About HRC (Hotel, Restaurant & Catering)
HRC, the Hotel, Restaurant & Catering show, traces its history back to 1935, when the first Hotel, Restaurant and Catering Exhibition was staged at Olympia London. The show became so closely associated with that venue that it was renamed Hotelympia in 1952. It later moved to Earls Court and then, from 2004, to ExCeL London, and in 2020 it was rebranded as HRC. It celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2025 and is organised by Montgomery Group.
Today HRC sits at the centre of Food, Drink & Hospitality Week, a group of co-located events at ExCeL that also includes IFE, IFE Manufacturing, The Pub Show, Hospitality Tech360, the Speciality & Fine Food Fair and International Salon Culinaire. The arrangement lets buyers who come for one event move freely between the others.
Exhibitors supply commercial kitchen equipment, catering technology, tableware, food and drink, hygiene products and services for the hospitality sector. Attendance is restricted to trade professionals, and visitors include chefs, restaurateurs, hoteliers, contract caterers and procurement teams from hotels, pubs, restaurants, education and healthcare.
Live cooking and competitions are part of the character of the show, with International Salon Culinaire running alongside, and seminar stages keeping visitors on site. For equipment suppliers, a working demonstration is the most persuasive tool, as chefs want to judge performance for themselves. Stand Between can match exhibitors with builders experienced in creating working kitchen stands at ExCeL.
Next edition
HRC (Hotel, Restaurant & Catering) 2027: what to expect
HRC 2027 runs from 5 to 7 April 2027 at ExCeL London, open 10am to 5pm on the Monday and Tuesday and closing at 4pm on the Wednesday. It is now an annual event.
The show was reimagined for 2026 after its 90th birthday, with a move to ExCeL's South Hall for more space, new Bar, Pastry and Street Food zones, and new stages including Future of Drinks and Pastry HQ alongside the returning Vision Stage. The organiser reported more than 25,000 verified trade visitors for the 2026 event.
Exhibitors running cooking or beverage demonstrations should confirm power, water, drainage and extraction requirements with the organiser and ExCeL at the outset, as these services shape the whole stand design.