The food and beverage industry is gearing up for a new round of conferences and forums in late 2024 and 2025. These events aim to provide executives, stakeholders, and innovators with valuable insights and networking opportunities.
In 2024, the industry faced a bevy of challenges including rising costs, major acquisitions, slowing demand for plant-based alternatives, and new alcoholic beverage innovations. As we look ahead to the new year, Food Dive is highlighting 14 of the top events to start planning for. We look to the multitude of gatherings across the U.S. which will showcase new products, technologies, and other developments in the sector.
Top and beverage conferences in 2025
Supply Side West
Oct. 28-31
Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas Nevada
Open to all food and beverage professionals, Supply Side West is a “premier event,” for the dietary supplement and ingredient categories. Attendees preview trending products as well as network with fellow executives.
There will also be 20 learning and knowledge sessions as well as two professional development workshops.
Winter Fancy Food Show
Jan. 19-21
Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas
The Winter Fancy Food Show provides makers, buyers, and distributors with a first look at the products, flavors, and ideas set to reshape retail shelves and menu listings across the U.S. and around the globe.
The conference focuses on consumer eating trends and features products in more than 40 categories as well as houses a plethora of networking events.
Dairy Forum 2025
Jan. 26-29
San Antonio, Texas
Presented by the International Dairy Foods Association, 2025’s Dairy Forum will bring together more than 1,000 leaders from across the dairy supply chain to encourage innovation and collaboration across the industry.
Natural Products Expo West
March 4-7
Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, California
Expo West brings together top industry leaders in the natural and organic spaces, as well as emerging brands in niche categories. Last year, Impossible Foods unveiled its new branding while companies like Ghetto Gastro and Chomps looked to increase their brand awareness.
The convention includes a marketplace for professionals to share ideas, tradeshows, education sessions and networking opportunities.
Future Food Tech
March 13-14
San Francisco Marriott Marquis, San Francisco
The 2025 summit will return to Northern California’s innovation hub to unite leaders navigating innovation, strategy, and collaborations for a healthy and sustainable food future.
The 2024 summit hosted 1,450 senior food-tech leaders from 52 countries in interactive sessions and small group discussions.
Supply Side Connect New Jersey
April 8-9
Meadowlands Exposition Center, Secaucus, New Jersey
This conference recently rebranded from its former name of Supply Side East to reflect its now brodaer influence. The event brings together different suppliers, manufacturers, and CPG brands across spaces such as ingredient suppliers, supply chain management, marketing, research and development and more.
Beverage Forum
April 29-30
Westdrift Hotel, Manhattan Beach, California
For the past 30 years, The Beverage Forum has been the leading and largest gathering for senior executives across the beverage industry.
From industry leaders, innovative suppliers, financial analysts, and influential press members, the 2025 event will feature six keynote addresses, five panel discussions, and two workshops.
Food Safety Summit
May 12-15
Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, Illinois
Presented by Food Safety Magazine, the Food Safety Summit brings together over 3,400 food safety industry professionals, researchers, policymakers, and experts from around the world to discuss the latest advances and challenges in ensuring safe food.
Sweets and Snacks Expo
May 13-15
Indianapolis Convention Center, Indianapolis, Indiana
North America’s largest global confectionery and snack event, the Sweets and Snacks Expo will feature big-name CPG companies and smaller businesses displaying many of their new or signature chocolates, gummies, pretzels and chips.
Summer Fancy Food Show
June 29-July 1
Javits Center, New York, New York
The sister event to the WInter Fancy Food Show, the Big Apple version is the largest trade-only specialty food event in the U.S. Touting itself as a premier product discovery event, the Javits Center will host thousands of makers, buyers, brokers, distributors and other industry professionals in the food and beverage space.
IFT First
July 13-16
McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois
An acronym for Food Improved by Research, Science, and Technology, this year’s IFT First features speakers from Amazon, the FDA, National Institutes of Health, PepsiCo, Weightwatchers among others. The expo will also feature over 1,000 exhibitors including ingredient, equipment, and technology providers in the food technology space.
Newtopia Now
Aug. 20-22
Colorado Convention Center, Denver, Colorado
2024 was the first year of the new conference which replaced Natural Products Expo East.
The second annual event will feature influential buyers and retailers, emerging and established CPG brands, service providers and industry leaders in the health and wellness spaces.
Americas Food and Beverage Show
Sept. 10-12
Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami, Florida
Spanned across four days and three halls, the Americas Food and Beverage Show is an exclusively business to business event where attendees can discover new and innovative products to source as well as connect and network with fellow execs through conference program sessions.
