NEC Food & Drink Expo - Catering

13 April 2026

18+ students only

Food & Drink Expo is one of the UK’s largest trade food and hospitality exhibitions, held at the NEC in Birmingham. It brings together over a thousand exhibitors from across food production, retail, hospitality, and manufacturing, all in one place.

For a cookery student, this is a high-level industry exposure day. It’s not a public food market—it’s where the food industry shows what’s coming next. You’ll see product innovation, new ingredients, equipment, packaging, and food trends being launched directly to chefs, buyers, and hospitality professionals.

The key value is scale and insight. You can watch live cooking demonstrations, taste new products, and see how food businesses pitch and sell to the industry. It also shows how trends like sustainability, food-to-go, plant-based development, and convenience products are shaping menus before they reach restaurants and schools.

Payment due by 12 Jan 2027