Fira de Barcelona will once again be a gastronomic celebration next November. The countdown has begun for a new edition of the Gastronomic Forum Barcelona, a benchmark event for professionals in hospitality, specialized trade, and gastronomy. It will be a record-breaking event, the largest of all held to date, with 20% growth in both the number of participating exhibiting companies and the volume of expected visitors, as the challenge is to exceed 18,000 professionals.
Between November 6 and 8, the historic Palace 8 of the Montjuïc exhibition center will bring together more than 350 exhibiting companies and host nearly 120 activities involving more than 200 chefs, pastry chefs, sommeliers, and other experts from the world of gastronomy. In total, between the exhibition area and the areas dedicated to workshops, showcookings, and presentations, the Gastronomic Forum Barcelona will occupy 10,000 net square meters, as explained by Josep Alcaraz, director of the event organized by Alimentaria Exhibitions —a company owned by Fira de Barcelona— and Fòrum Gastronòmic, the company of Pep Palau and Jaume Von Arend, creators of the format in Vic in 1999.
"The Gastronomic Forum is a country project, it is the great showcase where all chefs and producers can open up to the world," highlighted chef Oriol Castro this Monday during the presentation of the event at the Compartir restaurant in the Catalan capital. "We will make the largest Forum in history," said the co-director of the event and head of the activity program, Pep Palau, who announced that this year the central theme of the Forum will be the defense of biodiversity. "We will present chefs who lead the preservation of biodiversity in the kitchen," explained Palau, who stressed the importance of valuing transformative cuisine committed to the recovery of plant species and animal breeds, the recovery of traditional production methods, and the fight against food waste.
"The Gastronomic Forum is an event that aims to be useful to the sector and reflect what is really happening in the world of restoration," said the gastronomic expert, emphasizing "the transformative power of cuisine" and the importance of "giving a voice" to all projects committed to sustainability, social transformation, and the protection of biodiversity.
Joan and Josep Roca (El Celler de Can Roca), Jesús Sánchez (El Cenador de Amós), Oriol Castro and Eduard Xatruch (Disfrutar), Lucía Freitas (A Tafona), Albert Adrià (Enigma), Paolo Casagrande (Lasarte), Paco Roncero (Paco Roncero), Javier Olleros (Culler de Pau) and Bego Rodrigo (La Salita) are some of the dozens of chefs who will give presentations and participate in round tables throughout the three days of the event. Together they add up to 55 Michelin stars.
"The Gastronomic Forum Barcelona is a magnificent networking space for the restaurant sector," highlights Josep Alcaraz, very satisfied at having managed to add 20% more direct exhibiting companies this year. "Brands come to the Forum to present their novelties, to generate new business and also to build loyalty and hold meetings with their regular customers," says the executive, who recalls that this will be the third consecutive edition of this fair at Fira de Barcelona (2021, 2022 and 2023) and the fourth since the new collaboration format with Fòrum Gastronòmic premiered in 2019.
Over three days, the fair will become a non-stop series of presentations, demonstrations, round tables, training activities and multiple award ceremonies, an intense agenda that makes the event the epicenter of the restaurant world. More than 18,000 people are expected to attend, including culinary professionals, producers of all types of food, distributors, supplier companies, students, representatives of sectoral associations, critics and journalists.
This year's edition stands out because it will be the starting point for Catalonia's recent designation as World Region of Gastronomy in 2025. "Having won this bid is a great opportunity for the entire sector and for the entire country. We are very excited; it is a great challenge and we must take advantage of it as much as possible," said Ramon Sentmartí, director of Prodeca, the public company for the promotion of Catalan food, dependent on the Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda.
"On November 8, we will kick off this world capital of gastronomy, which will allow us to explain to the world that we have a gastronomic culture that makes us unique," said Narcís Ferrer, director of the Catalan Tourism Agency.
As is customary, the Gastronomic Forum Barcelona will showcase and reflect on the main trends in the world of cooking, with a star session, for example, focused on the growing importance of grills and the use of fire, an "unstoppable trend," according to Palau. Chef Aitor Arregui, from the Basque restaurant Elkano, will be the protagonist of the presentation.
Another trend, Palau advances, is "the new pantry," a concept that encompasses restaurants that make their own fermented foods or preserves, or that opt for the collection of wild products. Another phenomenon that they want to shed light on is that of female chefs without a restaurant. Eva Hausmann, Iolanda Bustos, Fran Baixas, and Ana Casanova will explain their project in a round table.
Sweet cuisine will also have a strong presence, along with presentations that emphasize the transformative power of cooking. Thus, experiences of several restaurants whose objective is degrowth and others that prioritize work-life balance and working hours will be explained.
Female chefs will have a strong presence in this edition of the Gastronomic Forum Barcelona which, as a novelty, will host a Tribute to Women of the Rural World. There will also be a prominent space for new generations, that is, for emerging chefs, and for liquid gastronomy, with a presentation by four winemakers who are committed to biodiversity to produce their wines: Ester Nin, Anna Espelt, Victoria Torres, and Esmeralda García.
The Gastronomic Forum is also a great container of awards and recognitions. Chef Martín Berasategui (who has 12 Michelin stars in his seven restaurants) will receive the Pierre Gagnaire 2023 award for his contribution to the development of pastry. Also, the awards for Best Chef of 2023, the InnoForum innovation awards, the Josep Mercader career awards, the Espai Sucre award for the best dessert, the Best Artisan Panettone and Best Chocolate Panettone of Spain 2023 award, Favorite Dish of Catalans, and The Baker: Award for excellence in bakery, a new distinction created by the Guild of Bakers of the Province of Barcelona.
Finally, technology and innovation will also be part of the show, which will host a new edition of Forum Lab and the Foodture congress, organized by the Barcelona Centre de Disseny (BCD).
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