How FBIF Food Innovation Expo 2026 connected brands, buyers, and breakthrough ideas?

Food & Beverage Innovation Forum 2026 (FBIF2026) and FBIF Food Innovation Expo 2026 took place from 27-29 April 2026 in the Hangzhou International Expo Center. Over the three days, FBIF2026 brought together 160+ speakers, 650 exhibitors, 6,000+ retail and distribution buyers, and drew over 47,000 attendees. 

Under the theme "Forging Ahead", FBIF2026 explored the key variables shaping the industry's future, recognizing that the answers lie within the changing landscape. The forum discussed industry trends and innovation cases from different perspectives such as dairy, snacks, bakery, beverages and other categories, as well as industry strategies, functional ingredients, marketing, retail, packaging and product development. Meanwhile, the FBIF Wow Food Awards Ceremony and the FBIF Food Innovation Expo brought more innovation inspiration. 

FBIF Food Innovation Expo 2026 featured 650 exhibitors alongside organizer-curated special events, continuing this year to empower both brands and channels. Here are the highlights from Day 1 of FBIF Food Innovation Expo.

Brand exhibitors covered a wide range of categories, including dairy, beverages, snacks, alcohol, convenience foods, functional foods, and condiments, gathering leading and emerging companies from both China and overseas. Want Want, Lemon Republic, LiuBiJu Food, Tasogare Coffee, and ÖarmiLk among others showcased a wide array of innovative products and interactive experiences, with many booths drawing significant engagement from professional visitors. At the same time, supply chain innovators such as Tetra Pak, FrieslandCampina Ingredients, and MOINS COFFEE also participated, offering forward-thinking solutions for the industry.

At past FBIF exhibitions, the special events by the organizer have always been highly anticipated.  

This year's channel programs included the FBiF Channels ＆ Brands Matchmaking, WOW FOOD Bestseller Roadshow, and the WOW FOOD Supermarket. The FBiF Channels ＆ Brands Matchmaking adopted a "themed sharing + product matchmaking" format, featuring six curated sessions covering supermarkets and convenience stores, snack retail chains, instant-retail warehouse, E-commerce, KOL and Group-buying Leader, as well as leading catering and F&B discount channels. The WOW FOOD Bestseller Roadshow focused on themes such as low-GI, clean label, and food-as-medicine, enabling efficient connections between brands and key channel partners through immersive presentations. In addition, exclusive channel benefits were available on-site: pre-registered buyers can receive a free copy of the Hit Product Guide (including contact information) at the venue.  

On the first day, channels including Shizu Convenience Store, Dingdong Fresh, Chicheng Co., INM Milk Bar, Huiyixuan, Pumama Fresh Snacks, Olé Supermarket, JidoPlus, Lianhua Huashang, MUJI, and Iceland participated in the FBiF Channels ＆ Brands Matchmaking Sessions. Meanwhile, Meiyijia, METRO, uSmile, SUNBABY BREAD, Happy Monkey, RT-Mart M Club, T11, LINLEE, Chayan Yuese, and Mr. Wild Man took part in the WOW FOOD Bestseller Roadshow. In total, more than 100 leading retail and channel players participated in the day-one channel activities.

The FBiF Global New Product Collection showcased over 700 SKUs of latest food products from more than 30 countries and regions worldwide. The exhibition was organized in a more intuitive and walkable way through a clear classification system: Six core single-character categories - Chew, Soft, Drink, Crunch, Lazy, Nourish, as well as Seven scenario-based subcategories - Solo eating, Kids'picks, Adult favorites, Men's choice, Women's choice, Clean label, Global hits, and Gift-ready, further refining discovery through user profiles and usage contexts. 

The FBiF Global Creative Packaging Design Gallery brought together over 180 outstanding food and beverage packaging designs from nearly 30 countries and regions—each combining innovative thinking with strong visual aesthetics. This year, we reinterpreted packaging through "contrast". The exhibition broke away from traditional curation logic and is structured around nine contrasting pairs such as Big vs Small, Cute vs Cool, Complex vs Simple. The exhibition brought together designs of different styles and logics, helping you quickly build an intuitive understanding of packaging design.  

Foodtalks Salon focused on pioneering brands and influential figures in the food and beverage industry, bringing together a range of hot topics including personal growth, brand practices, product innovation, and market insights. Through two formats—keynote speeches and live interviews—it presented highly valuable, first-hand industry practices.

A new addition to this year’s exhibition is the AI-powered product design experience— "One Prompt Make a Hit". Visitors simply input a product idea, and within 10 minutes, they can receive a complete product design proposal.