AUSTRALIA | The Restaurant & Foodservice Show 2026, held in late May, delivered its strongest buyer turnout in the event's history.
Restaurant & Foodservice Show played a central role in delivering a record-breaking Food & Hospitality Week, which attracted 19,379 industry professionals and featured 426 exhibitors showcasing across food, beverage, equipment, technology, packaging and hospitality services.
The event marked the second edition under the ownership of National Media and the first to operate under the new Restaurant & Foodservice Show brand, formerly Foodservice Australia. The transformation reflects National Media’s vision to build on the event’s 59-year legacy while creating a broader, more commercially valuable platform for Australia’s hospitality and foodservice community.
Held at ICC Sydney from 25-27 May, Restaurant & Foodservice Show was the cornerstone event within Food & Hospitality Week, alongside Cafe & Coffee Show, Pizza Pasta & Italian Food Show and RESTECH, creating one of Australia’s largest industry gatherings.
The event attracted owners, chefs and top executives from across the entire foodservice spectrum, from quick service chains and independent restaurants through to major catering companies, hotel and hospitality groups, pubs, clubs and institutional foodservice operators across aged care, education, mining and defence.
Among the attendees were buying teams from organisations including KFC, McDonald’s, Guzman y Gomez, Hungry Jack’s, Soul Origin, Compass Group, Delaware North, Cater Care, Merivale, Applejack, Australian Venue Co, Accor, Hyatt Regency, Shangri-La Sydney and many more.
Jono Whyman, Portfolio Director at National Media said the event’s continued growth reflects the industry’s demand for a trade event focused on genuine business outcomes.
“When we acquired Foodservice Australia in 2024, our goal was to build on the event’s incredible legacy while creating a stronger platform for exhibitors, visitors and the industry as a whole,” said Whyman.
“In just two years, we’ve grown the platform by 46 percent, transforming a single-event exhibition into Food & Hospitality Week, a multi-event destination that attracts nearly 20,000 hospitality and foodservice professionals and delivers significantly greater reach and opportunity for exhibitors.”
Whyman added that the results demonstrate what’s possible when investing in audience growth, buyer quality and customer experience.
“Success isn’t measured simply by how many people walk through the doors. It’s measured by the quality of the conversations taking place on the exhibition floor and the business opportunities being created for exhibitors,” he said.
“This year we saw an exceptional calibre of buyers attending the event, and the feedback from exhibitors has been overwhelmingly positive. That confidence is evident in one of the strongest exhibitor rebooking performances in the event’s history, with Food & Hospitality Week Melbourne 2027 already significantly ahead of target and on track to deliver another record-breaking edition.”
Restaurant & Foodservice Show is now firmly established as the event where Australia’s hospitality and foodservice industry comes to do business.
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