Marmomac 2025: Trends, Technologies and Future Themes, a Report from Verona

From September 23-26, 2025, Verona will once again become the global center of the natural stone world with MarmoMac. The 59th edition of the fair brings over 12 halls and 8 outdoor areas full of natural stone, machinery and design ideas, a must-attend event for everyone working with stone.

For us at Drylayout (DDL), the fair is more than an industry event. We develop digital workflows for natural stone: from planning individual slabs and offcuts to digital warehouse management and offer handling. That’s exactly why we follow the trends so closely: what is presented in Verona reflects what our customers will need tomorrow, and we translate these impulses into software that makes everyday work easier.

Sustainability and Circular Economy

A dominant theme in 2025 is the circular economy. Companies are showing how offcuts can be turned into mosaics, wall panels, or furniture instead of ending up in as waste. Machine manufacturers focus on energy efficiency: multi-wire saws, optimized cooling circuits and resource-saving polishing technology reduce consumption.

This shift in thinking is not only ecologically motivated but also economically. Those who market offcuts wisely increase margins and open up new markets. At the planning level, it becomes clear: the better material utilization is visible already in the design phase, the easier sustainability can be implemented. Tools like our yield optimization module tie in here, offcuts don’t remain invisible but become part of the business model.

Digitalization: From Robotics to E-Commerce

MarmoMac impressively shows how deeply digitalization has penetrated the industry.

• Robotics & CNC: Machines produce patterns and ornaments that would hardly be feasible by hand.
• IoT & Predictive Maintenance: Sensors monitor processing machines, report maintenance needs before failures occur.
• BIM & 3D Planning: Architects seamlessly integrate natural stone into digital building models.

The Plus Theatre makes this development a topic. Under the slogan "Techno-Artisan", it discusses how artisanal sensitivity combines with algorithmic precision.

Sales is also going digital: virtual showrooms and e-commerce platforms for slabs and blocks are on the rise. This is exactly where the bridge to us connects: With DDL's Slab Gallery, dealers and producers can present their inventories digitally, make them accessible to customers worldwide and generate quotes directly from them. Digitalization thus becomes not an end in itself, but a tool for international reach.

Our online inventory management and digital quote generation solutions directly address these digitalization trends.

Materials and Surfaces: Variety & Innovation

2025 shows the material world more diverse than ever:

• Classic marbles like Carrara, Travertine or Nero Marquina remain established.
• Engineered Stones (quartz composites, ceramics, sintered stone) gain through everyday practicality and large formats.
• New surfaces with anti-stain, anti-scratch or self-healing coatings increase functionality.
• Sensory innovations: translucent quartzites that play with LED light, or sound installations that make stone acoustically experiential.

This diversity is both opportunity and challenge. Customers no longer want to see just small sample pieces, but realistic visualizations. This is exactly what digital layouts enable: grain patterns, joint images and surface combinations can be displayed in original size, an approach we translate directly into projects with DDL.

Design and Lifestyle Trends

Creatively, 2025 is dominated by themes that emotionally recharge stone:

• Dark Romance, dark, earthy colors and dramatic grain patterns.
• Daily Decadence, luxury in everyday life, natural stone in kitchen, bathroom and office.
• Emotive Wellbeing, spaces that have a calming and atmospheric effect through stone.

A highlight will be the "Sounds of Marble" playlist, which translates original sounds from quarries into a sensual soundscape. This is no longer just about surfaces, but about atmosphere, stone as part of the lifestyle.

Knowledge Transfer and Networking

The MarmoMac Academy offers specialist lectures that are recognized with continuing education points (RIBA, AIA). For architects, this is the opportunity to deepen their knowledge, from material science to digital applications.

The Stone Next exhibition goes even further: Here, research and design projects are shown that combine culture, architecture and technology. An example: generative algorithms design patterns that robots then mill into marble, art and craftsmanship merge digitally.

Global Markets and Strategic Questions

The economic dimension is also tangible in Verona:

• Premium markets for fine marble remain stable, especially in luxury construction.
• Engineered Stones conquer middle price segments.
• Logistics & Geopolitics: Freight costs, interest rates and international tensions influence availability and prices.
• New target groups: Architects and designers are increasingly in focus, the fair is consciously opening up in this direction.

For dealers, this means: Those who think internationally need transparent inventories, fast quote generation and digital interfaces. This is exactly where solutions like DDL connect.

Conclusion: MarmoMac as a Trend Compass

MarmoMac 2025 makes clear where the industry is heading: sustainability, digitalization, material innovation and emotional design trends.

For us at DDL, the fair is like a trend compass. It shows us where the journey is heading, and we translate these movements into software that supports businesses, architects and dealers in everyday life. From planning individual slabs, to digital inventory management, to quote generation with just a few clicks: Our tools emerge from dialogue with the impulses we absorb in Verona.

Those preparing their visit should consciously plan time for the Plus Theatre, the Academy and the new materials alongside the hall tours. Because this is where the picture emerges of how natural stone will be conceived and used in the future.

And if we've learned one thing from years of trade fair experience: The most exciting conversations don't start at the trade fair booth, but where we ask ourselves together, how do we turn these trends into concrete projects?