Restaurant Show 2010

The 21st Restaurant Show attracted a strong mix of high-quality visitors, exuding positivity and optimism.

The only trade show dedicated to the restaurant industry put on a varied and appealing combination of features and exhibiting areas that drew representatives from the industry's big-name companies - including Sodexo, Hilton, Strada, Whitbread and Caprice Holdings. The enthusiastic audience was eager to hear different views on the issues affecting the industry, share in the debate, discover new skills and innovations, and if the product was right, place orders there and then at the show*.

Exhibitors benefited from the quality and focus of the audience, with a much-higher-than-expected level of on-site sales and leads. Feedback supports this, with comments such as "We've been really pleased with the quality. People are coming here to place orders, we'll certainly do more business here than we anticipated," and "Really good calibre of visitors, not many timewasters. Serious buyers come here ready to do business." Exhibitors were in fact so impressed with the show the event achieved a 46% rebook.

Clair Bowman, show manager comments: "At a time of challenging economic conditions, resources are stretched and visiting exhibitions is not always top of the list. However, the Restaurant Show 2009 bucked this trend and an extremely high calibre of visitor attended this year's event. This is true testament to the quality and relevance of the features programme and exhibitors, and also a reflection of the growing optimism within the industry, which was evident in the number of orders placed with suppliers trading at the show. I am thrilled to report that a good show was had by visitors and exhibitors alike."

The 2009 features programme represented a huge success for the Restaurant Show team. All features - from the Briefing Theatre discussing the hot topics of the day, through to the Central Stage showcasing the skills of leading chefs, and the Competition Theatre and on-site Restaurant exhibiting the talent of today and the future - were incredibly well attended and received*. It is no surprise that the show's highlight, the live interview with El Bulli's Ferran Adrià, saw people standing in the aisles, keen to hear from the legendary chef.

Clair Bowman concludes: "The team worked hard to put together a good mix of features that offered the education, interaction, excitement and inspiration that the Restaurant Show visitor expects. I think we can safely say that we got a winning combination from this year's show, as feedback from visitors has shown, topped by the rare appearance from the great Ferran Adrià. We very much look forward to taking the learnings from this year and shaping them into another successful features programme for 2010.