lunch! show

lunch! set to welcome back the crowds

As the café, coffee shop and food to go sector looks forward to the return of lunch! on 23 and 24 September 2021, the show’s organisers have revealed a preview of the exciting brands exhibiting at this year’s event.

NEW AND EMERGING

lunch! 2021 will be showcasing more new and emerging brands than ever before, with first-time exhibitors making up an impressive 30% of the list. Among them will be Luxuryshakes Ltd, OmniPork, Unrooted Drinks, Driver’s Pickles, HiP, Mindful Snacker, The Vurger Co and Peter’s Yard.

The show has also announced the return of many big-name brands including Hippeas, UCC Coffee UK Ltd, Rombouts Coffee, Soho Sandwich Company Limited, Chapter Coffee, Cawston Press, Around Noon, NOBL Thirst Ltd, Delice de France, Proper, Tony’s Chocolonely, Innocent and Magrini (who will again be sponsoring the VIP lounge).

Speaking of the last lunch! show, Magrini’s Amanda Grove said: “The quality of visitors was exceptional… It was our best show to date with so much genuine interest from the food to go sector.”

The year’s show also boasts a huge range of exclusive product launches and its biggest ever Start Up Zone. Now in its fourteenth year, lunch! continues to exceed expectations among industry leaders, with itsu and Pret a Manger founder, Julian Metcalfe, saying: “lunch! gets better every year, it’s the best show around and puts innovation right at the heart of our sector.”

Group event director, Chris Brazier, has commented upon the number of new products coming to the show, saying: “We love the fact that companies recognise lunch! as the perfect place to showcase their most exciting new products. This year is no exception and quality buyers are going to see a huge number of exclusive product launches. We’re delighted to be back and to be connecting to suppliers and operators when they need it most. A huge thank you to all our supporters.”

LAUNCH AND INNOVATION PLATFORM

Among the many brands exclusively launching products at lunch! are Delice de France, Driver’s Pickles, Luker Chocolate, Ruby’s Food Products, Sigma Alimentos Europe, Waterbomb Ltd and Zess.

In addition, hundreds of brands are bringing new products to the show, including Barebells, Boka Food, Flower and White, Food Connections Ltd, GATO, GFT Retail UK, Glebe Farm Foods, The Good Till Co Ltd, NOCCO, ONOFF My Thai Taste, Plamil Foods, Rombouts Coffee, Soreen, Source of the Earth, Veg of Lund and Zumex. Returning exhibitor, Soreen, described the last lunch! show as “the best show we have ever done, it was busy but more importantly it was full of quality buyers,” according to James Platt, their senior national account manager.

WHERE TO FIND US

The British Sandwich & Food to Go Association can be found at Stand A70.

Alongside the 300 exhibiting brands, visitors can discover and vote for their favourite new food to go products in the Innovation Challenge Gallery. This prestigious competition showcases products launched within the last 12 months, with finalists taking part in lively on-stage pitches to a judging panel of industry buyers.

The response to the Innovation Challenge, which has already received a remarkable number of entries, reflects just how vibrant this industry is. This year’s nominations so far come from Brite Drinks, Cano Drinks Ltd, Cocabana, GATO & Co, Itsu grocery ltd, Luker Chocolate, Simply Lunch, St Michel Biscuits, Upbeat Drinks, Quick Crepes, Nourish.growcookenjoy Ltd, Gimber, The Gut Stuff, Ballymaloe, FUL Foods BV, Waterbomb, LunchMate, The Good Till Co., Re:Nourish, The Collective, Celebration Packaging, Organix, Nuttalls, Dairy Concepts and Brezelbackerei Ditsch.

The full, ever-expanding exhibitor list is available to view online and promises to showcase the latest innovations in food, drink, packaging and equipment products. In addition, this year’s lunch! is co-located with sister shows Casual Dining and Commercial Kitchen, making it an unmissable two days for retail, foodservice and hospitality buyers.

Neil Lake, managing director of Costa and lunch! 2021 Keynote Speaker, recently emphasised the importance of this year’s show, saying: “I’m really excited to be attending lunch! and to have the industry come back together, which is critical as we collectively focus on safely emerging stronger from this pandemic.”

THREE IN ONE

Last year, the shows’ organisers, Diversified Communications UK, made the decision to co-locate the three shows as a response to the overwhelming industry desire to get back to business in 2021. And the response to the decision has been equally overwhelming, with Tim Foster of Yummy Pub Co. instructing his online community: “If you’ve not put this date in your diary – DO IT. I’ve taken more innovation and inspiration away from these three shows than anything else in the past 10 years.”

