The UK’s Biggest Hospitality Trade Show Returns to ExCeL

24 September 2026 Luxfanzine

For anyone whose interest in hospitality runs to what’s in the glass rather than what’s on the POS system, one date on the trade calendar matters more than most. The Food Service Industry Expo returns to ExCeL London on 29 and 30 September, and inside it sits the part of the show that speaks most directly to Luxfanzine readers: Trade Drinks Expo, where spirits, wine, beer and premium soft drinks brands meet the on-trade buyers who decide what actually reaches a bar or a restaurant list.

The scale of it

FSI Expo is a large event. More than 15,000 trade buyers and industry professionals are expected across the two days, alongside 600+ exhibitors and over 200 seminars, panels and sessions, and the show has run for more than 16 years. The organisers describe their target audience as procurement heads, owners and operators with live budgets to spend, rather than casual visitors, which is worth noting for anyone weighing up whether two days is a reasonable use of the diary.

The wider expo is built from seven flagship shows under one roof, spanning hotels, restaurant and takeaway innovation, hospitality technology, café concepts, street food, foodservice packaging and drinks. That breadth means an operator can move freely between a payments demo and a packaging stand without leaving the building. For this audience, though, one of those seven shows is worth planning the whole visit around.

Where the drinks are

Trade Drinks Expo puts spirits, wine, beer and soft drinks producers directly in front of on-trade buyers. Exhibitors include Hard Rock Cocktails, Fifth Ray and Oh-Buzz, three names that between them point to where the category is heading: ready-to-serve formats, alcohol-free options and functional beverages, all increasingly hard to ignore on a bar list. It’s the one part of the show where a walk down the aisles doubles as a decent read on where drinks are heading next, even if the tasting itself is, sensibly, up to the exhibitors.

On the stages

The seminar stages bring in figures from Ottolenghi, Mandarin Oriental Group, WatchHouse and EL&N Cafe, names that will be familiar to anyone who follows this magazine’s own coverage, alongside the Hotel & Resort Innovation Expo, the constituent show covering guest experience, design and operations for hotel owners and operators. The remaining strands, covering hospitality technology, procurement and foodservice packaging, round out the picture of the commercial and technological environment that the drinks and hospitality brands above are actually operating in, useful context even for a reader who has no intention of buying a POS system.

Getting in for free

LuxFanzine is a media partner for the Food Service Industry Expo, which means readers can attend free of charge. Register through our dedicated link using the code LUXFANZINE100.

Two days at ExCeL is a rare chance to watch an entire industry’s drinks strategy for the next twelve months take shape in real time, from the brands defining the category to the hospitality groups deciding what ends up on the list. We’re looking forward to catching up with the familiar names on the floor, and just as keen to discover the newcomers who’ll be worth writing about long after the show has packed up.

For readers who follow drinks and hospitality as closely as we do, whether as consumers, suppliers or simply people who like knowing what’s coming before it arrives, that’s two days well spent.

Food Service Industry Expo 2026 takes place at ExCeL London on 29–30 September 2026.

Complimentary LuxFanzine tickets: Register for your FREE FSI Expo ticket with LUXFANZINE100