Food & Drink Expo is back in Birmingham for four days from 21-24 March and promises more inspiring features than ever before. More than 600 exhibitors are expected at the city’s NEC for the show, which runs alongside Foodex, Café+, Convenience Retailing, International Forecourt & Fuel and the brand new Food & Drink Logistics Show, as well as a bakery and an off-licence event.
The business briefing theatre at Expo will play host to a series of panel debates including Prudence over Provenance - Has the Recession Changed the Way We Eat Forever? with speakers from Kantar Worldpanel, Asda, the Soil Association and Leon Restaurants.
A comprehensive Regional & Speciality Area reflects at least some consumers’ and buyers’ interest in provenance and exhibitors from Heart of England Fine Foods, Deliciouslyorkshire, Tastes of Anglia, Taste of the West, Food Northwest and North East England Food & Drink Group will all be represented. There is also a dedicated Organic Village.
Jack Halliday, the group sales manager for Expo, said: “Food & Drink Expo enables retail buyers to meet and negotiate with hundreds of suppliers all in one place. Visitors will be able to do a year’s product sourcing all in one day… while at the same time picking up new ideas to help them move their businesses forward.” And research carried out by the show has found that although many suppliers have been affected by the recession, they are continuing to invest in product development wherever possible. Asked how they spend their marketing budgets, respondents said they considered trade shows to be the most valuable investment, with 70 per cent of suppliers rating exhibitions such as Expo as either very or quite important.
Halliday is also keen to attract foodservice buyers as well as retail buyers and the show will have a dedicated Foodservice Area, where suppliers will display their sector-specific products and top chefs will share their knowledge at a Chefs Live demonstration theatre.
