B meetings. Thanks to networking sessions and business matchmaking, I gained a better understanding of the German market trends and supplier expectations.

Did you find any specific manufacturers or models that meet your needs?

Yes, I identified several suppliers of raw materials and ingredients that meet our quality and certification requirements. Regarding machinery, I discovered innovative equipment that could help us optimize our production and improve efficiency. I am particularly interested in solutions tailored to the processing and packaging of our products.

How do you plan to proceed with your cooperation idea to purchase German machines? Are you already in talks with any suppliers? Do you have any concrete results already?

Following the B2B meetings organized as part of the programme, we have already had advanced discussions with several suppliers. One of them has even planned to visit us in the coming months to further discuss collaboration opportunities. This is a concrete result that could lead to a strategic partnership for the development of our production and supply chain capabilities.

Peter Nagueh at the trade fair ©GIZ/Matthias Merz

Peter Nagueh, Spice Kingdom

Looking back, how would you describe your participation as an exhibitor at BIOFACH?

The trade fair was great. We are satisfied by the number of visitors of our booth as well as the type of customers. We had the chance to meet companies from more than 30 different countries. The dialogue partners were serious and wanted to know more about our company.

How did the meetings with the German companies go? Are there already concrete results?

At least 25 % of our meetings were with German companies. The majority were very interested in our products and didn’t know about our company before.

Some of the companies are important players in the market and we were targeting to meet them at the fair. The pre-organized meetings were successful, and we met very interesting companies. We succeeded to know more about the needs of the German companies and what they are looking for in their suppliers. At the end we agreed with the companies on needed next steps to proceed in our cooperation. Some companies asked for quotations, others for samples and other companies wanted to contact them again after the fair.

We discussed also different aspects of cooperation like payment terms and deliveries.

**How did Partnering in Business with Germany help you to present your product better at the trade fair?**

The programme gave me useful insights about the German market and the German companies. Beside that, we got training sessions giving us marketing tips and how to communicate effectively with German partners.

Adding to that, each of us had personal tutoring sessions with very professional and accredited coaches from ICUnet. The coaches worked with us individually step by step and helped us to focus on our special added value we can offer German companies. For example, for us I knew that German partners appreciate the family business specially when it has a legacy of 105 years of experience like Spice Kingdom We also showed our quality certificates, samples, reference customers and videos about our investments.

Manuel Palz exchanges business cards with the CEO of Spice Kingdom ©GIZ/Matthias Merz

Participating entrepreneurs from Tunisia, Egypt, Ukraine and Moldova at the PG stand ©GIZ/Matthias Merz

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