Biggest ever lunch! opens next month!

lunch! – the UK’s favourite food-to-go trade show, is back on 20-21 September, at ExCeL London. With a record 370 exhibitors now confirmed – this year’s visitors will be able to see and sample more new food and drink products, packaging, equipment and catering technology than ever before.

Valued at £20.7bn[1], the British food-to-go market is big business. It is ever evolving, highly competitive, and getting bigger by the year. And it is new innovations – like the ones being showcased at lunch! 2018 – that are helping to feed that growth.

“Britain loves food-to-go,” says group event director Chris Brazier. “Our growing appetite for high quality, good value, food-to-go meals, drinks and snacks has created huge opportunities for food-to-go operators and retailers.”

lunch! may need little introduction to the sector it serves (over 6,300 buyers attended in 2017). It annually attracts the biggest food and drink buyers in the UK and has proved itself year after year to be an essential visit to see what’s new and compare the latest products from leading and emerging brands.

“lunch! is a great opportunity to meet new and existing manufacturers and suppliers, a showcase of innovation and trends all under one roof,” says James Dempsey, Procurement Manager at Wyevale Garden Centres.

lunch!’s 370 exhibitors – from start-ups and niche, speciality producers to some of the industry’s best known brands – certainly have a dazzling array of innovations on offer for 2018.

Add to this 2 free Keynote Theatres including sessions from Hannah McKay, head of food & beverage at Caffè Nero; David Ross, head of category at Greggs; Clare Clough, food & coffee director at Pret A Manger; Jack Hinchcliffe, innovation director for the UK and Ireland at KFC; Shereen Ritchie, operations director at LEON; Arnaud Kaziewicz, director of food and beverage at EAT. and many more and this is one lunch! not to be missed.

There will also be an exclusive interview with Julian Metcalfe OBE, founder of itsu and co-founder of Pret A Manger. Plus, as in previous years, there will be essential market updates from MCA (Simon Stenning), The NPD Group (Cyril Lavenant), IGD (Gavin Rothwell), and (new for 2018) UK coffee market expert Anya Marco.

To register for a free ticket to lunch! 2018, please visit www.lunchshow.co.uk and quote priority code LU86.