BARCELONA, Spain – Hostelco and Restaurama will return from 18 to 21 March 2024 at the Gran Via venue of Fira de Barcelona with the aims of promoting business in the sector, opening up new international markets and showcasing the latest innovations in the industry.
They will do so with a revamped proposal bringing together a selection of equipment and food products for catering, hotels, central purchasing offices, distribution and retail in a single area.
Similarly, the platform will share experiences and offer numerous activities for professionals in order to promote knowledge and innovation and, at the same time, highlight gastronomy and promote sustainability as a key tool for growth.
According to the president of Hostelco, Pere Taberner, “the partnership between Hostelco and Restaurama creates a unique space that offers great potential, accumulates synergies and creates new opportunities for a sector that requires more and more joint, innovative and personalised solutions for products and services for the horeca channel.
“Therefore”, he added, “we’re preparing for 2024 the most ambitious joint proposal in recent years, focused entirely on the business of companies and the needs of professionals in the sector”.
In this regard, Taberner also wanted to highlight the value of the presidency he shares with Jordi Gallés, CEO of Europastry, of an organising committee that has succeeded in bringing together some of the leading players in all the demand and supply sectors, including Bongard, Caterdata, Frigicoll, Ibersol, Icg, Intecno, Jacobs Douwe Egberts, McDonalds España, Quantum, Pordamsa, Rancilio, Unilever España, Uve Solutions and Welbilt, alongside the most representative associations of the industry, such as Aecoc, Cehat, Fedis Horeca, Foodservice Institute, Hostelería de España and ITH.
New areas and a bundled offer
The main new features of the next edition of Hostelco and Restaurama will be the Coffee, Bakery and Pastry area and The Horeca Hub. The first one will occupy nearly all Hall 7 and group together all the products and equipment for the coffee, bar, bakery, pastry and ice cream sector. There will also be workshops, demonstrations, tastings, talks and competitions, in order to encourage contacts between professionals.
For its part, The Horeca Hub will be the nerve centre with a variety of proposals that will address the main challenges facing the sector: innovation, digitalisation, customer experience, artificial intelligence, sustainability, attracting and retaining talent, differentiation. There will be live cooking exhibitions, tastings, talks, conferences and seminars for professionals; there will also be a showcase of innovative solutions, as well as the Chef and Waiter of the Year competitions, among others. In addition, the collective catering area will gain prominence with the new Catering in Collectivities Meeting Point, which will bring together companies from the sector around an area for talks and demonstrations.
For the first time, Hostelco and Restaurama will occupy Halls 4 and 6 in a joint and integrated manner. Thus, equipment, machinery and accessories for the hospitality industry, furnishings, interior design, decoration and technology will be displayed together with the food products aimed at catering and food outside the home, the food service divisions of large multinationals from the sector and the leading brands in the market.
Other activities will also be scheduled, including the Hostelco Awards to distinguish the best initiatives in the sector and the Food and Hospitality Startups, with a selection of newly created companies.
Alimentaria and Hostelco, a formula for success
In its latest edition, held in May 2022, Alimentaria and Hostelco were attended by more than 3,000 exhibiting companies, 29% of them international ones from 57 countries, and 100,000 visitors, demonstrating its success as the main platform for driving business, internationalisation and networking.
