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At the Annual General Assembly this week, the European Outdoor Group (EOG) elected David Ekelund of Icebug as the new EOG President, Andrew Shand of Helinox as EOG Vice President, and Achim Loeffler of WL Gore & Associates as EOG Treasurer. During the online meeting on Wednesday 26 February, EOG members also elected five new EOG Board members – Giulia Delladio (La Sportiva), Irina Andorfer (Sport 2000), Nina Hajikhanian (Patagonia), Jonathan Petty (Helen of Troy), and Heiko Schaefer (Mammutt Sports Group). The 12-strong EOG Board now has a 50:50 gender split for the first time.

The 2025 EOG Annual General Assembly (AGA) was chaired by new EOG Director Christian Schneidermeier, who thanked outgoing EOG President Matt Gowar and outgoing EOG Board members Matthias Gebhard, Jan Lorch, and Paolo Bordin for their contributions. During the meeting, the EOG completed formal business and agreed a programme for the year ahead. Members were presented with the 2024 Annual Report, which outlines the association’s key activities and achievements over the last 12 months, including work in areas such as: CSR and sustainability; market insights; public affairs; events and membership engagement activities; and communications. The meeting was attended by EOG members from across Europe and representing all parts of the outdoor sector. Among them were some of 17 new members that were recruited during 2024, and the EOG expects to confirm details of more organisations that are joining in the near future.

The EOG AGA followed the recent decision to pause the OutDoor show in 2025. Christian Schneidermeier provided a detailed update on the association’s approach to trade shows and other events, including the commitment to a long-term strategic partnership with Messe Munich. The EOG will use 2025 to develop proposals for the future of OutDoor. Meanwhile, Schneidermeier confirmed that with support from ISPO, the first Outdoor Impact Summit will be held from 19-20 May at Messe Munich. The summit will focus on key sustainability issues facing the sector and full details will be published soon.

Members were also given an update on the EOG’s market insights programme and its two core data projects – State of Trade (sell-in) and the Outdoor Market Intelligence Service (sell-out/through). Established for over a decade, the State of Trade (SOT) report is the outdoor industry’s most comprehensive wholesale data source. During 2024, the EOG team worked with market insights partner Sporting Insights to move SOT to a new online platform, making it easier and quicker for companies to submit data. This will allow the EOG to publish reports much faster than in the past, but the value of SOT is dependent on the input of enough companies. All contributors are entitled to free access to the full report, and Schneidermeier urged members and other brands in the industry to contact the EOG team and engage with the project.

After completing a successful pilot in the UK, the Outdoor Market Intelligence Service (OMIS) was officially launched during 2024, and now delivers real-time sell-out data from outdoor retail. The plan has always been to expand OMIS to other markets and the EOG has brought forward the timeline for that process. The service will now roll out to the French and DACH regions during 2025. The EOG is working in partnership with OutdoorSports Valley (OSV) in France, and with outdoor and sports IT consultancy OUTTRA in the DACH market. As with SOT, the success of OMIS is dependent on contributions from outdoor retailers and brands with own retail, and companies were encouraged to get in touch.

Any organisation that is interested in finding out more about how to get involved in State ofTrade or the Outdoor Market Intelligence Service should contact Hanna Piatok at the EOG on hannah.piatok@europeanoutdoorgroup.com.

EOG Director Christian Schneidermeier comments:

“The last year has seen a lot of change and significant challenges for the EOG, and the industry as a whole, but our association remains in very good shape thanks to the collective commitment to collaboration. In turbulent times, we need to work together, and the fact that EOG membership has grown for the third year in a row, demonstrates that organisations around Europe recognise that fact.

“The 2024 EOG Annual Report showcases the progress that we have made in some of our key projects, and it also puts the spotlight on what needs to happen to maintain momentum, and keep improving. As we use this year to reflect and refresh our overall approach to events, we’re very pleased that we will be able to host the first Outdoor Impact Summit at Messe Munich in May, and I look forward to seeing many colleagues there. In the meantime, our market data programme has been a cornerstone of the EOG’s activities for many years, but we need the input of more brands and retailers to sustain and expand that. Good data is essential for effective business planning and that can only be achieved by contributing.I urge outdoor companies to get in touch and help secure the long-term future of State of Trade and the Outdoor Market Intelligence Service, both of which provide vital insights for the whole sector. 

“I am delighted that members have elected David as new EOG President, Andrew and Achim as Vice President and Treasurer respectively, and Giulia, Irina, Nina, Jonathan and Heiko as new board members. It will be a privilege to work with such a talented EOG Board. For the first time, we have an equal gender balance, and more diverse representation than ever. This is a really important development and achieving it was a priority for me, as it will be vital for the fully informed decision making that can deliver real, sustained success at the EOG.  The board will continue the great work of the continuing members, and those who have left, for whose contributions the association is very grateful. Now that I have officially joined the EOG, I have been able to spend time with the executive team, and I am excited about what we can achieve together, and by working with David and the board. My thanks also go to the EOG’s outgoing managing director Scott Nelson for handing over a strong team.”

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The 2024 EOG Annual Report is available to read and download below.

To discuss potential EOG membership or engagement with individual EOG projects, contact Hannah Piatok on hannah.piatok@europeanoutdoorgroup.com