Franchise Expo Germany 2023

November 9-11 at the Frankfurt exhibition center

Positive development of the franchise industry in Germany

The kick-off for this year’s Franchise Expo has been a success. A third of the exhibitors have already signed, the cooperation between the U.S. trade fair organizer MFV Expositions/Comexposium and the German Franchise Association is already in full swing for Germany’s only franchise trade fair, which will take place from November 9-11 at the Frankfurt exhibition center.

Together with strong partners, such as the IHK Frankfurt am Main, economic development Frankfurt am Main, the U.S. Commercial Service, Master Franchise Germany, Syncon International Franchise Consulting and many others, the trade fair is intended to attract even more people interested in setting up a business, investors and companies interested in expansion. International brands that rely on the German economic strength are also in the focus of the organization team. Already 40% of the exhibitors were from other countries so far.

Due to this international idea, the name of the trade fair has also been expanded – “Franchise Expo Frankfurt” has now, after five years, become “Franchise Expo Germany”.

About the Franchise Expo Germany

2018 was the kick-off for the trade fair – since then it has been held annually over three days at the Frankfurt exhibition center. Franchise Expo Germany is the only one of its kind in Germany and is the meeting place for the national and international franchise industry.

In 2022, the trade fair was again well attended with 2,200 participants. A sign that people are looking for change and Corona and despite existing uncertainties also regain the courage to become self-employed.

Being self-employed, but not alone, the so-called “brand sharing” (sharing the brand) seems to be an interesting middle ground for more and more people between the idea of founding a company and working in a team. Experts also talk about franchising as the “soft form into self-employment” or “company forge”.

Foundations in Deutschland

In general, start-up activity in Germany returned to pre-crisis levels in 2021 after the Corona bump in 2020. With 607,000 start-ups, 70,000 or 13% more people became self-employed than in 2020 (source: KfW Start-up Monitor 2022).

Facts & Figures of the (Franchise)economy (source: German Franchise Association 2023)

The current franchise statistics of the German Franchise Association reflect the upward trend: Despite multiple crises, the German franchise industry shows a positive development trend in 2022. Around 930 franchise systems, with 144,014 franchise partners, employ a total of 814,304 people (+3.4% compared to 2021). Franchise operations have increased by 2.8% compared to 2021.

The recruitment of new franchise partners remains a burning issue at present, as does the labor market bottleneck that is being felt everywhere. This is clear from the current survey and from the many personal discussions we have had with our members. However, the fact that franchise systems are finding ways and means to continue growing is shown by the comparatively stronger increase in the number of operations. In addition to expanding their own locations, this speaks in favor of alternative growth strategies such as multi-unit franchises, in order to bridge the current expansion stagnation
– reports Jan Schmelzle, Managing Director of the German Franchise Association.

Ambassadors of the Franchise Expo Germany 2023

Ambassadors are people from exhibiting franchise systems who are selected by the organizer to provide feedback on the planning of the trade fair and to act as testimonials for the trade fair.

Ambassadors of this year: