ShanghaiJune 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The first major exhibition of the spring season has been officially announced. HOTELEX 2027 Shanghai International Restaurant & Food Supply Chain Exhibition is set to seize the year’s early catering procurement opportunities, with exhibitor recruitment now fully open.
Why should every catering professional pay attention to this spring exhibition?
In 2025, over 7.16 million new catering stores opened nationwide, while approximately 6.54 million closed, with an overall closure rate nearing 49%. The catering market is undergoing a massive shake-up and transformation.
After a round of market elimination, catering brands and food ingredient suppliers that have managed to survive steadily and expand their stores almost all hold two core advantages: either they have built a stable and efficient food supply chain, or they possess high-quality distribution and end-channel resources nationwide.
Today, the catering industry has moved beyond blind expansion and entered an era where the supply chain determines success. As the number of chain catering stores rises and the industry undergoes refined upgrades, the cost of ingredient procurement, efficiency of channel connections, and stability of the supply chain have become core competitive strengths for catering enterprises, ingredient suppliers, and distributors.
The industry generally faces four major pain points: difficulty in matching supply and demand; lagging procurement timelines; asymmetry in production and sales information; and high costs of expanding customer bases across regions.
The 2027 Shanghai International Restaurant & Food Supply Chain Exhibition precisely aligns with industry trends and market gaps, making it a must-attend new exhibition at the start of the year.
01 Supply Chain Becomes a Core Competitive Barrier
The catering industry is steadily recovering, with market competition shifting from “competing on stores and traffic” to competing on ingredients, supply chains, and cost-effectiveness.
Stable, high-quality ingredient sources, efficient supply systems, and precise channel resources have become core barriers for enterprises to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and capture market share. Deepening efforts in the supply chain track means seizing the dividends of the second half of the catering industry.
02 Seizing the Golden Window of the First Spring Exhibition
February each year is the core annual procurement window for the catering industry. Chain restaurant headquarters update their supply chains, distributors conduct spring centralized product selection, new retail and supermarket platforms prepare annual stock, and import/export traders plan their full-year categories—all concentrated in early spring.
As the first large-scale professional catering supply chain exhibition in East China in spring 2027, this event precisely targets the industry’s key node.
And for exhibitors, being on-site means—
Debuting first, being seen first
Directly connecting with decision-making clients
Securing annual collaborations on the spot, leading the year’s market competition
03 Full Chain Integration, One-Stop Precision Matching
Breaking away from the drawbacks of traditional exhibitions with scattered categories and chaotic traffic, this exhibition integrates the entire industry chain from “source ingredients—processing technology—supply chain services.” Without the need to travel across the country for scattered customer acquisition, a single exhibition connects all upstream and downstream resources, significantly reducing costs for enterprises in exhibiting, customer acquisition, and networking, while efficiently achieving brand exposure, channel expansion, and trade signing.
Basic Exhibition Information:
2027 Shanghai International Restaurant & Food Supply Chain Exhibition
Theme: Dining in Shanghai • Supply Chain Connecting the World
Date: February 23–25, 2027
Venue: Shanghai New International Expo Centre (2345 Longyang Road)
Organizers: China Fisheries Association Aquatic Products Commerce Branch, Shanghai Bohua International Exhibition Co., Ltd.
Concurrent Exhibition Data: 50,000+ sqm exhibition scale, 1,500+ exhibitors, 80,000 visitors
What sets this new exhibition apart from ordinary industry events?
As a brand-new vertical exhibition dedicated to the catering supply chain, created by Shanghai Bohua International Exhibition Co., Ltd., this event is far from a replica of general comprehensive exhibitions. Leveraging over 30 years of deep industry expertise, it offers differentiated core advantages to precisely address industry pain points in networking.
01 Eight Core Sections Fully Covered, Precisely Matching Industry Chain Needs
The exhibition focuses on key categories of the catering supply chain, subdivided into eight sections: aquatic seafood, aquatic prepared dishes, hot pot seasonings, rice and flour products, meat ingredients, poultry and meat prepared foods, prepared dishes, and food processing packaging and central kitchen equipment. This achieves full coverage of upstream and downstream categories, precisely matching the needs of various exhibitors and buyers.
