China International Food & Catering Expo is a domestic-trade exhibition covering the food and catering chain from ingredients through the finished dish. It is classed as a key show in China’s circulation sector, and its zones follow the route food takes into restaurants, canteens, retail and franchised outlets rather than the way goods are catalogued in a warehouse.

Ingredients, prepared dishes, seafood and frozen products, grains, oils and seasonings, coffee and imported or snack foods sit alongside zones for smart catering systems, hotel supplies and kitchen equipment, production and packaging machinery, and franchise operators. A visitor can therefore work through a menu item, the kitchen that produces it and the equipment that packs it within one hall plan, and a programme of forums, competitions and buyer matchmaking runs alongside the stands.