lunch! postponed until September 2021
lunch! organiser Diversified Communications UK has confirmed that this year’s show has sadly been postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The UK’s leading trade event for the café, coffee shop and food-to-go sector will now run on 27-28 September 2023 at ExCeL London.
The magnitude and unprecedented scale of the Covid-19 outbreak and the subsequent government restrictions has affected the lives and livelihoods of people and businesses around the world. With the people working in, and supplying, the foodservice, hospitality, catering and leisure industries – the very people that lunch! serves – among the worst hit.
While the UK’s strict lockdown measures are expected to ease over the coming months, social distancing and restrictions on mass gatherings will remain for the foreseeable future. Notably, many of lunch!’s exhibitors and visitors are among the 7.5 million people currently furloughed, with tens of thousands of outlets shut until at least July, which makes it even harder for firms to plan many months ahead.
Chris Brazier, lunch!’s group event director, says: “Like all businesses, we have been closely following the rapidly changing developments during these difficult times. Whilst we were hopeful that the current tough measures on restricted social interaction would be lifted by the autumn, there are still too many questions surrounding hotels, travel, social distancing measures, and individual company policies, to make it viable to run lunch! this year. Clearly, the best and most responsible option for everyone involved is to wait and host an even better show in 2021.
“We appreciate how important lunch! is to the industry it serves and are very sorry to disappoint the thousands of attendees that were planning on exhibiting and visiting. However, the success as well as the safety of our exhibitors, speakers and visitors has always been our priority and we are hoping that everyone will get behind this tough but necessary decision.
“The good news is that much of the event planning is already in place, and we go into 2021 with an incredible amount of good will and support. The lunch! team would like to thank everyone – our exhibitors, visitors, speakers and partners – for their support. We look forward to working together to ensure that it continues to be the celebration and gathering the industry deserves – and can be proud of.”
“Great things are worth waiting for,” comments Shereen Ritchie, MD of LEON, “and I have no doubt that lunch! 2021 will be worth the wait! It will be back bigger, better and even more awesome than before. I can’t wait to see you all there.”
Today’s other announcements include the new dates for Commercial Kitchen, with the show now set to run alongside lunch!. Although the two events will maintain separate identities and focus, visitors and exhibitors will benefit from a potential boost in seeing an even greater range of products and customers respectively.
lunch! and Commercial Kitchen will take place on 27-28 September 2023 at ExCeL London. For more information, please visit www.lunchshow.co.uk and www.commercialkitchenshow.co.uk.
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Media enquiries to:
Emma-Louise Jones, Head of PR
t: +44 (0)1273 645134
e: [email protected]
Website: www.divcom.co.uk
Twitter: www.twitter.com/DiversifiedUK
Nina Jones, Group Marketing Manager
t: +44 (0)1273 645146
e: [email protected]
Website: www.lunchshow.co.uk
Twitter: www.twitter.com/lunchexhibition
Event enquiries to:
Chris Brazier, Group Event Director
t: +44 (0)1273 645123
e: [email protected]
Notes:
lunch! images: www.lunchshow.co.uk/show-news-press/gallery
2021 logo: https://www.lunchshow.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/lunch_2021_logo_black-text.jpg
Diversified Communications UK Ltd (Diversified UK) is a fast-growing trade event organiser and publisher based in Brighton, Peterborough, and London. Diversified UK’s food portfolio includes lunch!; Casual Dining; Commercial Kitchen; Casual Dining Awards; Natural Food Show at Natural & Organic Products Europe; Nordic Organic Food Fair in Malmö, Sweden; and Organic Food Iberia in Madrid, Spain. For more information, visit: www.divcom.co.uk.
Diversified UK is part of Diversified Communications, a leading international media company with a portfolio of face-to-face exhibitions and conferences, online communities and digital and print publications. As producers of these market-leading products Diversified Communications connects, educates and strengthens business communities in over 15 industries including: food and beverage, healthcare, natural and organic, business management and technology. Established in 1949 and headquartered in Portland, Maine, USA with divisions and offices around the world, Diversified Communications remains a privately held, third generation, family-owned business. For more information, visit: www.divcom.com.
