Hotel, Restaurant & Catering (HRC), the UK’s largest and most prestigious business event for the hospitality and foodservice sector, has opened visitor registration for its 2023 edition, taking place on 20-22 March at ExCeL London.    

Hospitality business owners and managers will have the opportunity to explore quality suppliers from across four distinct show areas – food & drink, professional catering equipment, hospitality tech, design & décor – providing everything needed to update and elevate their front- and back-of-house offering.  

The Pub Show @ HRC will return bigger and better for 2023, featuring an all-new partnership with the British Institute of Innkeeping, who will be offering drop-in sessions and presentations providing much needed and valuable expert advice as part of ‘Helpline Live’. 

Steve Alton, CEO of the British Institute of Innkeeping (BII), comments: “We are hugely looking forward to attending the show and meeting industry colleagues to share the BII’s passion for our vital and vibrant pubs.” 

HRC will once again be taking place alongside IFE, International Food & Drink Event and IFE Manufacturing, giving visitors the opportunity to discover thousands of innovative food & drink products and learn about the latest trends in food production, packaging and NPD.  

Plus, the show will be partnering with IFE to launch ‘Drinks @ HRC & IFE’, a single, central location for visitors to source drinks products from alcohol and low/no to soft drinks to hot beverages.

Cumulatively, the co-located shows will welcome more than 25,000 leading industry buyers and over 1,500 innovative suppliers across a wide range of product categories.  

A new addition for 2023 is Chef HQ, curated by Chef Publishing: a networking hub and demo kitchen where leading chefs from the UK and Europe will be taking to the stage to demonstrate culinary tips and techniques, host deep dives into key dishes and cuisines, and discuss the latest trends and challenges affecting commercial kitchens in 2023 and beyond.  

Confirmed chefs for the stage include Andrew Wong of Restaurant A. Wong, Tom Phillips of Restaurant Story, Launceston Place Chef Patron Ben Murphy, and legendary pastry chef Frédéric Bau, with many more due to be announced in the weeks to come.  

Jonny Dillon, General Manager of The Great Shefford, comments: “HRC is a fantastic day to enjoy. The brilliance of meeting new suppliers, seeing new trends in the market, finding innovative new products, learning from the biggest and best in hospitality with shows and talks. I can see me and my team there every year.” 

An industry-leading seminar programme 

Visitors to HRC 2023 will have access to over 100 free-to-attend content sessions, discussions, demonstrations and more, covering some of the latest industry trends and topics and featuring leading figures from the worlds of foodservice and hospitality.  

The show’s Vision Stage, designed by Harp Design, will highlight trends and all-important issues impacting the hospitality and foodservice sectors, with must-attend sessions with dynamic industry leaders and an exclusive keynote with HRC’s 2023 Chef Ambassador Monica Galetti. 

Meanwhile, the Tech X Stage will be a focal point for everything hospitality tech, with discussions on how front- and back-of-house technology can increase profits, provide key insights and enable a more seamless experience for both employees and customers.  

Alongside the industry leading seminar programme, visitors to the show will have the opportunity to learn from key association partners and hospitality professionals with features like Ask the Expert from the Foodservice Equipment Association (FEA) and Helpline Live from the BII, a chance for pub, bar and hospitality business owners to meet with a range of industry experts and consultants to gain bespoke advice and solutions for their business. 

Keith Warren, Chief Executive of the FEA comments: “The FEA are delighted to be the official sponsor and to be partnering with HRC once again for 2023. All types of equipment have a critical role in ensuring effective foodservice delivery, the Professional Kitchen section is vitally important as the leading UK exhibition for the sector.” 

Celebrating talented chefs 

HRC will once again take place alongside historic chef competition International Salon Culinaire, which sees chefs putting their talents and knowledge to the test across a number of live and skills competitions across the three days of the event.  

Salon Chef Director Steve Munkley comments: “Next year’s event is set to be another fantastic edition of HRC and International Salon Culinaire, attracting everyone from the UK’s leading chefs to the next generation of culinary superstars. Live competition is a great way for chefs to challenge themselves, meet industry peers and stand out from the crowd and I can’t wait to see what this year’s competitors produce.” 

Alongside popular returning competitions like the Mystery Basket Grand Prix, the Alaska Seafood Masters competition, the Apprentice Challenge, the Stadia team event, and Salon’s mainstay pasta and cheese challenges, next year’s edition will see a new challenge for the Craft Guild of Chefs Team of the Year, in partnership with Waitrose & Partners, new official meat partner in the form of Alliance NZ, which will be bringing its prestigious Lumina Lamb Competition to the show, and a new online training competition for chef lecturers in partnership with The Grande Cuisine Academy.