ISM 2026

Feb 5
3 min read

Pink ISM event banner reading “ISM, Cologne, Germany, 01–04 February 2026”.

From 01–04 February 2026, our team at SAMPOCHEM visited ISM in Cologne, Germany, one of the most important global meeting points for sweets, snacks, biscuits, bakery, and ingredient innovation. Over four packed days, we met with manufacturers, brand owners, and partners from around the world to talk about what’s changing in the market and how smart ingredient solutions can help producers stay ahead.

Below are a few highlights from our ISM 2026 visit, the themes we heard repeatedly, and where we’re heading next.

Why we went to ISM 2026

For us, ISM is valuable for one simple reason: it brings the full snack and confectionery ecosystem together in one place, from established global brands to fast-moving challengers, and from R&D-driven ingredient specialists to packaging and processing innovators.

Our main goals this year were to:

Connect with manufacturers of biscuits, wafers, crackers, cereals, and snack products
Discuss practical ways to reduce acrylamide without compromising taste, texture, or process reliability
Explore shelf-life and quality stability strategies that fit modern “clean-label” expectations
Strengthen relationships with existing contacts and build new ones for upcoming trials and rollouts

The big topics we kept hearing (and seeing)

Across dozens of conversations, especially with technical, quality, and innovation teams several priorities came up again and again:

Better risk management for acrylamide
Acrylamide mitigation continues to be a key focus for many baked and fried product categories. Producers are looking for solutions that are robust in real production (not just in lab trials), and that work across different recipes, raw-material variability, and process conditions.
At SAMPOCHEM, this is exactly where Acryligo fits: a practical ingredient solution designed to help reduce acrylamide formation in relevant applications while keeping product performance and sensory expectations in mind.
Clean-label pressure meets industrial reality
Consumers want shorter ingredient lists and familiar terms, but factories still need solutions that are stable, scalable, and consistent. We saw a clear shift toward approaches that reduce risk and simplify production, rather than adding complexity.
Shelf-life, freshness, and “quality to the last day”
Shelf-life extension is no longer just about preventing spoilage, it’s increasingly about protecting texture, freshness perception, and product stability throughout distribution. Brands that export (or distribute widely) are particularly focused on maintaining consistent quality across climate zones and long supply chains.
This is where our preservation solutions, such as ServaBio and SecUvam, often become relevant depending on the application and formulation goals.
Sustainability isn’t optional anymore
Sustainability came up constantly: lower waste, higher yield, optimized processes, and smarter formulation strategies. For us, it’s a strong match with SAMPOCHEM’s broader direction: high-efficiency solutions that help producers hit safety and quality targets while staying competitive.

The best part: the people

Trade fairs are about products, but the real value is the exchange between people who solve problems every day: R&D teams, plant managers, QA leaders, procurement specialists, and founders building the next generation of snack brands.

We had a lot of “deep-dive” conversations that went well beyond product brochures, into process conditions, browning targets, sensory constraints, and real-world production bottlenecks. Those discussions are exactly what help us refine our support and bring more value to trials and scale-ups.