Following the successful début in Málaga last year, preparations for the second EVO NXT Business Festival for next-generation products (NGPs) are in full swing. An exciting mix of keynote presentations, discussion panels, master-classes and a whole variety of entertainment will await trade visitors once again at the Palacio de Ferias y Congresos on 5 and 6 April 2024. The organisers are now being assisted by three new partners – the Confédération Européenne des Détaillants en Tabac (CEDT), the Unión de Asociaciones de Estanqueros de España and the Nordic Nicotine Pouches Association (NNPA) – who are now actively assisting with EVO NXT and will be involved in many aspects including organising the programme line-up.

Dortmund, 15 January 2024 – The very first EVO NXT Business Festival brought together an international audience of experts, prominent companies and first movers in the NGP (next-generation products) sector in Málaga, Spain. Under sunny skies and with temperatures hovering around 20 degrees, visitors were able to discuss innovations, current topics of interest and latest technologies, and discover new products in a total of four zones – the E‑ZONE for e-cigarettes and liquids, the HEAT ZONE for heat-not-burn products, the GREEN ZONE for hemp products and the O‑ZONE for products such as pouches and other alternatives. An exciting mix of keynote talks, panel discussions and master-classes plus a wide-ranging entertainment programme completed what was a superb experience. As expected, the conclusion of everyone involved was up-beat, and anticipation ahead of the second event on 5 and 6 April 2024 is correspondingly high.

New partners getting actively involved

The first evidence of this are three new partners who are now supporting EVO NXT and will be actively involved in shaping the programme. The new EVO NXT partners in turn benefit from the opportunity to discover new trending products at the industry festival, add them to their ranges and so optimise their positioning for the future.

The first new partner is the Confédération Européenne des Détaillants en Tabac (CEDT), a European economic interest group bringing together national associations of tobacco retailers. The main purpose of the CEDT is to promote the interests of the near‑130,000 European tobacco retailers who, as professionals, ensure the legality of the sales cycle, the authenticity and quality of products such as tobacco, and support conscious consumption for adults only in keeping with national and European health standards.

Another new partner is the Unión de Asociaciones de Estanqueros de España, an organisation founded in 1992 representing the interests of over 13,000 tobacconists throughout Spain. It unites the associations in each of the Spanish provinces, which in turn bring together tobacconists in each individual province. The Unión de Estanqueros will be actively participating as the voice of tobacconists in all forums where decisions are taken on issues touching on the interests of its members.

The third new partner is the Nordic Nicotine Pouches Association (NNPA) which is committed to the interests of Nordic producers of pouches and works to provide information on nicotine pouches and expand the general level of knowledge about them. Among other things, it advocates a strict age limit for distribution of pouches (to over-18s only), adult-only marketing and labelling systems clearly indicating the nicotine content and the risks associated with consumption. Limiting the nicotine content to 20mg per pouch is also one of the NNPA's goals.



“We're delighted to see the three new partners getting involved in preparing for and staging our business festival – by communicating it to their members, by encouraging them to take part, and by being in attendance themselves at the venue – either making their own contributions or working with us to develop ideas on which programme items and speakers could be of interest to trade visitors,” said Sabine Loos, Managing Director of Westfalenhallen Unternehmensgruppe. “We're convinced their support is going to help ensure the up-coming business festival will again attract a great deal of interest within the industry – especially as we'll be attracting representatives of the various NGP sectors to Málaga,” she added.