Alimentaria&Hostelco, the leading international business platform in food, beverages, food service and hospitality equipment, will return to the Gran Vía venue at Fira de Barcelona from March 18 to 21, 2024. with an increase in foreign offer of 15% compared to the previous edition. Of the 3,200 exhibiting companies, 900 will be international, with the leadership of the Italian companies and the return of the Asian ones, mainly from China and Hong Kong.
Two months before the celebration of Alimentaria&Hostelco 2024, exhibition space reservations exceed 96%. In addition, the 15% growth in net footage of the participation of international companies stands out. compared to the last edition. Thus, 900 foreign companies – more than 28% of the total – participate in this sample.
In this edition, business opportunities for the Horeca channel in the international arena, especially in Europe, are further enhanced. Thus, One of the main novelties is the merger of the exhibition offer of Hostelco, the International Exhibition of Equipment and Machinery for Restaurants, Hospitality and Communities, and Restaurama, the Alimentaria show focused on ‘food service’, with the aim of multiplying synergies in one of the most relevant areas of the Spanish economy and thus forming the largest international platform aimed at the Horeca channel.
Knowledge dissemination spaces
Innovation will be another key lever, both in food and in restaurants and hospitality. This concept will be reflected mainly in the knowledge dissemination spaces Alimentaria Hub and The Horeca Hub, a newly created multidisciplinary and experiential area that will disseminate key content for the Horeca channel, such as sustainability, digitalization, attracting talent or internationalization, and will show the latest trends with the participation of great chefs and experts in gastronomy and restoration.
Antonio Vallsgeneral director of Alimentaria Exhibitions, maintains that “the great strength of the platform is its unique and differential character. internationally, with a very wide transversal offer for the food and beverage industry and the Horeca channel. For this reason, we once again have the unanimous support of the most relevant Spanish companies and associations and we increase our global impact”.
Maximum representativeness of the sector
Among the leading firms from different sectors that will participate in Alimentaria&Hostelco are Unilever, Coca-Cola, DAMM, Nestlé, Danone, Europastry, Adam Foods, Aneto, Casa Tarradellas, El Pozo, Noel Alimentaria, Grupo Jorge, Argal, Grup Vall Companys, Coosur, Estrella Galicia, BonÀrea, GB Foods, Vicky Foods, Bridor, CBG, Monbake, Maheso, Garda Import, García Baquero, Grupo TGT, Calvo, Conservas Dani, Grup Balfegó, Torrons Vicens, MammaFiore, EPTA Iberia, Mibrasa, Iberital, Pujadas, Epson, Fagor and Wiesheu. All the Spanish autonomous communities will also be represented, headed by Catalonia, Castilla y León, Andalusia and Galicia.
International projection grows
After Spain, the country that will occupy the largest exhibition space at Alimentaria&Hostelco 2024 It will be Italy, followed by Turkey, China and Hong Kong, Poland, Portugal, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Argentina. It will be especially noticeable the return of Asian companies, led by China and Hong Kong, and with notable representation from Taiwan, Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia and Japan.
As for visitors, The organization of the contest plans to attract 25% of international origin. To maximize business opportunities, it has a powerful buyer invitation program, through which It will bring together more than 2,200 importers, distributors, directors and purchasing managers. Of these, more than half are foreigners, from 80 nations.
In this edition, they top the list of priority countries United States, Mexico, China, Canada, United Kingdom and South Korea, followed by the main destination countries for Spanish imports in Europe and Latin America. Among the companies that have confirmed their visit to the show, stand out World Market and The Fresh Market (USA), Walmart México, CitySuper (China) and Sodexo (UK), among others.
Full occupancy
The exhibition platform It will occupy seven pavilions, practically all of the 100,000 m2 net of Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via venue. Alimentaria’s exhibition offer will be structured into 13 differentiated sectors. On the one hand, it will have eight vertical rooms that cover the demand of strategic sectors: Intercarn (meat and derivatives), Interlact (dairy), Expoconser (canned goods), Restaurama (food service) and Snacks, Biscuits & Confectionery (snacks and sweets) , already existing in previous editions.
Added to these are the newly created ones, which respond to the growing market demand: ‘Fine Foods’ (gourmet products), ‘Organic Foods’ (organic products) and ‘Coffee, Bakery & Pastry’ (cafeteria, bakery and pastry shop) . The latter, designed in response to new challenges, formats and market trends, It is one of the great bets of the contest.
On the other hand, five other transversal exhibitions will cover a heterogeneous offer: ‘Alimentaria Trends’ – which includes the booming segments ‘Plant Based’, ‘Vegan Foods’, ‘Free From’ (foods without allergens), ‘Functional Foods’ and ‘ Halal’-, International Pavilions (which brings together a good part of the institutional foreign participation), ‘Lands of Spain’ (where all the territories of Spain are represented), ‘Grocery Foods’ (with the presence of the most relevant brands) and ‘ FoodTech’ (dedicated to equipment for the food and beverage industry).
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Besides, Premium will once again be Alimentaria’s most exclusive and sybaritic spacein which a group of select haute cuisine firms will present their extra quality gourmet products.
Alimentaria & Hostelco, organized by Alimentaria Exhibitions – Fira de Barcelona, It plans to have the participation of around 3,200 exhibiting companies, which will occupy 100,000 m2 net and 7 pavilions, practically the entire Fira de Barcelona Gran Vía venue. It also expects to receive more than 100,000 professional visitors, reaffirming its leadership as the main driving platform for business, internationalization and networking.