Stands at all three shows have sold rapidly and the organisers have seen many return exhibitors increasing their stand size by as much as double. The shows are also looking forward to welcoming a host of notable players who are signing up for the very first time, such as Aver London, Bio & Me, Cadbury, Capital Cooling, Catra, Eat Real Snacks, Ferrero, Gimber, HiP, Inox Fabrications, Itsu Grocery, Karakuri, Nespresso Professional, Norbake Services, Pro Foodservice Reps, The Vurger Co, Total QSR, Treasury Wine Estates, Twinings, Unilever Food Solutions, Unrooted Drinks and Vegetarian Butcher.

Therefore, with the three shows co-located at ExCeL London, the event offers a remarkable space for the industry to gather – making it a one-stop-shop for visitors looking for innovation and inspiration for this critical year ahead. Duncan McEwan, executive development chef at the Big Table Group called the show “the most important catalyst [this] year, bringing ideas and people together, making our industry as strong as ever!”

While the co-location has received great industry support, the three shows remain distinct and each offers its own free seminar programmes and business initiatives including Innovation Challenges and lunch!’s Start Up Zone.

Alasdair Murdoch Burger King Ganan Kanagathurai Itsu

Marta Pogroszewska GAILs Neil Lake Costa

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Taking place throughout the two days over three stages, lunch!’s Keynote Speaker Programme is free to attend for all trade visitors and off ers remarkable access to some of the biggest names and operators in the industry.

The organisers have confi rmed exclusive interviews with fi rst-time lunch! speakers Alasdair Murdoch (CEO of Burger King), Spencer Craig (CEO & Co-founder of Pure) and Neil Lake (MD of Costa Coff ee).

The show is welcoming back Marta Pogroszewska (MD of Gail’s Bakery), who recently described the show as “inspiring, impactful, ingenious… I’ve attended lunch! for years and it just gets better and more unmissable every time.”

Following Julian Metcalfe’s appearance in 2018, lunch! is also excited to welcome itsu’s newly appointed UK CEO, Ganan Kanagathurai, who will be exclusively revealing the story behind the company’s digital transformation and re-imagining of the ‘store of the future’.

The organisers have also announced the return of Greggs CEO, Roger Whiteside, an icon of the industry who, since he last graced the lunch! stage, has been awarded an OBE for his services to women and equality. Roger Whiteside has described the show as “the one place our entire sector comes together – you need to be there to see what they are up to.” lunch!’s event director, Chris Brazier, added: “We have always prided ourselves on off ering trade visitors a free, world-class speaker programme alongside hundreds of innovative new products. We’re especially excited to be returning with such an incredible line-up. Though the last year has been challenging, it’s also prompted a huge amount of innovation and this year’s Keynote Programme echoes that eagerness to regroup, reconnect and inspire each other. We’d like to say a special thank you to all the industry leaders and exhibitors for their support.”

Other speakers include Hannah Munns (head of market street strategy, innovation and concept development at Morrisons), Richard Franks (MD of Chilango), Neil Sebba (MD of Tossed), Amy James (category manager of Greggs), Russell Simpson (operations director of LEON), as well as Ole & Steen’s MD Lee Nixon and marketing director, Katie Lister.

The line-up also features input from industry associations including Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, and two sessions with Jim Winship, director of the British Sandwich & Food to Go Association (the main show partner on lunch!).

This year also sees the return of the hugely popular Coff ee Shop Keynotes Theatre to an even bigger stage, refl ecting the continued importance of this vibrant sector. After a successful launch in 2019, this dedicated Keynote Programme will feature talks and panels from industry innovators and experts, including sessions with the ‘coff ee queen’ herself, Anya Marco, as well as Neil Lake (MD of Costa Coff ee), the Gentlemen Baristas and Hannah MacKay (head of food & beverages at Caff è Nero). A regular visitor, Hannah MacKay expressed her delight at the introduction of the Coff ee Shop Keynotes Theatre at the last event, saying: “I love coming to lunch! and it is great to see that coff ee shops are being showcased more than ever, it’s a good place to seek out new innovation!”

The organisers have also confi rmed several industry experts and commentators who will be sharing insights at the show, including Simon Sten ning (founder of FutureFoodservice.com), Gavin Rothwell (director of Food Futures Insights) and Peter Backman (industry analyst and commentator).

Guy Meakin Pret

Roger Whiteside Greggs

WHERE AND WHEN, AND TO REGISTER

lunch! 2021 takes place on 23-24 September at ExCeL London; registration is free and strictly for members of the trade only. For more information and to register for your free trade pass, please visit www.lunchshow. co.uk and use priority code VLU1 (alternately, use direct link https:// eventdata.uk/Visitor/FoodPortfolioShows2021.aspx?TrackingCode=VLU1)