Food and drink trade shows in the UK: which to go to and how

Updated 2 November 2026 · DELLI

The food and drink trade shows in the UK most relevant to small brands are the Farm Shop & Deli Show (NEC Birmingham, usually April), the Speciality & Fine Food Fair (Olympia London, usually September), IFE (ExCeL London, usually March), Lunch! (ExCeL London, usually September or October), Scotland's Speciality Food Show (Glasgow, usually January) and Imbibe Live (London, usually summer). Dates move from year to year, so check each organiser's website. This guide covers how to choose a show, whether to visit or exhibit first, how to prepare, what to do on the day and how to follow up.

1. Which food and drink trade shows in the UK suit small brands?

These six shows come round every year. The months below are when each one usually runs. Organisers set new dates each year, so confirm them on the organiser's website before you book travel.

UK food trade shows for 2026 and 2027

Put the next date for each one in your calendar now, along with a reminder two months before. Most of the preparation below takes weeks, and you'll want it done before the show.

2. How to choose which food trade fairs in the UK to go to

Pick the show whose buyers are the buyers you want. A brownie maker hoping to supply cafés and a gin distillery looking for bars need different rooms.

• Match the show to your channel. Farm shops and delis: the Farm Shop & Deli Show or the Speciality & Fine Food Fair. Cafés and food-to-go: Lunch!. Drinks: Imbibe Live. Shops in Scotland: Scotland's Speciality Food Show.
• Check last year's exhibitor list on the organiser's website. If brands like yours exhibited, the buyers you want were probably there too.
• Think about timing. Shops plan seasonal ranges months ahead, and many plan Christmas in late summer and early autumn. A September show lands while those decisions are being made.
• Be honest about capacity. A good show can bring more enquiries than you can supply. Go when you can fulfil the orders you hope to win.
• Count the full cost. Travel, hotel, time away from production and samples, plus the stand if you exhibit.

Speciality food shows

The Speciality & Fine Food Fair in London and Scotland's Speciality Food Show in Glasgow both focus on speciality food. If your buyers are independent delis, farm shops and fine food shops, start with one of these or the Farm Shop & Deli Show.

3. Should you visit or exhibit first?

Visit first. A day walking the aisles costs you travel and time, and tells you whether exhibiting there is worth it.

As a visitor:

• Note which brands exhibit and how their stands are set up.
• Watch which stands buyers stop at, and which they walk past.
• Talk to exhibitors at quiet moments and ask whether the show works for them. Keep it short, and step away when a buyer arrives.
• Meet wholesalers and distributors who exhibit, and pick up their supplier details.

Exhibit when you can say yes to all of these: you have a trade sheet with prices and terms, you can take on new accounts and deliver to them, your labels and paperwork are in order, and you have a range that fills a stand. Ask the organiser for exhibitor information: stand sizes, costs and what's included.

4. How to prepare for a food and drink trade show

Your trade sheet

Every buyer you meet will want prices and terms. A trade sheet as a link, shown as a QR code on your stand and your business card, lets them check later on their phone. Include trade price, RRP, case size, minimum order, delivery and shelf life. Our guide to building a wholesale price list and trade sheet covers what goes on it.

Samples

• Tasting samples for the stand: enough for every visitor, with spoons, napkins and a bin.
• Take-away samples for buyers you want to follow up: a full-size unit or a sample pack, with your trade sheet link attached.
• Labelled correctly. Anything prepacked needs full labelling, with allergens emphasised in the ingredients list. Keep an allergen sheet on the stand for anything served unwrapped.

A target list

Before the show, list 20 to 30 shops, cafés and wholesalers you most want to meet. Look for buyers who have posted that they're going. If you're exhibiting, email the limited companies on your list a week or two before with your stand number and one reason to stop by. Our guide to writing pitch emails to shop buyers covers how to write it and the PECR rules on emailing businesses.

Stand checklist

• Price list and trade sheet QR code, printed large
• A show offer, such as free delivery on first orders placed within two weeks
• A notebook or form for every conversation: name, business, town, what they asked, next step
• Business cards, phone charger, water, comfortable shoes
• A rota if two of you are working, so someone is always on the stand

5. What to do at the show

• Stand at the front of your stand. Sitting behind a table makes it harder for buyers to stop.
• Offer a taste first. "Would you like to try the Smoked Habanero?" is an easier opener than "Can I tell you about us?"
• Ask before you pitch. What kind of business they run, where it is, and what sells well for them. Then explain where your product fits.
• Write one detail per conversation. "Deli in Frome, wants a gift box for Christmas, follow up in August." Without it, every buyer looks the same by Monday.
• Photograph business cards with your note next to them, so nothing gets lost.
• Agree a next step. A sample in the post, a call next week or a visit. Your follow-up email then has something to refer to.

If you're visiting, aim to meet the shops on your target list and the wholesalers who exhibit. Exhibitors are there to sell, so keep conversations with them short when buyers are waiting.

6. Following up after a trade show

Buyers meet a lot of brands at a show. Follow up within two working days, while they still remember your stand.

1. Sort your leads. Hot (asked for prices or samples), warm (interested, no next step), cold (passing interest).
2. Email hot leads first, with the detail you noted and the next step you agreed.
3. Send any samples you promised the same week.
4. Follow up once more about a week later if there's no reply, then note the lead for next season.
5. Log everyone in your tracker, with the show name, so you can see which show brought orders.

Once you have a first order, our guide to getting stocked in farm shops and delis covers turning it into regular reorders.

Questions about trade shows

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