The Brazilian Footwear Industry Association has announced the launch of the first fair it is organizing: it will be called BFSHOW ‘Brazilian Footwear Show’ and will take place November 21-23, 2023 in Porto Alegre, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul . According to Abicalçados, nine months after the first edition, the fair has already scored 85 percent of the space occupied, with companies representing all segments and sizes of the Brazilian footwear sector and an expression of important production centers in the country. A country that, we recall, is the fifth largest footwear producer in the world, the largest outside Asia, with an industrial park that brings together more than 4,000 factories.

The choice of the fair’s location-Porto Alegre-was dictated by the presence of excellent infrastructure, the proximity between the fairgrounds and the city’s international airport, and the extensive and qualified hotel network.

The fact, moreover, that at the helm of the new event is a national entity that represents the Brazilian footwear industry itself (like Assocalzaturifici for Micam in Milan) is certainly a plus point and a guarantee for the operators who will participate: “Companies, of all sizes and segments, as well as large-scale distribution, have understood that this is an event that stems from the needs and demands of the market. It is a fair made by the industry for distribution, with the sole interest of satisfying the desires of the sector and providing one more tool for its development”- commented Abicalçados Executive President Haroldo Ferreira.

NürnbergMesse Brasil’s general manager, João Paulo Picolo, heralds a lively and commercially interesting first edition. “The Abicalçados seal, in itself, indicates the strength of the fair, optimizing resources and generating more meaningful returns for exhibitors.”

As of January 2023, the Brazilian footwear industry exported 14.63 million pairs of footwear (mainly to the U.S., Latin America and Europe), worth about $117.9 million: superior results, both in terms of volume (+4.5 percent) and revenues (+16.6 percent) compared to the first month of 2022. With a projected 1.6 percent growth in production, for more than 860 million pairs produced in 2023, the Brazilian footwear industry can therefore see an event like BFSHOW as a significant opportunity to increase sales in both domestic and international markets.