Appetite For Innovation At lunch! 2013

UK's leading food-to-go trade show enjoys 25% increase in visitor pre-registrations

lunch! - Europe's premier trade event for the food-to-go market - is now just 12 stands away from selling out of all of its available exhibition space at the three-floor Business Design Centre in Islington, London. With the Innovation Zone now full, plus all stands across the ground and middle level also booked up, visitors to lunch! 2013, on 26-27 September, will benefit from the show's biggest choice of exhibitors ever.

Launched in 2008, the multi-award-winning two day trade event is poised to connect more than 4,500 out of home food and drink buyers with an unprecedented 270 companies showcasing a wealth of new products, packaging, equipment and technologies. lunch's pivotal focus on innovation - highlighted by popular visitor feature areas like the lunch! Innovation Zone and Innovation Challenge Showcase - has made it a popular choice with buying teams from across the retailing, hospitality, snacking and catering sectors (visitor pre-registration is now over 25% ahead of the same time last year) looking to discover new trends and suppliers for their stores and eateries.

"I think lunch! is the premier place for food retailers to get an insight into all the food innovation that is happening across the country. It also gives small businesses a chance to show their wares to a captive market," comments retail consultant (and former managing director of Pret A Manger) Andrew Walker, who will be making his exhibiting debut with handmade pudding specialist Pots & Co in this year's Innovation Zone.

"As MD of Pret, I was a frequent visitor with the food and buying teams to keep abreast of developments and to spark creative thinking," says Walker, "and as an independent manufacturer of innovative food solutions this could not be a better showcase for our products."

According to key findings in its 2012 'Ones to Watch' report, foodservice consultancy Horizons says when it comes to food-to-go - high quality and wide variety are key growth drivers in the UK's £14.9bn lunch market.  And lunch!'s eclectic menu of Innovation Zone exhibitors certainly offers plenty of both.

Designed to promote new products from smaller suppliers and emerging start ups, in the three years since its launch, the Innovation Zone has helped countless brands reach a national audience.  For 2013, it's the turn of 37 more.  First time Innovation Zone participants include Pots & Co; Just Crackers; Charlie Mackenzie Inc; The Gourmet Hotdog Company; ELLER (food packaging) Gmbh; Paul's Pies; Clearly Scrumptious; Popcorn Kitchen; Hanleys Confectionery; Lick; The Kake Princess; Zerodo srl; Flower of Life (Equinox Kombucha); Zelected Foods; Pid Labelling; Tea Nation; Super!Natural Energy Drink; Mackenzie - Wright; Timmy's Pies; Bev's Cookie Dessert's; Little Big Shot Energy; The Foods of Athenry; Chylled Consultancy; The Kandula Tea Company; 3Hats Fine Food; The Olive Oil Products Company; Thor Drinks; Glamour Puds; and Wise Owl Snack Company, with its new, 100% natural, baked multigrain snacks called Hoots.

Bradley's Juice, Raynor Foods, Dr.Oats, Tea Nation, Serious Pig, and Maynard House Orchards meanwhile will be hoping for a repeat of last year's packed aisles as they head back (and up) to the newly-positioned Innovation Zone, which is now located in the upper feature level with the Innovation Challenge Showcase and Working lunch! Theatre (sponsored by Magrini) for 2013.

Of course, there's plenty of innovation to be found across the three floors. New product launches being showcased at lunch! 2013 include Spoonfed's cloud-based catering management software application; 100% compostable catering disposables from eco-friendly packaging developer Biopac; Warburtons Escapes - a new-look, revamped crispy pitta bites range; (the world's first) Chickpea Crispbreads from Easy Bean; Caramel Milk Chocolate and 70% Dark with Ginger & Orange 40g bars from Divine Chocolate; Costa Rica Single Origin Coffee from Cafédirect; a unique range of milk alternatives (brown rice, oat and almond) from Rude Health; the Banana Breakfast Shake from Be Fast; five organic, gluten free soups (including Pea & Mint, Farmhouse Chicken with Lemon and Thyme, and Spicy Butternut Squash) from Tideford Organics; luxurious liege waffles from wholesaler Projuice; Optimax SQ - the first British-manufactured refrigerated display cabinet to be featured on the ECA Energy Technology List from Victor Manufacturing; and the 'All in One Table' from GO IN - a sideways stackable, lightweight table, with a built-in tilting mechanism, integrated anti-theft protection and height-adjustable floor protectors, specially designed for outdoor catering situations.

"We have exhibited at lunch! many times over the years and always find it to be a fantastic platform for launching new products, meeting key people in the trade and gaining new channels of supply," explains Robert Strathern, potato farmer and founder of Fairfields Farm Crisps, who'll be treating lunch!'s visitors to the first taste of its new Sweet Potato, Chilli & Lime and Parsnip vegetable crisps at the show.

"Exhibiting at lunch! is a great way to promote existing products and introduce new products in to the trade - it's a really quick way to get your products out there," agrees Kendra Jones, marketing coordinator for 9bar at Wholebake.

"Sampling the products at lunch! allows retailers to quickly decide if the products are right for them and it's an opportunity for us, as exhibitors, to really demonstrate our passion and enthusiasm for our brand and its products," continues Jones. "lunch! 2013 will be the first trade show to see the new 9bar Fruity variety and we are very much looking forward to the reaction from the food-to-go industry."

Full of innovation and energy, exciting, essential and enjoyable - that's the reaction from last year's successful fifth anniversary edition, which attracted record attendance of 4,403 across two action-packed days.  lunch! 2013 promises more of the same, when it returns to the Business Design Centre in Islington, London, on 26-27 September 2013.

For further information and to register for a free trade pass, please visit www.lunchshow.co.uk   (www.eventdata.co.uk/Visitor/Lunch.aspx?AffiliateCode=LUNPR2) and use priority code LUNPR2 where prompted.