Hostex 2026 – Celebrating a 40-Year Legacy.

Hostex 2022 was exactly what the hospitality industry needed. In chefs’ terms, Hostex 2022 was the secret ingredient that boosted recovery in our industry following the pandemic. Now we are ready to rise!” - James Khoza, President of SA Chefs

I was also delighted to see the transformational aspects coming out of Hostex 2022, including newcomers in hospitality, small suppliers, and a host of young black female and male chefs making inroads into the cheffing scene. Hostex highlighted that we have so much going for our industry, and I cannot wait to meet again at Hostex 2024

But I believe that this Hostex will be best remembered as the rejuvenation and revitalisation of industry engagement and human interaction – friends meeting friends, and networking happening everywhere. The show gave suppliers an opportunity to refocus and connect with their market, and it gave the visitors – the buyers – opportunities to explore with a fresh eye and invest in new ways of doing things. It was the human interaction that was at the heart of the success of the show.

We’re pleased to be back at Hostex again. Day 1 at Hostex was an encouraging and productive day – and we have high hopes for the next two days. We’re delighted with the location of our stand near the entrance, where we’re showcasing our wide range of kitchen products, including the knives we are so well known for

Hostex has been great so far. We’ve been really busy, and the quality of visitors is excellent. Monday was better than Sunday, with a consistent stream of visitors on the stand. Quite a lot of our visitors are planning to start new businesses or revamp and upgrade existing ones. The organisation of Hostex has been excellent – we have been very impressed at how smoothly everything has gone, from the time we arrived on Saturday morning

We’ve had many great quality leads that we will work at converting to sales. Our POS products are popular with both retail and hospitality industries – and the interest we’ve seen at this show has been better than we’ve had at previous shows. Now that we’re heading into a post-pandemic phase, the industry seems ready to start afresh

This was the first time we’ve been to Hostex, and we found it very interesting. We’ve gained a lot of new ideas, and we’ve seen some new software that we’re going to consider using. We found it well worth the trip up here and we will be back again. It was also a great opportunity to meet the senior managers of companies supplying products that we’re already using, which was very valuable

I came here to explore ways of modernising and changing student food and engage with South African Chefs, to bring them on as partners to South African universities. It’s been a great experience and I can say, mission accomplished

Hostex has felt like such a big chef and hospitality reunion – it has been amazing. It has been the best of the shows we’ve been to. Seeing all the chefs getting together again has given us a sense of home. Everyone is enjoying it – it has felt happy. That’s why I love coming to Hostex – it’s a very special show. There was hype that inspired the industry – and everyone is ready to get back into it.