News

• Diversified Business Communications UK Ltd

25 Jan 2012

lunch! 2012 already over 90% sold out!

The UK’s premier trade show for the out of home food and drink industry lunch! has begun celebrating its 5th anniversary early, following an announcement today that 91% of its total exhibition space for 2012 is now sold. The news from organiser Diversified Business Communications UK comes just 17 weeks since the 2011 event took place, with stand space for lunch!’s new venue – the Business Design Centre, Islington, London – reported to be selling an estimated 183% faster than the previous year.

Unparalleled demand for exhibition space has been a continuing trend throughout lunch!’s meteoric rise to industry prominence and record-breaking success. Launched in 2008, and now firmly established as the go-to show for food-to-go, last year’s lunch! enjoyed a 41% increase in total attendance, including a 87% rise in international visitors, plus 42% more exhibitors compared to 2010. lunch! also secured a prestigious best UK trade show award from the Association of Event Organisers (AEO) in 2011 for the second consecutive year.

Taking place on Thursday 20th and Friday 21st September 2012, lunch! 2012 will now use all available venue space – across three floors – to accommodate over 220 exhibitors showcasing products, packaging, equipment and technologies from across the out of home food and drink sector. Confirmed exhibitors to date include a host of returning industry names – such as The Food Doctor, Kimbo Coffee, Crantock Bakery, Magrini (sponsors of the show’s British Smoothie Championships), Delice de France, ABDA Design, Tayto, Discovery Foods, Matthew Algie, Orexis, Tudor Coffee, KFF, and Simple Simon – a significant number of which have also chosen to increase their stand space for 2012.

Remaining faithful to its boutique marketplace beginnings, lunch! 2012 will feature a healthy mix of emerging start-ups and niche, speciality producers exhibiting alongside a host of renowned industry names, who’ll also be making their lunch! debut – including Ginsters, Cheese Cellar, Café Deli Wholesale, basketware supplier Gadsby, food packaging specialist Reynards, and Equip Line. Whilst the middle floor of the show sold out within four weeks of the 2011 event, and only one main stand is left on the ground floor, competition among new exhibitors for the remaining stands at lunch! 2012 is particularly high. Which is good news for lunch!’s thousands of prospective visitors this Autumn, given that 92% of surveyed attendees cited sourcing new products as their main reason for visiting the show last year. Indeed during last week alone, eight of the eleven companies confirmed to exhibit are lunch! ‘first-timers’. Amongst them is the winner of The Best of The Best Award in the 2011 British Street Food finals The Beach Food Company; dessert developers Lucy Wager Foods; artisan bakers WagFREE; Cardiff-based The Chocolate Brownie Company; PGI Nonwovens BV, suppliers of Chicopee food and service wipes; Galeta cookie heaven; Go Coco 100% Natural Coconut Water; and healthy snacks supplier Conscious Food.

Commenting on the prospect of lunch!’s biggest show yet, Chris Brazier, lunch!’s event manager, says: “2012 marks a huge milestone for lunch!, not only is it our fifth anniversary but we have a great new venue, much more exhibition space and over 170 confirmed exhibitors already – eight months out from the show!”

“The key to lunch!’s continuing success is its focus on promoting innovation,” adds Brazier. “And with new exhibitors across the three floors, a host of big name brands returning with new launches, plus a doubling in size of the show’s Innovation Zone, we’ve ensured that the eclectic mix of cutting-edge new products and services that is flourishing within this sector is – as always – showcased throughout this vibrant event.”

lunch! will take place at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London, on 20-21 September 2012. For further information, please visit www.lunchshow.co.uk.