- The trade fair platform is expanding its global reach and will bring together nearly 1,500 international importers
- Poland will participate as guest country with record figures: more than 100 exhibitors and 1,200 m2 of exhibition space
Alimentaria+Hostelco, the leading international platform for food, beverages, food service and hospitality equipment, and one of the main international benchmarks for the sector, will return to Fira de Barcelona’s Gran Via venue from 23 to 26 March 2026, with a 41% increase in international participation compared with the previous edition. More than 3,300 companies will take part as exhibitors, including nearly 1,000 international firms from more than 70 countries, with particularly strong representation from European, Asian and Latin American markets.
With just over four months to go before Alimentaria+Hostelco 2026, nearly 1,000 international companies have already confirmed their participation. They account for more than 30% of all exhibitors and represent an 11% increase compared with the previous edition. Many will exhibit collectively under the official pavilions of their respective countries.
As in previous editions, Italy again leads international participation with more than 200 firms, including those grouped under the Italian Trade Agency, the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Barcelona, and collective participations from different Italian regions. Following Italy, the countries with the highest number of exhibitors will be Poland, China, Turkey, Germany, Belgium, Portugal, France, the Netherlands and Greece, all of which have increased their floor space and exhibitor numbers compared with the previous edition. Participation from the United States has also grown notably.
According to J. Antonio Valls, managing director of Alimentaria Exhibitions, the company of Fira de Barcelona organizer of Alimentaria+Hostelco, “The increase in international participation confirms that the show remains a global benchmark, able to attract the world’s leading producers and exporters and generate new business opportunities for the food industry as a whole”.
More than 1,500 importers invited
Furthermore, Alimentaria+Hostelco estimates that 25% of the more than 110,000 visitors expected for the next edition will come from abroad. To promote business opportunities in foreign markets, the event has a major buyer invitation programme, organised in collaboration with ICEX, through which it will bring together more than 1,500 importers, distributors, directors and international purchasing managers from more than 80 countries of strategic importance for participating exhibitors.
The programme aims to connect the sector’s main decision-makers: importers, distributors and Horeca operators across hotels, restaurants, retail, cruises and travel services, both in Spain and internationally, with the aim of fostering commercial opportunities and new business partnerships. One of the event’s core features is the matchmaking meetings between invited buyers and exhibitors, which are expected to exceed 14,000.
In addition, the event will welcome buyers and importers from the United States, Mexico, China and Hong Kong, Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, South Korea, Singapore, Germany and Chile, followed by the main destination markets for Spanish exports in Europe and Latin America.
Confirmed participants include the US wholesaler KeHE, which will hold short meetings to identify new products, as well as distributors and importers such as BidFood (Asia), Bergfood (Netherlands), Pan Emirates (United Arab Emirates) and Cotswold Fayre (United Kingdom).
In the field of large-scale retail, supermarket chains such as Sonae (Portugal), PriceSmart (Latin America and the Caribbean), Walmart (United States and Latin America), GPA (Brazil), CCF Grupo La Comer (Mexico), Big Basket (India), Alkosto (Colombia), Marks & Spencer (United Kingdom) and Coto (Argentina) have also confirmed their attendance.
Poland, Country of Honour
Poland will be the guest country at the 2026 edition, participating with more than 100 exhibitors and 1,200 m2 of exhibition space. The country’s institutional presence will include two major areas dedicated to meat products and a unified national pavilion showcasing leading companies. For the first time, the Świętokrzyskie and Łódzkie regions will also take part, highlighting the dual nature of Poland’s agri-food sector: agricultural tradition combined with industrial modernisation.
In 2024, the country’s agri-food exports reached a historic record of €53.5 million, up 3% year on year, with 72% destined for EU markets.
A leading international platform
Alimentaria+Hostelco, organised by Alimentaria Exhibitions, a Fira de Barcelona company, is the leading international platform for the food and hospitality industries. The event fosters synergies between the retail, hospitality and food service sectors. Marking its 50th year in 2026, the previous edition brought together more than 3,200 exhibitors, 28% from outside Spain, across more than 100,000 m².
Barcelona, 25th of november 2025