Sigep sets its sights on the best in confectionery, snacks and bakery for its 2026 edition
Sigep World 2025 is primed for a global audience. Pic: Sigep
A host of sector innovations are anticipated for the next edition of SIGEP, the World Expo for Foodservice Excellence, organized by Italian Exhibition Group.
The event, taking place between 16-20 January 2026 has set its sights on celebrating the very best of gelato, pastry, chocolate, coffee, bakery and pizza, as it returns to the Rimini Expo Centre.
This year’s event hosted 1,300 exhibiting brands from 33 countries in 30 halls, welcoming an audience of professional operators from as many as 160 countries.
As its organising team noted to Confectionery Production, for 2026, the internationalisation strategy will be further strengthened with a focus on involving large global chains and high-potential buyers.
The next edition has ambitions to attract the industry’s big decision makers. It will begin in Madrid, where the SIGEP World roadshow aimed at the Spanish foodservice business community will be staged at the Italian Embassy on November 6th. Meanwhile, in support of growing international interest, additional direct air connections to Rimini have been introduced between Munich and Spain.
India, Guest Country of the 2026 edition, will be playing a leading role: a qualified delegation of buyers, media and institutional representatives will attend the event, contributing towards developing strategic relationships with the entire exhibition chain.
Gelato will be the protagonist of a strategic project: Gelato Meets Chains. Prior to the show, selected buyers will participate in webinars and digital meetings to learn about the opportunities that gelato has in modern foodservice.
A strategic guide, compiled together with the UIF and ACOMAG associations, will illustrate the economic, operational and image advantages of including gelato on menus. The show will also make room for business matchmaking with speed dates and one-on-one meetings. All supported by the “What is Gelato?” digital campaign, which aims to connect the Italian artisan gelato supply chain with major international groups in the restaurant, hotel and retail chains.
Furthermore, the pizza supply chain’s debut at SIGEP World 2025, the sector will be back on centre stage at the 2026 edition with Pizza revolution, a project capable of divulging new synergies between ingredients, technologies and consumption formats.
Additional elements
The most exciting new features at the 2026 edition will include a special focus on the world of high-end hospitality and bars of the future. The Luxury Hotel Food Experience, a new project that will showcase the very best of tableware, is an experience designed to create direct dialogue with top buyers from leading international hotel chains.
It will be accompanied by Innovation Bar: an immersive area that will describe the evolution of the global coffee shop, including specialty coffees, artificial intelligence, robotic solutions and new taste languages.
High-impact content, strategic vision and connections: with SIGEP Vision, the “Lorenzo Cagnoni” Innovation Award, an international area specifically for start-ups and talks with key players on the global scene.
Sigep World 2026 will be re-staging two events that draw the attention of the international business community: the Gelato World Cup, the only competition in the world that sees the world’s best gelato masters up against each other; and the Juniores Pastry World Cup, where pastry’s young talents compete in a contest that combines training, passion and global visibility.