Whether exhibitors need source stocking or channel customer acquisition, this exhibition covers it all.
02 Benchmark Dual Exhibition IP Empowerment, Two-Way Traffic and Resource Sharing
Shanghai Bohua has deep expertise in the catering exhibition industry over 34 editions, creating two benchmark IPs: HOTELEX Hospitality & Catering Exhibition and FHC Global Food Exhibition. These have formed a top-tier industry resource matrix covering the entire catering chain.
The 2025 FHC Global Food Exhibition featured 200,000 sqm of exhibition space, over 2,800 exhibitors, and attracted 173,143 professional visitors. HOTELEX Hospitality & Catering Exhibition consistently boasts 400,000 sqm of exhibition space, 3,000+ exhibitors, and gathers 300,000+ global professional visitors.
Resources from both exhibitions cover the full B-end decision-making group, including hotel groups, chain restaurants, top distributors, supermarket new retail, and traders.
This 2027 Shanghai Catering & Food Exhibition operates independently with refined management while fully sharing the brand influence and high-end buyer resources of both exhibitions. It inherits core resources and buyer networks from HOTELEX and FHC in the ingredient supply chain sector, achieving traffic integration, resource allocation, and channel sharing.
03 High-End Precision Audience Matrix, Targeted Quality Buyers On-Site
The exhibition avoids broad traffic attraction, focusing on B-end precise professional procurement groups. It invites high-quality buyers nationwide, covering core channels across multiple fields, ensuring high procurement quality and strong transaction intent.
What can exhibitors gain by joining the 2027 Shanghai Bohua Catering & Food Exhibition?
This exhibition is built around exhibitors’ core needs, with a focus on “precise customer acquisition, efficient deal signing, brand upgrade, and deep channel cultivation,” providing comprehensive high-value empowerment for participating enterprises to achieve high-return exhibitions.
01 Quickly Secure Annual Collaborations
It gathers high-quality procurement groups such as hotel groups, chain restaurant headquarters, large distributors, supermarket new retail, and import/export traders—all decision-making clients with genuine procurement needs capable of long-term cooperation.
Face buyers on-site for negotiations, product selection, and sample pricing, directly finalizing annual supply, regional agency, and channel entry deals, efficiently converting potential customers into stable, actual orders.
02 Fill Supply Chain Gaps
The exhibition connects the entire chain from ingredient sources, production processing, equipment support, end sales, to cold chain logistics.
Exhibiting not only expands sales customers but also allows simultaneous networking with upstream and downstream partners such as origin suppliers, OEM factories, packaging equipment providers, and cold chain distributors. This fills gaps in your own supply chain, optimizes product structure, and reduces operational costs, achieving one-stop solutions for finding channels, sources, and collaborations.
03 Lock in Year-Round Market Opportunities
The exhibition is positioned at the golden window of early-year catering procurement, making it the optimal node for brand new product launches, channel recruitment, and market expansion.
Debuting first at the industry’s premier spring exhibition allows you to occupy industry mindshare and channel resources ahead of competitors, completing your annual market layout earlier and firmly grasping the initiative in year-round competition.
2027 Spring Feast: Inviting Full-Chain Enterprises to Open a New Chapter
Currently, opportunities and competition coexist in the catering supply chain track! Amid industry trends toward refinement, standardization, and full-chain integration, only by seizing the spring golden window, connecting with precise high-quality resources, and opening up full-channel layouts can enterprises stand out in fierce market competition.
The 2027 Shanghai International Restaurant & Food Supply Chain Exhibition, with its massive scale, dual exhibition IP resources, precise buyer matrix, and full-chain industry empowerment, creates the premier spring catering supply chain trade and networking platform. It empowers every participating enterprise to enhance efficiency and drives the catering supply chain toward digital, intelligent, and globally collaborative upgrades!
Prime exhibition booths are now hotly booked, with premium spots becoming scarce. Secure your spot early to choose core locations and enjoy traffic dividends first! We sincerely invite upstream and downstream catering enterprises nationwide to join us in this spring industry feast and win new catering dividends in 2027!
