A successful experiment: French-Bavarian networking “over a hot stove”

That doesn’t happen every day! On 24th February 2016, representatives of 20 mostly French and Bavarian companies, some of them after a long and tiring day at the embedded world trade fair, met in Nuremberg to make new contacts. The opportunity came in the form of an experimental cookery event for the first time. Our French friends and foodies were the perfect partners with whom to try the experiment of cooking a dinner together as a way of strengthening business relations.

Intensive discussions took place “over a hot stove” and as the participants enjoyed their four-course dinner. Topics included German hidden champions – relatively unknown small or medium-sized companies who are leaders in their markets and thus represent huge market potential for foreign suppliers and service companies. Bavaria is home to numerous high-tech hidden champions, such as KATHREIN and Krones. The participants also discussed strategies for successful entry to the German market, exchanging a great deal of experience. Alongside collaboration with a sales partner and opening a site abroad, the topic of takeovers is an increasing focus. As dessert came around, the participants even began to philosophise on the issue of big data, which is polarising opinion at the moment. All of them agreed that increasing connection through data is indispensable if the industry is to remain competitive. Many people are (still) sceptical about the issue in private, however.

There was plenty to talk about and we hope that some of the discussions will bear fruit in the future, be it in the form of collaborations, investments or customer relationships. We would like to thank all the chefs once again for their commitment and their willingness to try this experiment with us. We hope they had as much fun as we did!

For images of the event go to our media library.