lunch! welcomed a record 6,215 attendees through its doors over 23-24 September – attracting a who’s who of buyers from across the food-to-go sector.
Now in its seventh year, the sold out show featured almost 300 exhibiting companies and enjoyed a 5% increase in total unique attendees (excluding revisits), compared to 5,924 in 2013. That’s a 44% increase since 2012. As in previous years, the surge in footfall was backed by glowing testimonials from across the show floor.
Many of the country’s biggest high street operators, food retailers, and contract caterers were in attendance, including AMT Coffee, Aramark, Boots, Caffѐ Nero, Costa Coffee, Debenhams, EAT., Elior UK, Greggs, Harris and Hoole, John Lewis, M&S, Pret A Manger, Rail Gourmet, Sainsbury’s, Sodexo, Starbucks, Superdrug, Tesco, Waitrose, and Morrisons. More than 2,000 independent outlets were also represented.
The audience
Cafés, coffee houses, sandwich shops, and tea rooms were by far the show’s biggest audience (25%), followed by contract caterers, distributors and wholesalers, and supermarket/multiple at 16%, 13% and 10% respectively. Travel catering, specialist food stores and delis, and venues and attractions made up a combined 19%.
“We are delighted that our seventh year of lunch! was our best show yet, with a record number of visitors and exhibitors for 2014,” says Chris Brazier, group event manager for lunch!. “It really does cap a brilliant year for lunch!, after winning Best Trade Show at the Exhibition News Awards. Thanks must go to all our visitors, exhibitors, media and association partners for helping us put on the best lunch! we’ve ever had.”
25% increase in stands for 2015
Looking ahead to 2015, lunch!’s organiser Diversified Communications UK has already announced a 25% increase in stands to accommodate growing demand from food, drink, packaging, technology, and equipment suppliers. An expansion which will take the exhibitor total to 350 companies for the first time.
“Rebooking for lunch! 2015 has smashed all previous records,” says Brazier. “Given the waiting list ready to book their stands, and even with the addition of a new hall, lunch! 2015 looks set to sell out in record time.”
The lunch market: a good place to be
The high turnout at the show reflects the ever growing popularity of food-to-go in the lunch time market. To quote Emma Read, director of marketing and business development at the insights firm Horizons (host of the show’s opening Working lunch! Theatre session) “The lunch market is a good place to be – vibrant and growing, with consumers eating out more.”
“The lunch market has seen many changes over the last few years and remains a key eating out occasion,” says Read. “More people are eating out and more often but their expectations are higher than before – they want good quality at a good price and often something they can eat on the move. Successful operators are responding by offering a good price point, speedy and efficient service to compete with fast food outlets, and lighter, healthier options.”
Read sees little threat to the continued growth of the lunch market, which enjoyed £44.9bn of sales according to Horizons’ Market Structure and Trends 2013 report. For many, the continued success of the show itself is a clear sign that food-to-go in the UK is thriving.
Make a date with lunch! 2015
lunch! – the UK’s leading, multi-award-winning, trade event for the food-to-go industry, will return to Business Design Centre in Islington, London, on Thursday and Friday, 24-25 September 2015.
For more information click here