#12 GOOD GRIEF NEWS
BEFA 2025 SPECIAL EDITION: TRENDSPOTTING AT GERMANY’S BIGGEST FUNERAL FAIR
One year ago, Forum BEFA 2024 marked the beginning of this newsletter. Now, 12 editions later, I’ve returned to Germany's biggest funeral industry fair — this time in the beautiful (and sunny!) Hamburg where I lived for 5 years before moving abroad. To celebrate the one year mark of GOOD GRIEF NEWS, I’m sharing my top takeaways from BEFA 2025.
This was my third BEFA, and for the first time, I co-hosted the BEFA Buddy Dinner, an evening for creatives, startups, and first-timers in the industry to connect and share ideas. Together with Carolin Oberheide from the German Funeral Supplies Association, I’m always on the lookout for fresh thinking in the death space. Supporting, networking, and nurturing new concepts is close to both our hearts.
And it seems that the industry is opening up more and more to new ideas. (And outsiders are daring to present their concepts, too.) Here are the six trend signals I spotted this year:
1. From fringe to front row: Startups step into the spotlight
Unlike in previous years, where new ideas felt pushed to the margins, startups were more central this time — both literally and metaphorically. Quickfire "speed presentations" gave newcomers a platform (though I still wish the Q&A had more bite), but the real exchange happened at the booths, in conversations that seemed more curious, engaged, and open. There's still a long way to go, but innovation is no longer the awkward cousin at the funeral, it's finally invited to sit at the family table.
2. Funeral products take a cue from interior design
One trend was impossible to miss: urns and memorial products that looked like they belong in a high-end concept store. Design inspiration – and the product designers themselves – are increasingly coming from the home & living world.
Brands such as Völsing, Circart, Additivum and Morii combine sleek materials, modern and bold colors and tactile finishes with emotional storytelling and meaningful symbolism. For example, furniture designer Anker Bak's Akari urn for Völsing looks like a lantern and symbolises a 'guiding light'. It was designed with Scandinavian and Japanese influences and feels more like an homage to life than a storage container.
Morii's minimalist display of coffee-table books and chic design objects resembled a lifestyle boutique rather than a traditional funeral stand. Winner of the German Design Award 2020, the combination of mourning, art and design is very important to the two founders, which is why the portfolio also includes matching decorative objects. My second new find, Circart Urns, also offers a combination of high quality urns and matching funeral decorations.
Overall, I felt that the booth design at the fair has evolved - less warehouse aisle, more curated and inviting. It's a welcome change.
3. Goodbye plastic, hello nature: Eco-Design gets smarter
Sustainability was (again) a major theme — but this year, it felt more versatile. Materials were smarter, storytelling was clearer, and innovation was tangible. Think spelt husks, reused woodchips, nut shells and eggshell powders turned into new shapes or 3D-printed urns. Brands like Circart, Urnique, Urnfold and Timberhuus are developing solutions that preferably use locally sourced materials or upcycle waste materials, that break down faster, leave no microplastics behind, and still manage to look good.
Joining this list are Edelzweig urns from Austria, crafted from materials that previously had no use — such as larch bark and stone pine wood, sourced from local sawmills. These natural urns offer a multi-sensory experience and give new meaning to what might otherwise be discarded as waste. A beautiful example of upcycling with emotional depth.
Instead of just ticking the eco-box, these companies are asking: How do we design products that speak to environmental values and emotional needs?
4. Expand rituals: Encouraging more active participation
From floral ribbon bands that can be filled with individual flowers by each funeral guest, to participatory urn lids carved with memory tokens, to do-it-yourself memorial jewelry made from personal objects – rituals are becoming more tactile, emotional, communal and/or personal.
The industry is beginning to realize that the ceremony isn’t just about logistics; it’s about celebration and healing. Ideas like Holzurne’s "Flower of Remembrance" or personal messages in urns are redefining farewells. Not everyone is able to create their own rituals, so it's great to see more thoughtful, accessible options emerging.
5. Price matters, but so does aesthetics: Introducing Budget Elegance
Not everyone can (or wants to) spend a lot on funeral products. But that doesn't mean they don't want attractive design and simple beauty. New brands are responding with more affordable designs that still feel deliberate and refined.
Urnique has introduced a beautiful entry-level urn, while Urnfold presented a foldable DIY paper urn. Aesthetic doesn't have to be expensive. Affordable doesn't have to look cheap. This shift could bring more dignity and choice to more people.
6. Real Talk: Where is the digital transformation?
For an industry that deals with logistics, planning, and data, digital innovation still feels... slow. No app for navigating the fair, no real-time networking tools, no digital layer to connect it all that is standard elsewhere. A presentation on digitalisation in the funeral industry ended with an announcement about... ordering flowers online.
Yes, platforms like Grievy, Willow, and YANA are doing exciting things and their presentations were very well attended, but overall, the funeral space is still clinging to its fax machines. There are so many opportunities to make end-of-life care and funeral services smarter, more seamless and to automate administrative processes in favour of emotional support. Let's hope the next BEFA will bring more movement.
Personal takeaway: Why real connections still win
In an age of endless Zoom meetings, webinars and a daily information overload, this fair reminded me why face-to-face meetings still matter. New ideas don’t always come from scheduled meetings and scrolling screens. Sometimes they happen in the pause between things — in a hallway, over coffee, after a shared laugh and during an unexpected conversation with someone at BEFA. Human connection is still the most powerful driver of change. Perhaps that is why our start-up initiative has been so successful.
I’ll be back at BEFA next year. Will you?
Image sources:
Own pictures, some images by Carolin Oberheide (Thank you!)
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Leben und Tod fair in Bremen (May 16+17) will be my next stop. If you're going to be there and want to grab a coffee and chat, feel free to ping me!
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Thank you for reading GOOD GRIEF NEWS, a monthly newsletter on trends and fresh perspectives around death, grief and remembrance. You can see more of my work at goodgrief.me or stefanieschillmoeller.com and feel free to follow me on Instagram.
01.04.2025