A new dimension of experience: food service equipment at next EuroShop

EuroShop 2017 presented itself for the first time with a new concept: 7 dimensions of experience. This forward-looking change was honoured by exhibitors and visitors alike. With 2,368 exhibitors on 127,000 sqm of net space and over 113,000 visitors from all over the world, EuroShop achieved the best result in its 50-year history.

For the trade fair organisers in Düsseldorf it goes without saying that they mustn’t rest on their laurels, that they need to keep in touch with the latest trends and that it’s important to identify market developments in good time. This is why arrangements are already being made for the next EuroShop. In 2020 the seven existing dimensions (Shop Fitting & Store Design, Visual Merchandising, Lighting, Retail Marketing, Retail Technology, Refrigeration & Energy Management and Expo & Event Marketing) will have another one added to them. This 8th dimension at EuroShop will be called Food Service Equipment.

After all, it is becoming obvious at the moment that food service facilities in and around retail stores are gathering momentum. Much planning and many refurbishment projects at food retail stores are currently moving towards adding in-store facilities of this kind. The share of cafés and restaurants in shopping centres is rising, filling stations are offering food for immediate consumption, department stores are setting up themed restaurants that merge into a given environment, and we are seeing an increase in food and beverage services that play a major role in making customers feel happy and welcome.

The EHI Retail Institute, a promotional supporter of EuroShop, has just created the In-store Food Service Initiative with the intention of providing retailers in German-speaking countries with comprehensive information and networking platforms on the subject. Challenges, trends and best practice examples will be published in the EHI magazine stores & shops. An initial study of the size and dynamics of the market, including a retailers’ survey, will be presented in March 2018, and the first convention on in-store food service facilities has been planned for June 2018.

It is therefore clearly a booming, up-and-coming market that has its own very special requirements in terms of equipment and design. And so it seems obvious that EuroShop, which covers all the capital goods requirements of the retail trade, should now also have a specially dedicated dimension with the focus on food service equipment. Although FoodTech was already included within the Energy Management dimension at EuroShop, it is reasonable to follow the rise in demand and to set up a separate dimension, Food Service Equipment, which will expand the current range considerably.

Exhibitors are now welcome to apply for this dimension, and indeed for all other dimensions at EuroShop 2020. Application forms for the next EuroShop in Düsseldorf (16 to 20 February 2020) can be downloaded