Anuga Rebuilds Organic Stage for 2027 With YOOL

Anuga is redesigning its Organic on Stage format for the 2027 edition of the Cologne food trade fair, appointing strategy and sustainability agency YOOL to lead the concept, curation and programme development. The organizer announced the change on September 22.

The stage is being repositioned as a professional forum for the organic sector rather than a conventional sequence of presentations. Anuga said the programme will address perspectives spanning farming, manufacturing, specialist organic retail, mainstream food retail and international market participants.

YOOL and Anuga will develop a new programme architecture over the coming months, identify priority themes and recruit speakers from across the industry. A guiding concept is due at the beginning of 2027, providing exhibitors and visitors with a clearer view of the final direction well before the trade fair opens.

The organizer also plans an open call through which industry participants can propose themes, perspectives and programme ideas. Curated national and international speakers will complement that process, giving the event a mechanism to combine established expertise with issues raised directly by market participants.

Anuga framed the overhaul around tensions created as organic food moves further into the mainstream. Its stated agenda includes questions around growth and credibility, price and value, private labels and pioneer brands, international scale and regional roots, and the relationship between specialist and mass-market retail.

The intended audience extends beyond large brands. Anuga said the revised stage should include smaller manufacturers, farms, associations, researchers, startups and long-standing organic pioneers alongside major companies and retailers.

For exhibitors and sponsors, a more deliberately curated programme can increase the stage's value as a meeting point rather than treating it as background content to the exhibition floor. For visitors, the usefulness will depend on whether the final sessions turn broad themes into candid discussion, comparable evidence and practical market intelligence.

Anuga 2027 is scheduled in Cologne, and the detailed Organic on Stage programme has not yet been published. The strategic appointment and planned open call are confirmed, but individual speakers, session titles and participation procedures remain forthcoming.