Commercial Kitchen Show 2016

This week saw the very first trade expo specifically dedicated to the commercial kitchen industry; The Commercial Kitchen Show, supported by CEDA. The brilliant new event was hosted at Birmingham’s NEC, attracting 80 different exhibitors and hundreds of visitors. We sent Mark, Ian and David along to see what all the fuss was about…
The event had an incredible seminar programme, kicking off on Tuesday morning with an incredible panel of industry experts, discussing the real factors responsible for driving up the costs of the kitchen, and offering best practice tips to combat the hidden expense. The debate was followed by seminars from a range of different roles within the sector, including speakers Clare Nicholls (Editor of Catering Insight), Matt Rowlands (Director at CEDA), Peter Woods (Exec Head Chef of London’s Corinthia) and many, many more.
The exhibition hall was filled with manufacturers and suppliers, both established and new. Not to mention all the heavenly aromas from the cooking demonstrations, I think it’s safe to say that no visitor went home hungry!


One familiar face was long-term acquaintance and fellow ENSE member, John McEvoy of Bourneville Catering. You might have spotted him in the brightly coloured Catering Pod over the past couple of days! The company offer bespoke catering equipment at competitive prices. Have a look at what they have to offer here.

Wednesday’s Innovation Challenge saw many top manufacturers and suppliers go head-to-head to compete for the accolade. Each contestant pitched live to a panel of leading industry judges. The Synergy Grill won the coveted Gold Award for the most innovative product, and it’s safe to say that Managing Director, Gary Evans, was delighted- congrats!

Director, Mark Johnson, said of the show, “The Johnson Reed team had a fantastic time at the Commercial Kitchen Show and thoroughly enjoyed looking at so much of the fantastic and innovative new equipment available on the market. It was wonderful to network in one of our most popular sectors, seeing faces both new and old. We hope to see you all, if not more of you, again next year. And of course- if you’ve got your eye on any of the fantastic kit from the event, we’d be happy to assist you with your finance requirements!”

Share your thoughts, pictures and anything useful you learnt from the event by commenting below or using the hashtag #commkitch16 on social media.