In this issue, we review BBQ WEEK 2022, among other things. Good food, the best drinks, music, and the opportunity to finally meet and celebrate together again provided the perfect setting for a successful event celebrating FIRE&FOOD's 20th anniversary. Thank you for being there, and thank you to all the exhibitors, sponsors, and helpers. Please reserve your spot for May 18-20, 2023, today, as the sequel will be held then (starting on page 44).
Since gas prices have skyrocketed, electric grills have been gaining even more attention. Following the Severin Sevo, the electric Beefer, and the Landmann grill station, other brands are already in the pipeline.
After a two-year hiatus, spoga took place again in Cologne. It was widely heard that rising material and logistics costs, as well as unstable supply chains, were posing major challenges for barbecue brands. In addition, customers are hesitant about buying barbecues due to rising prices, sharply increased inflation, and the uncertainty about what their energy bills will ultimately look like at the end of the year. The pressure is particularly noticeable in the €200 to €500 price range. Nevertheless, optimism is called for; most barbecue brands' sales figures are above pre-coronavirus levels. A review of spoga can be found on pages 74–75.
The intense pressure on pork prices, caused by export bans due to swine fever, as well as rising feed prices, is forcing more and more pig farmers to abandon their farms. Only the highest quality meat will offer pork producers a future. Fewer animals in species-appropriate housing and regional processing bring producers higher and necessary added value. Even marketing must be brought closer to the farms. This is the only way to avoid the sales and price problems recently experienced with asparagus and strawberries. After reporting on the success story of the Schwäbisch Hall Landschwein in issue 1/22, our focus in this issue is on the Buntes Bentheimer Schwein (starting on page 10).
New to this issue of FIRE&FOOD are the presence pages of the GBA (German Barbecue Association eV) (pages 54–55). Together, we're already looking forward to the 25th German Barbecue Championship, which will take place in Fulda from August 6–7.