Alimentaria&Hostelco, the leading international platform for food, beverages, food service and hospitality equipment, will return to Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Vía venue from 18 - 21 March 2024.
Around 900 foreign exhibiting companies, alongside the 2,300 Spanish ones, will participate in Alimentaria&Hostelco 2024.
Just over three months before the event, bookings of exhibition space by international companies have registered 15% growth in terms of net area compared to the previous fair, with 900 companies accounting for more than 28% of the total.
Italy will once again lead the international participation, with over 50 firms spanning 2,365 square metres.
Other countries occuping the most exhibition space at the event are Turkey, China, Poland, Portugal, France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands and Argentina.
J Antonio Valls, managing director of Alimentaria Exhibitions stated, “Companies in the industry are opting for the diversification of their destination markets so as to address the uncertainty that’s beset the world economy in recent years.
“In this regard, Alimentaria&Hostelco 2024 constitutes the optimal business platform for companies from all over the world to expand their horizons throughout Europe, Asia and America.”
Asian Countries Are Back
The increased participation of Asian companies will be extremely visible at the upcoming Alimentaria&Hostelco fair, especially those from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, which did not attend in 2022 due to COVID-19 restrictions.
China will occupy nine large areas with dozens of companies grouped under the China Chamber of Commerce.
Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia and Japan will also have a prominent presence, complementing the range of oriental gastronomy products in their countries’ halls located in International Pavilions.
Major Importers
Alimentaria&Hostelco will organise a buyer invitation programme to bring together more than 2,200 high-level importers, distributors, directors and purchasing managers. More than half of them will be international from 80 nations.
At next year’s event, the top 10 priority countries include the United States, Mexico, China, Canada, the United Kingdom and South Korea, followed by the main destination countries for Spanish imports in Europe and Latin America.
The companies that have confirmed their participation include World Market and The Fresh Market (USA), Walmart Mexico, CitySuper (China) and Sodexo (UK).
Alimentaria & Hostelco, organised by Alimentaria Exhibitions - Fira de Barcelona, anticipates the attendance of around 3,200 exhibiting companies and more than 100,000 professionals attending the event visitors.
This article was written in partnership with Alimentaria Exhibitions.
