1971 was the start of a remarkable success story of ISM

1971 - the year that the Aswan dam was inaugurated in Egypt, Mc Donald's opened up its first branch in Germany in Munich and the banks in the Federal Republic of Germany and the Benelux countries resolved to issue uniform Euro cheques and Euro cheque cards. But 1971 is also the year that the first International Sweets and Biscuits Fair (ISM) took place in Cologne. And that was the start of a remarkable success story, not only for the trade fair itself, but also for many manufacturers in Germany and many countries around the globe.

As a "spin-off" of Anuga, which was already the world's largest and most important trade fair for food and beverages at the time, the ISM premiere kicked off in a comparably modest way. 351 companies exhibited new products in the scope of a samples show. 5,800 trade visitors attended the event, proved to be willing to order - according to the final report of the trade fair back then - and thus contributed towards ISM becoming a permanent fixture on the agenda in Cologne. Since then the trade fair has continually developed into becoming today's most important ordering and information platform of the international sweets industry.