Feria Hàbitat València opened its doors yesterday in an edition marked by “the rebound” that the contract furniture section is experiencing, the one dedicated to furniture for companies and professionals of a public and private nature with a special impact on hotels and restaurants.
The president of the Wood and Furniture Business Federation of the Valencian Community (Fevama), Alejandro Bermejo, highlights that they perceive how the sector is slowing down due to the decline in home furniture, which is booming after the pandemic: “The consumer "He is forgetting the furniture in his house to go outside more, which is why hotels, restaurants and everything that has to do with leisure are being rehabilitated," Bermejo explained during the opening of the fair.
However, the export figures “are not bad,” says Bermejo. The sector added a production of 4,690 million euros in 2022 and a growth of 1.6% in the first quarter of the year, according to the AIDIMME Observatory, the Metalworking, Furniture, Wood, Packaging and Related Technological Institute of Valencia . In addition, exports continue to boom with growth of 6.6% in the first half while furniture trade grew by 11% last year, according to the consulting firm DBK.
Given this growing interest, companies such as Vical, from L'Olleria, have launched themselves into producing outdoor furniture. To the fair, an "essential" event for the company, they have brought a wide sample of their commitment to natural fibers and materials for outdoor enjoyment in a strategy that "commits to differentiating ourselves." Make their product known at the fair It is important for the company, explains the director of the firm, José Boluda, because “in the habitat sector, seeing, touching and checking the product is very important.”
Also at Ldk Living Outdoors they perceive this transfer of demand to outdoor furniture, still savoring the honey left by the pandemic in which renovating the home became, almost almost, an emergency. “Now we have a bigger cake, the sector has become much more segmented,” explains Luis García Bernardo, director of this firm based in Ibi.
From furniture to fabrics, the firm wants “design to reach everyone, so that you don't have to be a smuggler or a soccer player to have beautiful furniture,” says its manager. He also confirms the commitment to renew the furniture made by leisure companies, such as restaurants, of whom he assures "before deciding what they will offer, they think about the concept they will recreate and even the type of table they want to have in the restaurant," he points out.
The fair opens this edition with good expectations and with the aim of exceeding last year's 48,000 visitors, 15% of which came from 70 countries. Companies have gotten involved and there are 435 direct exhibitors and 631 firms represented at Hábitat València, a growth of 8% compared to 2022. The reason, explains Alejandro Bermejo, is that “for this sector this fair is a great springboard and an opportunity to go outside.”
The idea was also reinforced by José Ramón Revert, director of Manuel Revert, and one of the long-standing exhibitors at this fair, which dedicated to furniture now has 57 editions. “It is important that the entire habitat is united in this showcase, that eminently exporting sectors present ourselves together because this way we have much more strength for buyers to come. We are optimistic and we hope to have good results in this edition,” he said yesterday at the opening of the fair. President Carlos Mazón participated for the first time, accompanied by the president of Les Corts, Llanos Massó, the mayor of València, María José Catalá, and the Minister of Innovation, Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Nuria Montes.
Catalá being vice president and Montes being president of the Board of Directors of the Fair, both showed the idea that the Consell is working on of orienting the new profile of the venue to one that also hosts events. The recent 2023 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championship is an example, Mazón also explained, who pointed out “the collaboration and joint work” of the Valencia City Council and the Generalitat to “improve the facility and optimize it as it deserves, because at this time it is no longer beyond 10 or 15% of the productivity that it can offer to our economy.”
