SIRHA BUDAPEST 2020

This year, Hungexpo is hosting the Sirha Budapest International HoReCa and Retail Show on 4-6 February. All the related professions are gathering for the fourth occasion since 2014 – including the representatives of the food industry, baking and confectionery industry, hotel and catering industry, packaging industry and those involved in the field of gastronomy – to attend the most prestigious regional forum.

The regional event of Europe’s most significant International HoReCa and Retail Show is not simply a fair: apart from presenting the innovations of the industry, it provides opportunity to exchange experiences, build professional relationships and get acquainted with industry trends while bests of the different professions put their skills to the test. The biennial event most recently attracted 21,500 professional visitors to the HUNGEXPO Budapest Congress and Exhibition Center. Based on the preliminary expectations of the organizers and the number of registrations, this year will provide an equally impressive turnout, which is no surprise as the exhibition will again offer a wide range of attractions for its professional attendees.

In 2020, Sirha Budapest will host such prestigious events as the Hungarian finals of the Bocuse d’Or chef competition, the Sirha Budapest Dessert Competition, the National Mass Catering Championship as well the national finals of the international competition for young chefs, the Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs, which will be debuting on Sirha Budapest for the first time.

Additionally, the trade exhibition also features numerous conferences, demonstrations and over 300 exhibitors presenting their products, services and innovations across an area of over 30,000 square meters. The level of international interest is clearly illustrated by the fact that nearly 30% of the exhibiting businesses are from foreign countries.

The main professional partner of Sirha Budapest is METRO Kereskedelmi Kft., whilst its main media sponsor is Trade magazine.

Competitions at Sirha Budapest

Sirha Budapest will again host a number of professional competitions, most prominently the Bocuse d’Or Hungarian Selection, taking place on the second day of the exhibition, in the competition area of Hall A.The winner will have the honour of representing the country at the European finals of the world’s most prestigious chef competition taking place in Tallinn in May. This year’s Hungarian finalists include István Veres, Eszter Palágyi, Zsolt Haraszti, Gábor Csik, Tibor Huszár and Roland Kelemen. (More information on the competition is available in the press release of the Hungarian Bocuse d’Or Academy.)

For the first time this year, Sirha Budapest will be hosting the Hungarian preliminaries of the international championship of young chefs. Based on the terms of the competition set forth by the French Chaîne des Rôtisseurs World Organization, the International Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs competition may be attended by young chefs working at restaurants and hotels operating in Hungary. It is exceptionally important for the French network to support a demanding level of international gastronomy which observes traditions, yet is still willing to make seemingly daring innovations, without forgetting the famous Hungarian traditions in this field. The goal of the Jeunes Chefs Rôtisseurs is to spread the principles of sustainable gastronomy, which include using materials without squandering resources, conscious selective waste collection, careful water consumption and also clean, hygienic, orderly work. Through hosting the competition on a yearly basis, the organizers wish to help the young chefs employed in Hungary achieve a higher level of quality in their daily work by preparing for and attending the competition, while also gaining competition experience for future contests. The first place winner also earns the right to enter the Jeunes Chef Rôtisseurs 2020 World Championship hosted this year in September, in Paris.

Hosted for the seventh time, the finals of this year’s National Mass Catering Championship (KÖSZ) will take place on the third day of the exhibition with the involvement of inquiring parties and supporters. The goal of the competition is to promote and raise the quality of public catering, while reinforcing dining culture, preserving seasonal traditions and customs, yet still modernizing dishes and adapting them to the demands of the current age.

This year, the theme of the competition is “summer dishes in the spirit of tradition and renewal”, which obligatorily include ratatouille made of fresh ingredients, honey and at least two domestic, fresh seasonal vegetables and fruits. The final three-course meal must be one that could be provided and delivered through public catering with a raw material cost of no more than HUF 550/serving.

The national finals will feature the top 12 teams from the preliminaries who have a total of 3 hours to complete their meals.

Since the very beginning, the Sirha Budapest Dessert Competition has been an indispensible part of the exhibition, organized by Zoltán Kolonics, one of Hungary’s most widely renowned creative pastry chefs. The goal of the competition is to provide an opportunity for the up-and-coming and dedicated talents of the business to demonstrate their technical skills and preparedness as well as their innovative approaches and artistic skills.

Hosted by the National Trade Corporation of the Hungarian Confectionery Industry, the exhibition will also feature the now traditional János Pataki commemorative competition. The attendees of the contest, adults and students alike will put their skills to the test in the categories of cake decoration, confectionery artistry and fondant flowers. Their works will be on display on all three days of the exhibition.

