Last week, the UK drinks industry ventured out into the scorching London sunshine to make its annual pilgrimage to Olympia for the sixth consecutive year of Imbibe Live. With a total unique attendance of 11,568 (ABC audit pending), and a 20% increase in visitors, the on-trade focused drinks show once again raised the bar for the industry with a show combining quality buyers, leading drinks brands and innovative content, resulting in its most successful show to date.
Unrivalled programme
The buzzy, energetic show returned with an unrivalled programme of over 70 sessions dedicated to education, training and tastings across all drinks categories. Imbibe’s team of experts worked closely with the show’s ambassadors Ronan Sayburn MS (RS Wine Academy), Ryan Chetiyawardana (White Lyan, Dandelyan) and Mark Dorber (Boudica Inns, Beer Academy) to ensure the quality of the exhibition content was second to none, led by and featuring many of the leading thinkers from the hospitality industry.
Social media was buzzing throughout the show with #ImbibeLive trending on Twitter throughout the show, and over 3,000 mentions of #ImbibeLive on social media across the two days.
Who’s Who of the hospitality industry
Senior buyers attended from a wide range of group and independent establishments, including restaurants (Gordon Ramsay Group, Living Ventures Group, Jamie Oliver Group, ETM Group, Hakkasan Restaurants, Prescott & Conran, Trishna Group, Corbin & King), pubs and bars (Gorgeous Pubs, Mitchells & Butlers, Drake & Morgan, Revolution Bars Group, All Bar One, Barrio Bars), clubs (Ignite Group, Ministry Of Sound, The Hospital Group, The Arts Club), retailers and wholesalers (Fortnum & Mason, Whole Foods Market, Harvey Nichols, Hedonism Wines, Oddbins, Waitrose, Amathus, Booker), hotels (The Grove, Ab Hotels, Morgans Hotels, Bourne Leisure Group, Ace Hotels, Firmdale Hotels) and venues (O2 Arena, Royal Albert Hall, Ricoh Arena, Empire Casino).
Exhibitor brands covering all on-trade categories
Exhibiting companies for 2015 included the following: wine (Bibendum, Enotria, Majestic Commercial, Wines of California, Wines from Rioja, Vasse Felix, Bordeaux, Chablis, Switzerland, Germany and New Zealand, Ramon Bilbao, Santa Rita, Sherry Institute, Blends), beer (Heineken, Truman’s, Fullers, Brewers Association USA), cider (Kopparberg, Rekorderlig, Blind Pig, Sheppys), spirits (Diageo, Sipsmith, Maxxium, Bacardi), softs (Britvic, Coca-Cola, Fentimans), plus associated products (JTI e-cigarettes, KP Snacks, Memsec Epos, Urban Barware).
Imbibe Live’s show director, Sonja van Praag said, “Drinks companies want to sell into all the different hospitality sectors, not just one – so it’s fantastic to have a show like Imbibe Live which brings together buyers from all the sectors in one incredible educational, business environment. There is simply no other show that attracts these senior buyers and produces the results that we do. It’s clear that for the drinks industry Imbibe Live has proven it is the essential place to be.”
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