2025 was an auspicious year for the Hotel, Restaurant, and Catering Show as it marked it’s 90th year. There aren’t many industry shows that can say that. What is more remarkable is that the show remains highly relevant to anyone in catering. The breadth and depth of the products on show and the discussions provided give real insight into current trends.

As always there is so much of interest that we can only showcase a selection.

First Rational UK Demonstration

At the Show, Rational AG demonstrated for the first time in the UK, the new innovative iHexagon that combines steam, hot air, and microwave technologies.

After the combi-steamer and iVario, this is the third time, Rational has pioneered a new product category. The iHexagon, coordinates steam, hot air and microwave technology intelligently to maximise high food quality in the shortest possible time. This is ideal for operators prioritising both quality and speed such as fast-food chains.

Other Technology Discussions

The TechX stage provided a platform for industry leaders to delve into the evolving role of technology in hospitality. From the future of food delivery to allergen management solutions and the power of CRM systems, the discussions offered actionable insights into how businesses can leverage technology for greater efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Once again, the show provided an unparalleled platform for discovering cutting-edge products and services across key sectors, including Hospitality Tech, Professional Kitchen, Furniture, Interiors & Tableware, and Foodservice. Other sessions explored innovations in kitchen design, tackling food waste, building resilient teams and reducing carbon emissions.

Major Food Trends Report Launched

Unilever Food Solutions UK&I has launched its third annual FUTURE MENUS report. This highlights four key foodservice & hospitality trends that are critical to business success and meet the demands of consumers:

• Borderless Cuisine
• Street Food Couture
• Diner Designed
• Modernised Comfort Food

It has a particular focus on Gen Z because they eat out more than any other generation in the UK. Most eat out at least once a week and a quarter, multiple times. Key to get repeat visits is the opportunity for and encouragement of them to customise their dishes. Three quarters of Gen Z are more attracted to restaurants with adventurous, global cuisine that provides modern takes and blends across cultures. A quarter are unlikely to return to a restaurant that only serves British cuisine.

An interesting insight is while 15% of the nation as a whole are often overwhelmed by long menus; 26% of Gen Z are. Short menus are good for profitability as well as attracting customers.

Download the Future Menus report 

Taking Action As Well As Talking

City Harvest collaborated with the Show’s organiser to collect 5.5 tonnes of surplus food from exhibitors. This equated to 13,575 meals delivered to charities across London. It ensured that quality food was diverted from waste streams and into the hands of those who need it most.

The scale of food waste in the UK remains a pressing issue, with 1 in 4 people struggling to access nutritious food and 1 in 3 parents skipping meals to feed their children. City Harvest works with all levels of the supply chain, including farms, manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers, and hospitality businesses such as caterers, hotels, and canteens. The organisation currently redistributes 1.25 million meals each month, reaching 130,000 people across more than 30 London boroughs.

To learn more about City Harvest and how to get involved, visit www.cityharvest.org.uk. And if you’re not in London, have a look for similar organisations in your area.

Final Thought

With UK Hospitality stating that the changes in the 2025 Budget will cost hospitality businesses £3.4bn; shows like this enables businesses to come together and go forward with shared insights on how to navigate the year ahead. With 90 years’ experience, the Hotel, Restaurant and Catering Show knows how to deliver every year

lunch! returned to London’s ExCel last week to the delights of food retailers, food-to-go operators, café and coffee shop buyers and owners, travel and leisure caterers.

The line-up of the show included 62 speakers appearing in 36 Keynote Theatre sessions, and more than 400 exhibitors.

This is a record number of exhibitors. They showcased a huge range of products and services; from ingredients to kitchen equipment and counter displays, food and drink to packaging, payment and business services.

Innovation Challenge

One of the highlights of lunch! is the Innovation Challenge award. Where this year, a record 110 competed with many of these innovations enjoying their official trade launch at the show. The products competing for a much-coveted gold Innovation Challenge Award were showcased in the Innovation Challenge Gallery. lunch! visitors chose the award finalists by voting for their favourites on opening day.

A significant part of the show was set aside for plant-based and ‘meat-free’ innovations. This catered for café, coffee shop, food-to-go operators and retailers looking to cater to the thriving vegan and flexitarian market. According to Marketing Week, last year, the UK launched more vegan products than any other nation. This made it the country’s fastest growing culinary trend of 2018 with a market worth of £310m. Approximately 22 million people now claim to be flexitarian and one in eight Britons choose to be vegetarian or vegan. To reflect this, 52% of exhibitors at lunch! offered vegan or vegetarian alternatives.

Sustainability in Catering

Sustainability was another key theme. As some of foodservice’s biggest consumers of single-use packaging and disposables; coffee shop and food-to-go operators have been making huge strides to reduce their environmental impact. The Sustainability Panel addressed these issues with keynote speakers and included some of the top names in the industry; Ollie Rosevear, Head of Environment at Costa Coffee, Martyn Clover, Head of Food at Tortilla, Jim Winship, Director of The British Sandwich & Food To Go Association, and host Martin Kersh, Chairman of the Foodservice Packaging Association (FPA).

The Panel also addressed contemporary issues such as tackling food waste, increasing food redistribution, reducing energy and water consumption, more recycling and reusing (packaging, uniforms, furniture etc), looking to alternative food sources, and encouraging behavioural change.

Hannah Squirrell, Customer Director at Greggs said: “the ‘Blue Planet effect’ has driven customer awareness of the environmental impact of their consumption choices to a whole new level. We are proud to support national environmental initiatives, including Surfers Against Sewage Beach and River Clean Series, and are committed to doing our bit to protect the health of the planet.”

For reusable alternatives, visitors were able to see innovations such as the Ecocoffee Cup created with natural fibres made from bamboo waste material sourced from chopstick production. Similarly, Berrington Spring Water’s Aluminium Refill Water Bottle launched in June has tripled sales projections.

Lunch! is a great show to keep tabs on recent innovations and trends after a long summer. One for all catering businesses to put on the diary for 2020.