The Hatch team were out in force at Northern Restaurant & Bar Show and the inaugural Lunch! North 2025 last week (March 11-12th at Manchester Central) supporting clients, catching up with industry friends and tracking sector trends and innovation.
It’s safe to say it’s one of our favourite food and beverage trade shows and this year did not disappoint, with over 400 exhibitors spanning categories from low and no to functional drinks and spirits. According to organisers, we were joined by over 12,000 other attendees who thought so too.
Highlights from the two days included live cooking masterclasses from talented chefs, such as Tom Barnes from Skof and Danielle Heron from OSMA, as well as a jam-packed speaker programme covering topics from ‘flavour in motion’ from the inspiring team at Franklin & Sons to the issues facing the hospitality industry by UKHospitality and innovative restaurant marketing strategies.
Here are the key food and drinks trends we took away:
The focus on functional – we’re continuing to see innovation from brands in this space, with more traditional brands also following suit. Taking centre stage, Lipton had rolled a double decker bus into the building to serve up its Kombucha range with naturally fermented tea, whilst Dirtea was serving up mushroom super blend Matcha and Coffee and CBD drinks brand, Trip, was giving attendees to opportunity to ‘find your calm’. Amongst the celeb-backed brands at the show was Gillian Anderson’s G Spot range of functional drinks, adaptogens and nootropics.
Spoilt for choice when it comes to RTDs – it’s no secret the RTD market has exploded in recent years due to demand for convenience and innovation and Northern Restaurant & Bar brought together the biggest players. Gather Gourmet Cocktails showcased it’s vibrant and bold canned cocktail range, included Spicy Margarita and Salted Caramel Banana Colada, whilst be.cocktails, Moth and Wonderland were amongst the RTD brands profiling their latest innovations.
Watch out for low and no – all insight points towards one thing; Brits are choosing to drink less alcohol. In our Food and Drinks Trend Report 2025, we found the number of people choosing not to drink alcohol has risen to 13% and brands are capitalising on this. Low and non-alcoholic beer options were on show from leading brands Mash Gang, Lucky Saint, Siren Craft Brew and Northern Monk to name a few, whilst White Claw, Funkin and Everleaf Drinks profiled their seltzer, cocktail and aperitif offerings amongst others. Everleaf set the bar when it came to merchandise, with sustainable socks that reflect its B Corp values.
Mike Baggs from Mash Gang spoke to us about why we’re seeing this trend; “I think the cultural shift is a lot deeper and runs a lot longer back than many will flag. I’m a behavioural economist by trade, and what we’re witnessing is a collision of economic and social psychological changes breaking on the shore at the same time. There’s been a massive shift in young people’s behaviour with going out, the occasions and motivations have changed, and alcohol doesn’t really fit into many of them anymore.”
Grown up soft drinks – with the rise of low and non-alcohol options, also comes innovation in adult soft drinks, tonics, juices, mixers and sparkling drinks from brands such as Franklin & Sons, Fever Tree, London Essence Company, Frobishers, Folkington’s and Fritz-Cola.
Swicy and spicy are here to stay – great news for you spicy marg lovers but the swicy trend is showing no sign of disappearing any time soon. Combining sweet flavours with a kick was premium spicy soda brand, Picoso, with its tropical mango cut with habanero, whilst Bristol Syrup Co showcased a green chilli syrup to bring a kick to cocktails and Take Tequila’s showcased its delectable jalapeño liqueur.
Nod to nostalgia – possibly the most impressive stand of all was by iconic 90s brand Hooch with its traditional pub set up to mark the launch of Hooch on draught, with option to win limited edition Hooch Spezials (definitely for the bolder fashion taste). Similarly, right where it all began, Manchester born Vimto went all out with it’s out of home offering.
Gamification in stand builds – getting sips on lips wasn’t the only goal this year with brands going all out on gamification to drive dwell time and win merchandise or product. Branded dart boards to cornhole, whack-a-mole, and an automated timer challenge were a few on the stocks.
Across all categories, sustainability was more prominent than ever this year, along with British sourced and made messaging.
If you want to know more about trends and innovations that are set to shape the food, beverage and hospitality sectors this year, download a copy of the Hatch Food and Drinks Trend Report 2025 and get in touch with us to chat about how we can help your brand to stand out in a crowded market to reach and engage more of your customers more frequently this year.
