Addressing the challenges of gastronomy and restoration to rethink the sector with a social responsibility perspective. With this objective, Gastronomic Forum Barcelona will bring together more than 130 chefs and experts and more than 350 companies from November 4 to 6 at Fira de Barcelona's Montjuïc venue, where it will look at future trends in gastronomy, hospitality, and foodservice.
Under the slogan Let's rethink restoration, the fair will feature a hundred presentations, round tables, and showcookings. In addition, it will once again bring together representative exhibitors from all segments of foodservice, consolidated as the reference fair for professionals in hospitality, specialized trade, and gastronomy at Fira de Barcelona.
"We will once again be a meeting point for the sector to do business, share experiences, discover innovations, and debate the great challenges of the future of restoration," defended Josep Alcaraz, director of the fair. The challenges will be addressed in an edition that will focus on the restoration of the future. Thus, the fair will address "different ways of approaching hot topics, such as work-life balance, new schedules, and the application of new technologies in the sector," added co-director Pep Palau.
To bring these future trends closer, the event will feature the participation of leading firms and major distributors. Among them are Damm, BonÀrea, Cuinats Jotri, Makro, Assolim, Vins Estela, Randstech, Welbilt, Arcon, Triticum, Gran Blau, Natureco, Sosa Ingredientes, Vinyals Gourmet, and Unox, who will present their projects and novelties. The fair will feature brands that will debut as exhibitors this year, such as Bidfood, Grupo Borras, Meritem, Congelados Inserte, Garcia de Pou, and Cominport. The exhibition area will be complemented by a program of activities with 130 experts and chefs, who together accumulate 42 Michelin stars.
Responsible cuisine and the chefs of the future
Social responsibility will be transversal at the fair, and will take on special prominence with the participation of figures such as Selassie Atadika, who opened a restaurant in Ghana where she works with a team made up only of women, and projects such as that of Andrés Torres and Sandra Pérez, who was recently awarded the Basque Culinary World Prize for his intervention from the kitchen in global crisis situations.
The professionals of the future will take on a special role in the thematic axis Generació 90, which will highlight the role of chefs and bartenders under 35 years old. These young people will present their new way of seeing cuisine, reinterpreting tradition, with more ecological awareness and committing to work-life balance. In this area, the event will dedicate a session to generational change, starring the children of some of the most prestigious chefs in Catalonia. Martí and Marc Roca, from Celler de Can Roca; Carlota Puigvert, from Les Cols; Guillem Pérez, from Miramar, and Pol Ruiz and Marc Cano, who are taking over at Aürt despite doing so without family ties, will participate in the session.
Looking at the World Region of Gastronomy
A few months before Catalonia debuts as World Region of Gastronomy 2025, the fair will have Catalan cuisine as one of its main axes. To do this, it will feature figures such as Oriol Castro and Eduard Xatruch from Disfrutar, who will present the new dishes of what is the best restaurant in the world by The World's 50 Best Restaurants at the fair. Renowned chefs will gather at the event in sessions such as the one that will bring together Artur Martínez, from Aürt; Nandu Jubany, from Can Jubany; Adrià Juncà and Isabel Juncà, from Ca l'Enric; Albert Raurich and Takeshi Somekawa, from Dos Pebrots; Marc Gascons, from Els Tinars; Borja Sierra, from Granja Elena; Joel Castañé and María Ángeles Chiriboga, from La Boscana, and Víctor Quintillà and Mar Gómez, from Lluerna.
Tradition in gastronomy and the return to roots will be addressed from the experience of chefs such as Adejoké Bakaré, the first black woman in the United Kingdom and the second worldwide to obtain a Michelin star, with her restaurant Chisuru in London.
Turkish chef Osman Sezener will also participate, focused on sustainability and zero waste. All in a fair that will also give space to current trends such as fermented foods, with a workshop with tasting with Kwang Uh and Mina Park, from the Korean restaurant in Los Angeles Baroo.
Pizza will also be one of the protagonists of the show, which will host the Spanish Pizza por Pasión championship for the first time. In addition, the Cuiner 2024 Gastronomic Forum Barcelona awards will be granted again, as well as other awards that will be presented during the event. A space for desserts and pastries could not miss the event, which will sweeten the show with the help of great names such as Jordi Roca and Raúl Bernal.