Food Matters Live – the world-class forum for the future of food

From soaring obesity figures, to the explosion in wellness and the burgeoning free-from movement, navigating food trends has never been more challenging.

That is why Food Matters Live is so timely, because it combines a three-day conference, multi-stream seminar programme and an extensive exhibition to address these issues – all under one roof at London’s ExCeL on 21-23 November.

And as consumers take a more ‘flexitarian’ or ‘incidentally vegetarian’ approach to food - by pushing animal-based protein off the plate in favour of innovative meat replacers, vegetables, fruit, grains and pulses - explore the latest products to whet the appetite of today’s ardent foodie.

Briony Mansell-Lewis, Food Matters Live Director, said: “With Brexit around the corner and the UK food and drink market flourishing, never has there been a better time to do business with enterprising food and drink start-ups, challenger brands and high street names than at Food Matters Live.”

More than 16,000 influential professionals are expected to attend this year’s Food Matters Live exhibition, featuring over 800 leading organisations, at the cutting edge of innovation – from new ingredients to finished products from the UK and beyond.

Arranged in themed areas – such as Free-from, Healthy Snacking, International Innovation and Innovative Ingredients – buyers, chefs, foodservice providers and caterers will have an unparalleled opportunity to experience new innovation in the market first hand.



With UK organic sales worth more than £1.95bn and growing demand for more vegetable-based dishes on restaurant menus, sample hundreds of new products in the Natural & Organic zone, such as, LioBites apple smoothie squares – a type of fruit crisp this is raw, gluten free and vegan; My E. bio Fruity Bears – fruit-juice sweets with plant-based pectin; Googly Fruit corn and carrot crunchy puffs, and Wostok’s date and pomegranate lemonade.

Also try Sanygran’s pioneering Legumeat – a novel mixture of soy and bean flours that allows consumers to turn meat dishes into vegetable based ones.

A number of country-themed pavilions will showcase international innovation, with exhibitors from France, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Peru, Wales and the Netherlands.

A sneak preview of all products and ingredients that will be on display across the exhibition can be found in this online directory at https://www.foodmatterslive.com/visiting/product-and-ingredient-directories

And a new match-making service will enable exhibitors and visitors to identify potential partners and build business relationships – while a dedicated Meet the Buyer programme will bring together buyers from the retail and foodservice sectors who are looking to meet food and drink producers in the UK and internationally.

To find out more and book your place, go to https://www.b2match.eu/foodmatterslive-match/sign_up

At the heart of the exhibition is the Food Matters Live conference, which will consider important issues, such as geopolitics and the impact of Brexit on the food and drink industry, how encouraging greater fruit and vegetable consumption in the UK is helping to tackle obesity, and the effectiveness of the sugar reduction programme.

Chef Heston Blumenthal, former Sainsbury’s CEO Justin King and neuroscientist Baroness Susan Greenfield will head an all-star cast of 400 influential speakers taking part in the CPD accredited Food Matters Live education programme, which will include ministers from the Department of Health, and business leaders from Tesco, Mars, Greggs, Hellmann’s and many more.

At the same time, cross-sector experts will use a series of case studies in a range of seminars to explore a broad range of issues, such as whether exciting new plant-based alternatives to meat protein can create healthy and sustainable diets for the future.



Food Matters Live is free to attend, including entry to the conference, seminars and all visitor attractions. Simply register at www.foodmatterslive.com

Read more:

A test field of around 3,000 m² at Macfrut 2024

23 April 2024

At Macfrut, the sector’s innovations will be on display in an area of around 3,000 square metres, divided into two halls: one dedicated to fruit growing (Hall C1 - Agri Field Solution) and the other to soilless production techniques, commercial and industrial horticulture, and mechanisation (Hall A1 – Machinery Solutions). ‘Both of these areas allow visitors to see for themselves what they can put into practice on their own farm,’ says Luciano Trentini, an experienced agronomist. »

The first edition of Fruit Attraction in Brazil reflects the potential of the Brazilian fruit and vegetable sector

22 April 2024

Fruit Attraction, one of the world's leading international trade fairs for the fruit and vegetable sector, has closed its first edition in Brazil, at the São Paulo Expo. The three-day event brought together the entire production chain of the sector, with the presence of 45 countries and 8 Brazilian states (São Paulo, Bahia, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte, Maranhão, Pará, Espírito Santo and Paraná) and 12,000 visitors. »

What happened in the food industry this past month?

15 April 2024

Innovation is of key importance at SIAL Paris – and nowhere is this more the case than at the SIAL Start-up Village, which is run in partnership with Sesamers. Present in 24 countries, Sesamers is a global network of tech events that was launched in 2015 by specialists in innovation and business events. “With 10 years of experience, we help innovative businesses to shine on stage, build better events and scale their influence strategy,” the network, also known as Start-up Sesame, says. »