The National Trade Corporation of the Hungarian Confectionery Industry is also responsible for hosting the live jurying of the Cake of Hungary 2020 competition at Sirha Budapest. During the jurying process, the competitors and the audience can see and hear the evaluation of the submissions and thus the members of the profession will have a chance to get acquainted with the cakes entered into the competition and gain inspiration for their own creations. When evaluating the cakes, the names of the people responsible for creating the cakes are not known to either the jury or the audience. The professionals will have a chance to follow the event on a projector screen from the stands set up for the audience.

For the fourth time, Hungexpo Zrt. and Trade magazine will be hosting the Sirha Budapest Innovation Product Competition with the purpose of allowing exhibitors to present their innovative products and services launched on the market in between two exhibitions. The works of the finalists of the various categories will be presented to visitors in highlighted locations. This year’s competition categories include: food and drink, baking and confectionery industry products, technologies (kitchen appliances, baking industry devices, food industry technologies, hygienic technologies, software), hotel industry products, furniture, fabrics, decorations, table settings, packaging industry and logistics.

Further professional attractions

Sirha Budapest offers numerous other professional attractions taking place simultaneously with the exhibition and competitions.

One of the novelties at the exhibition is the Sirha Business Café, offering workshops in a range of different themes, as well as great coffee, every day of the exhibition. Visitors can receive answers from the emblematic figures of the profession to business development questions tied to the coffee, confectionery and baking, as well as the bar industry and familiarize the latest trends and the greatest challenges the market now faces.

Since the very beginning, the Future Store – hosted by Trade magazine – has been a recurring fixture of the exhibition. On this occasion, the latest trends will be presented in Hall A along the lines of three commercial concepts. One of them is the unmanned store concept, another is the combined presence and operation of online shops and offline shops, and the third concept is the traditional offline store that focuses on the shopping experience.

As a professional exhibition, Sirha Budapest is a key forum for developing international ties, which is also supported by the only business development network of the European Union and the world’s largest such network, Enterprise Europe Network at the international brokerage event, hosted in cooperation with the PRIMOM Foundation. The purpose of the half day-long rapid business meetings is to facilitate the development of the international ties of European SMEs at Sirha Budapest. Last time, a total of 138 participants conducted a total of 93 meetings, 53% of which were international discussions.

Conferences, lectures

Simultaneously to the finals of the National Mass Catering Championship, the Mass Catering Conference 2020 event will take place, where participants can attend a range of lectures on quality ingredients, factors influencing consumer attitudes and economic-financial subjects. Important themes of the conference include sustainability, economic sense and environmentally conscious operation.

Over the course of the lectures and presentations of the Hungarian Bakery Association on refrigeration technologies, participants can get acquainted with the advantages of modern refrigeration solutions. Apart from the lectures, attendees can also receive product development suggestions as well as useful ideas that can shape their awareness.

Alongside the competitions, the National Trade Corporation of the Hungarian Confectionery Industry is also hosting multiple tasting sessions during the exhibition, including the tasting of the award-winning ice creams of the previous year.

One of the most significant outlets of the packaging industry is the food industry and this is also true in reverse: one of the main suppliers of the latter is the packaging industry. Therefore, one of the important elements of the exhibition will be the conference entitled “Packaging industry at the service of the food industry – new demands and solutions” as hosted by theHungarian Association of Packaging and Materials Handling (CSAOSZ), for which the organizers are awaiting the attendance of packaging industry and logistics experts.

During the exhibition, Wessling Hungary Kft. – the leading laboratory of Hungary – will be hosting a professional discussion entitled How to manufacture better foodstuffs? – Laboratory tests for delicious, safe and competitive products.

Useful information

Venue:
HUNGEXPO Budapest Congress and Exhibition Center

(1101 Budapest, Albertirsai út 10.) Hall ‘A’ and ‘G’

Entrance via Pavilion F, access through Gate III.

Opening hours:

4-6 February 2020

Every day from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm

Entrance:

In 2020, the exhibition can be visited as usual, through Pavilion F. Due to the Hungexpo revitalization programme, there are fewer available parking spaces than usual, therefore we kindly ask you to visit the site with public transportation, if possible. Please keep in mind that the Sirha Budapest International HoReCa and Retail Show can only be attended by professional representatives. Their entrance is free of charge, yet is still tied to registration. During the registration process, visitors must provide information on their company, which will be verified and screened, if necessary, by the organizers for the sake of professionalism. Tickets can be purchased for the event through the exhibition’s website in advance, or at the exhibition site. The free registration interface and further information is available through the exhibition’s website: www.sirha-budapest.com

Representatives of the press can use P3 and P5 car park free of charge, the token required for leaving the site must be requested at the media centre.

The event’s map: