Farm Shop & Deli Show postponed until 2022

Farm Shop & Deli Show, a key event in the speciality food industry’s calendar, has been postponed after the government advised against travel into or out of Birmingham to stop the spread of Covid-19.

Farm Shop & Deli Show, as well as the other events under the UK Food & Drink Shows banner, were set to take place on 5th-7th July at the NEC Birmingham. But with Covid cases rising in the area, the government this week announced new advice on travel and socialising in Birmingham, including minimising travel into and out of the area and not taking unnecessary journeys.

William Reed, the organisers of UK Food & Drink Shows, said the Farm Shop & Deli Show, National Convenience Show and Food & Drink Expo will now take place from 25th – 27th April 2022. These three shows will run again from 24th – 26th April 2023, alongside Foodex, The Ingredients Show and The Forecourt Show.

“We’re devastated to have had to postpone the shows once again, but ensuring the safety of exhibitors and visitors has always been our number one priority,” said Andrew Reed, managing director for wine and exhibitions at William Reed. “Whilst we’d put every possible measure in place to ensure the shows could go ahead in a safe environment, factors beyond our control have unfortunately meant that we could not, in good faith, run the shows in July of this year. I want to personally thank our exhibitors, visitors and my incredible team for doing all they could to make this happen.”

In a statement on the Farm Shop & Deli Show website on 16th June, the group said: “From the outset, we had all hoped that the June 21st end of restrictions would have prevailed and since knowing that not to be the case we have tried very hard to develop a plan to operate within the current restrictions by building confidence for both visitors and exhibitors. However, due to the latest news today advising against travel in and out of Birmingham it seems that we have no choice but to postpone the UK Food & Drink Shows at the NEC from 5th-7th July 2021.”

The event was billed as a celebration for the fine food sector after a 16-month hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with stringent safety and hygiene measures having been put in place, but visitors will now have to wait until next year to gather in Birmingham.

“We remain committed to supporting this fantastic industry and look forward to running these shows in 2022 and 2023 at full capacity,” Andrew said.