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

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 are 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 14th 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.”

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.” (James Platt, Senior National Account Manager).

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 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.”

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)