Food and drink sector reunites

Hotel, Restaurant & Catering (HRC), IFE, International Food & Drink Event, and IFE Manufacturing will return to ExCeL London on 20-22 March 2023 to reunite the food and drink sector for three packed days of product sourcing, networking and insightful industry discussions…

Face To Face

More than 25,000 visitors will have the chance to meet face to face with over 1,500 suppliers representing food and drink, professional kitchen equipment, design and décor, hospitality technology, packaging and more.

Hotel, Restaurant & Catering (HRC) will be supporting the industry in navigating the future of foodservice and hospitality with an impressive selection of quality suppliers, plus numerous opportunities to hear about the very latest new products, ranges, trends and innovations in the sector, say the show’s organisers.

Among the businesses taking part in this year’s event are UCC Coffee, Tudor Tea & Coffee, Melitta and Twinings, who will be setting out to shake up the tea and infusions market with the launch of a ‘foodservice exclusive’ large leaf pyramid range, now with fully recyclable envelopes. With a range of 10 black teas, fruit and herbal infusions and green teas, all blends in the collection are large loose leaf, served in biodegradable pyramid bags and sealed in a hygienic envelope for front of house service and bedrooms, say Twinings.

EVOCA will also be at HRC with their range of coffee machines. EVOCA is home to three notable brands – Gaggia Milano, Necta and Saeco – and a range of machine types and capacities including traditional espresso machines, bean to cup machines and pod machines.

On HRC’s Vision Stage, designed by Harp Design, this year’s seminar programme with take a look at the trends and topics that are set to define the global hospitality industry in 2023 from Nicola Knight and James Walton of IGD.

This will be followed by what promises to be a must-attend session for many on how hospitality trends can be used to unlock new revenue for your business, featuring Kateline Porritt of Egg Soldiers, Elena Deminska of London Fermentary, HOP Vietnamese’s Paul Hopper and Charlie Casey of KERB.

“I’m so looking forward to hosting this seminar at HRC, which is a fantastic platform to really support businesses,” said Kateline Porritt.

“We will take that very inspiration and show how it can be converted into reality for hospitality professionals. Along with tips and guidance from the Egg Soldiers team, we will have real life case studies of how successful businesses have recognised future trends and delivered them for customers now.”

New for 2023 is Chef HQ, curated by Chef Publishing, which will feature a demo kitchen stage adjacent to a discussion platform in an area created specially to celebrate chefs. Confirmed chefs taking part in talks, demos and discussions at Chef HQ include National Chef of the Year Ben Murphy, Tom Philips, Andrew Wong and acclaimed pastry chef, Frédéric Bau.

INTERNATIONAL FOOD & DRINK EVENT

IFE promises to be the ultimate trade event to explore the latest exciting new products and innovations in UK and international food and drink. With over 90 countries represented at this year’s event and thousands of quality UK products, it will appeal to anyone looking to source something new, exciting and delicious to delight customers, feel the event’s organisers.

Taking part in IFE 2023 is FiXX, a company whose coffee journey started in 2004 in Havana, Cuba when they secured the exclusive distribution rights for all export brands of Cuban coffee for the Irish and the UK markets. The FiXX brand now features coffees from around the world, and the team will be on hand at IFE to discuss their wide range of offerings for retailers, café owners and operators.

IFE will also be hosting international beverage suppliers including Jordan-based Al Ameed Coffee Company and Netherlands’ brands TwoAlign, who say that they are on a mission to popularise functional coffee and have four blends available - lungo, espresso and ristretto and decaf.

A new feature at this year’s event is the Startup Market, where buyers can discover the very latest products from businesses at the start of their journey. Sourcing new products is one of the most cited reasons that buyers value IFE and the Startup Market will be a bustling hub of innovation at the heart of the show.

Another new addition is a dedicated Sustainability Stage, sponsored by Elopak, where industry experts from across retail, hospitality, food and drink and ESG will be taking deep dives into a wide range of issues within the umbrella of sustainability. Key show partner the Food & Drink Federation will be curating a full day of content on Tuesday 21 March, with sessions covering resilient food systems, what it takes to achieve net zero, meeting evolving customer expectations, creating a circular economy for plastics and packaging and what ‘green skills’ are needed to build sustainability into the workforces of the future.

FDF head of climate change & energy policy, Emma Piercy, said: “The FDF is delighted to be partnering with IFE for their inaugural Sustainability Stage at this world class event.

“Global food systems make up around one quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Bringing all stakeholders together and collaborating at IFE is essential to building the resilient and sustainable food systems we need.”

Ife Manufacturing

Representing the end to end food production sector, IFE Manufacturing looks set to be a bustling hub of manufacturing, processing, packaging and ingredients suppliers, ready to support a wide range of food and drink products move from initial concept to end result.

Visitors to this year’s event can meet with suppliers like BioPak, who create sustainable packaging that puts the planet first. Their product range is predominantly made from renewable materials and are certified compostable. BioPak’s packaging, in conjunction with a waste collection service solution, enables businesses to divert their food and packaging waste from landfill and convert it into nutrient-rich compost.

Also on show will be Magnum Packaging. For more than ten years they have been supplying an eco-friendly range of products, made from organic materials, such as cotton, jute and nonwoven bags to meet with environmental initiatives and the company’s obligations to a greener future.

Find out more about HRC at hrc.co.uk, IFE at ife.co.uk, and IFE Manufacturing at ifemanufacturing.co.uk. Don’t miss out on your opportunity to stay ahead of the latest trends, source quality products and join the food, drink and hospitality sector at ExCeL London on 20-22 March.