• Decisive factor: Ongoing anticipated restrictions due to Covid-19

• Frank Jüttner: 'We will be back again in 2022!'

For Miele, the IFA trade show in Berlin is by far the most important exhibition – and an indispensable meeting place for an exchange of views with valued dealers, consumers and representatives of the press from around the world. With more of a focus on the German specialist kitchen trade, the same applies to the 'Küchenmeile A 30' at Gut Böckel in Rödinghausen. The Gütersloh-based domestic appliance company took the decision to withdraw from both of this year's shows with a heavy heart.

'We didn't take this decision lightly', says Frank Jüttner, Managing Director of Miele Germany and, at the same time, responsible for the DACH region (Germany/Austria/Switzerland). From the current perspective, it is expected that far-reaching restrictions will, quite rightly, apply to both events again this year in order to prevent the spread of the disease. This includes the registration of individual guests, caps on the number of visitors, the design and layout of the exhibition booth, social distancing rules and, not least, hospitality.

'Taken together, all this will make the type of personal interaction at the show which customers are accustomed to from Miele virtually impossible', Jüttner continues. Furthermore, 'for ourselves and our sales subsidiaries, IFA plays a key role as a worldwide family gathering'. Compared with previous years, this year's event in Berlin is likely to attract only few international visitors, particularly from countries outside Europe.

In order to personally familiarise trade partners with new products and features due out this autumn, Miele will once again, as in the previous year, rely on virtual live presentations around the dates of the IFA and 'Küchenmeile' exhibitions. Frank Jüttner: 'Miele will naturally be back in 2022, both in Berlin and Rödinghausen – pandemic permitting'.

Company profile: Miele is the world's leading manufacturer of premium domestic appliances including cooking, baking and steam-cooking appliances, refrigeration products, coffee makers, dishwashers and laundry and floor care products. Their product portfolio also includes dishwashers, air purifiers, washing machines and tumble dryers for commercial use as well as washer-disinfectors and sterilisers for use in medical and laboratory applications (Miele Professional). Founded in 1899, the company has eight production plants in Germany, one each in Austria, the Czech Republic, China, Romania and Poland as well as two production plants belonging to its Italian medical technology subsidiary Steelco. Sales in the 2020 business year amounted to around € 4.5 bn (thereof 29.5% in Germany). Miele is represented with its own sales subsidiaries and via importers in
almost 100 countries/regions. Throughout the world, the family-run enterprise, now in its fourth generation, employs a workforce of around 20,900, of which approx. 11,050 employees work in Germany. The company has its headquarters in Gütersloh in Westphalia.