Sustainable Food

The Gastronomic Forum Barcelona 2023 has once again demonstrated why it is the best gastronomic event of the year. For three days, from 6 to 8 November, more than 18,500 professionals – restaurateurs, buyers and distributors from the food service sector – took the opportunity to stock up on products and acquire services for their catering businesses. At the same time, the gathering also gave participants the chance to discover the new products presented by exhibitors, with surprising innovations like sweet potato churros, panettone croquettes, artisan chestnut beer or 100% plant-based artichoke burgers.

But beyond these innovative proposals, the fair is also a space for identifying new trends in the food and catering sector and for discussing the big future challenges.

With a programme of 120 talks delivered by some 200 experts, around a hundred of whom are chefs and pâtissiers who between them have 55 Michelin stars and 11 Michelin green stars – such as Albert Adrià Joan Roca, Jesús Sánchez, Oriol Castro, Lucía Freitas and Poul Andrias, among many more, the importance of promoting biodiversity in the food sector was made clear, and of promoting businesses that are committed to sustainability and social transformation.

A showcase from the metropolitan market

This cuisine with a commitment to social and environmental values made with local produce was also represented at the Mercat Metropolità Classroom, a space promoted by Barcelona City Council, the Barcelona Metropolitan Area and Mercabarna, with the collaboration of Slow Food Barcelona and OCAS, the Joint Office for Sustainable food.

The Classroom hosted 14 exhibitors representing local, ecological producers from the Barcelona Metropolitan Area who, over the course of the fair, made their services and products known to a national and international audience. There was also a space for debate and reflection during live cooking sessions in which a whole host of professionals from the farming, livestock, fishing and catering sectors participated.

Participants from the restaurant sector included Xavier Pellicer, Laura Veraguas, Paolo Casagrande and Joan Capilla, along with entities such as La Platjeta, the Cuina Justa Foundation and the Associació Mescladís, among many others. They discussed various issues such as the transformative power of cooking, the effects of climate change on biodiversity and gastronomy, sustainable catering and the role of women in the catering and restaurant sector.

The new guide for the prevention of food waste in the catering sector

Lastly, the classroom also presented the ‘Guide for the prevention of food waste in the commercial catering sector and central kitchens’ produced by the Department for Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda , with the collaboration of Barcelona City Council, which aims to remind restaurateurs and caterers of their duty to have a food waste prevention plan in place.

The biggest edition in history

Josep Alcaraz, co-director of Gastronòmic Fòrum Barcelona, pointed out that this edition has been confirmed as the biggest in history, exceeding all expectations. “We have grown both in terms of number of exhibitors and visitors, and also participation in the activities, with high levels of satisfaction among all participants. What’s more, the companies noted a substantial improvement in visitor spending”, affirmed Alcaraz.

Awards ceremony

Among the prizes awarded during the fair were those given to Martín Comamala, from the restaurant 539 Plats Forts in Puigcerdà, winner of the Best Chef 2023 award and Gessamí Caramés, from Meleta de Romer in l’Ametlla de Mar, who was named Sustainable chef of the year.

Also handed out were the Innoforum awards, in recognition of innovation in the food industry, food service and food craft in gastronomy. The award categories included most sustainable product, which was awarded to Torclum Extra Virgin Olive Oil for its quality and for being a zero waste oil.

And finally, the Mercader Awards, which recognise the work and legacy of different people in the social, economic and professional spheres in relation to gastronomy, which, among others, were awarded to the women chefs from La Cuina de Sils, a collective created in 1990 to recover and preserve the gastronomic heritage of this municipality in Girona, and the restaurant Casa Nova in Sant Martí Sarroca (Alt Penedès).

Gastronomic Forum Barcelona will be back from 2 to 4 November 2024 at Palau 8 in the Fira de Barcelona Montjuïc complex.