News and press releases

The leading fair in Spain and a European benchmark in its speciality, organised by Fira de Barcelona and Felac (the Spanish Federation of Associations of Machinery Manufacturers for Hospitality, Collectivities and Related Industries) will present the latest innovations in machinery and equipment for the Horeca channel resulting from the investments made in R&D&I by supplier companies from a sector that requires increasingly efficient instruments and solutions that are easily adaptable to the needs of each customer in terms of design, energy savings and remote management through the application of IoT systems.

As at the previous event, Hostelco will join forces with Restaurama, the Alimentaria trade fair dedicated to the restaurant and food sector, to form one of the largest international platforms with products and services for the Horeca channel, made up of the proposals of around 600 direct and represented companies including the leading equipment and food service firms, which will occupy Halls 4, 6 and 7 at the Gran Via venue.

Hostelco’s offer will be largely made up of the Fully Equipped sector, with equipment, machinery and accessories for the hospitality industry, the sector with the largest representation at the fair, Setting, the area devoted to kitchenware and table service, Moments, bringing together the proposals of products and equipment related to coffee, cake shops, bakeries, pizza and ice creams, and Tech, with a range of software, technological products and entertainment. Finally, with Atmosphere the event will renew its commitment to interior design items, decoration, textiles and furniture. Hostelco will also feature companies that have stocks of products to facilitate their distribution and sale.

With the aim of generating the maximum number of opportunities for its customers, the fair organises different business programmes for the exhibitors and invites key buyers on the domestic and international stages with specific purchasing projects. The professionals invited to visit Hostelco and Restaurama include 1,100 strategic buyers, mostly importers, distributors and purchasing managers from hotel and restaurant chains and chiefly from Europe, including Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy and Portugal, among other countries.

Customer-geared activities
Hostelco will host various exhibition, business, knowledge-sharing and debate areas with value propositions to complement the commercial offer, including Hostelco Live Hotel, which will recreate the main rooms of a hotel with the latest innovations in interior design and equipment, and Hostelco Live Arena, the area devoted to knowledge and debate set to host talks by experts from the hospitality industry. The speakers will include professionals from the CEHAT-ITH (Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation and the Hotel Technological Institute), a partner of Hostelco, who will propose new approaches to key issues in the hotel industry, and others who will address contents related to customer experience, specialised vocational training, sustainability, the boom of the delivery sector, new marketing strategies and how technological innovation is transforming the management of services and establishments engaged in tourism and catering. This space will also host B2B business meetings between customers and strategic buyers.

Another area for sharing expertise will be the Speaker’s Corner, which will offer distributors and installers of equipment and machinery for the hotel and catering industry a space where manufacturers and other specialists from the sector will discuss technical maintenance, regulations and certifications relating to the hotel, catering and collectivity (social and hospitable catering) sectors.

More than 30 chefs in The Experience Live Gastronomy
Hostelco, Restaurama and Alimentaria will share some of the most significant activities set to take place within the framework of the trade fair, including The Experience Live Gastronomy, a live event conducted by more than 30 highly prestigious chefs. The Experience will once again host the finals of major international competitions such as the Chef of the Year Competition and the Waiter of the Year Competition. 

The Spanish equipment industry, on the road to recovery
According to the latest economic study conducted by Felac (the Spanish Federation of Associations of Machinery Manufacturers for Hospitality, Collectivities and Related Industries) the turnover of the 130 companies forming part of this group totalled 1,393.50 million euros in 2020 as a result of the health crisis, 26% less than in 2019.

However, the hospitality sector began its recovery in the second quarter of 2021 “at a double-digit rate thanks to the reactivation of demand”, said Rafael Olmos, president of Felac and Hostelco. “In an environment conditioned by the evolution of the pandemic and other factors, we expect to continue along the path of recovery throughout 2022 and return to our pre-Covid figures as soon as possible”. Within this context, he added that “holding Hostelco and Alimentaria is doubly strategic, as the sum of the two will shape the largest in-person business centre in the country, facilitating commercial transactions, networking, the publicising of innovation, training and sustainability and giving a huge boost to the sector”.

Hostelco and Alimentaria
Alimentaria and Hostelco will occupy a surface area totalling around 85,000 m2 and bring together about 3,000 exhibiting companies, thus creating one of the largest international platforms and a benchmark for the food industry, gastronomy and catering equipment, as it will display the most comprehensive and cross-cutting range of products from the domestic and international markets to the distribution chain and the Horeca channel.

Barcelona, 27th January 2022

Mª Gloria Dilluvio
+34 93 233 21 72
gdilluvio@firabarcelona.com