lunch! organiser Diversified Communications UK has confirmed that this year’s show has sadly been postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The UK’s leading trade event for the café, coffee shop and food-to-go sector will now take place on 23-24 September 2021 at ExCeL London.
New dates have also been announced for Commercial Kitchen, with the show now set to run alongside lunch!.
The magnitude and unprecedented scale of the Covid-19 outbreak and the subsequent government restrictions has affected the lives and livelihoods of people and businesses around the world. With the people working in, and supplying, the foodservice, hospitality, catering and leisure industries among the worst hit. While the UK’s strict lockdown measures are expected to ease over the coming months, social distancing and restrictions on mass gatherings will remain for the foreseeable future. Notably, many of lunch!’s exhibitors and visitors are among the 7.5 million people currently furloughed, with tens of thousands of outlets shut until at least July, which makes it even harder for firms to plan many months ahead.
Chris Brazier, Diversified UK’s group event director, says: “Like all businesses, we have been closely following the rapidly changing developments during these difficult times. Whilst we were hopeful that the current tough measures on restricted social interaction would be lifted by the autumn, there are still too many questions surrounding hotels, travel, social distancing measures, and individual company policies, to make it viable to run lunch! this year. Clearly, the best and most responsible option for everyone involved is to wait and host an even better show in 2021.
“We appreciate how important lunch! is to the industry it serves and are very sorry to disappoint the thousands of attendees that were planning on exhibiting and visiting. However, the success as well as the safety of our exhibitors, speakers and visitors has always been our priority and we are hoping that everyone will get behind this tough but necessary decision.
“The good news is that much of the event planning is already in place, and we go into 2021 with an incredible amount of good will and support. The lunch! team would like to thank everyone – our exhibitors, visitors, speakers and partners – for their support. We look forward to working together to ensure that it continues to be the celebration and gathering the industry deserves – and can be proud of.”
“Great things are worth waiting for,” comments Shereen Ritchie, MD of LEON, “and I have no doubt that lunch! 2021 will be worth the wait! It will be back bigger, better and even more awesome than before. I can't wait to see you all there.”
lunch! and Commercial Kitchen will take place on 23-24 September 2021 at ExCeL London. Although the two shows will maintain separate identities and focus, visitors and exhibitors will benefit from a potential boost in seeing an even greater range of products and customers respectively.
The move of Commercial Kitchen to September has been supported by the event’s key partners ceda and Foodservice Consultants Society International (FCSI UK & Ireland), plus scores of exhibitors.
Adam Mason, director of ceda, says: “ceda fully support the unfortunate postponement and look forward to September 2021, where ceda partners should now see even more end user buyers to do business with.”
Louise Willis, executive director at FCSI (UK & Ireland), says: “The FCSI UK&I fully supports the Commercial Kitchen Show, and believes that by holding it alongside lunch! it will be even more beneficial to members.”
Anthony Pettit, head of business development at Hupfer, says: “Hupfer are delighted to continue our ongoing support for Commercial Kitchen. We’ve enjoyed great success in previous years and look forward to welcoming industry colleagues to what will surely be a terrific event.”
Steve Morris, sales director at Jestic Food Service Equipment, says: “We are looking forward to the new dates in September 2021 and think it’s a great idea to combine with the lunch! show. Hopefully by next year, it will be an event that the industry can come together and look forward to.”
For more information, please visit www.lunchshow.co.uk and www.commercialkitchenshow.co.uk.