By The Numbers, Equip’Hotel Scored Big

It was a very busy five days in Paris last November while Equip’Hotel 2014 was going on. The five-day show at Porte de Versailles welcomed more than 111,000 foodservice professionals to its aisles; more than 19% of visitors came from outside France, an increase of 5% over the previous show. International buyer delegations represented countries including Canada, China, Italy, Moldova, Morocco, Slovakia, Thailand and Tunisia.

The show’s 1,600 exhibitors also came from around the globe, and many benefited from the debut of the Club Export program, which optimized business contacts between 250 international buyers (invited to Equip’Hotel as top buyers) and 400 exhibitors focused on increasing their export business. More than 3,000 international project planners also signed up for Club Export.

Equip’Hotel was in Paris, so, of course, there was an emphasis on cooking. More than 500 chefs—including 150 with Michelin stars—participated in various programs, contests and exhibitions, such as the Resto des Chefs. In addition to choosing between 500 speakers at seminars and roundtables, showgoers had the opportunity to visit 15 trend studios during the Nov. 16-20 exhibition.