Food

The Free From Food/Functional Food Expo, the only dedicated showcase of free from, and functional, food and drink in Europe, returns for 2016. The show, now in its fourth year, has an impressive line-up of exhibitors specialising in free from products, speakers and new attractions. With more producers than ever before - additional features this year include vegan, lactose free and functional products - the show boasts dedicated UK, Finland and Ireland Pavilions, and a Functional Food section.

Food trucks from Qatar and around the region will feature in the 7th Qatar International Food Festival, adding a new urban feel to the long-awaited annual event, organizers have revealed. The 12 food trucks will feature at the QIFF satellite experience in The Pearl-Qatar, which joins Katara Cultural Village as one of the Festival’s new locations this year.

Easter eggs might be disappearing fast from the shelves of supermarkets across the country, but the best chocolate is still found a little further afield... Journey deep into the remote and beautiful rainforests of Ecuador, and you will discover some of the highest quality chocolate in the world.

From the organisers of Penzance Farmers Market, Penzance is to host a brand new monthly market, starting Easter Saturday, 26th March at the top of Causewayhead. Penzance Town Market will offer locally grown, reared and created products, with a plethora of stalls ranging from antiques and collectibles, to produce and crafts on the last Saturday of every month, between 9am-2pm.

Sacre bleu! Don't tell the French but British shoppers are falling out of love with the traditionally crescent shaped croissants – preferring ones that are straight. Both shapes have been sold on British high streets for some time, but recently demand for the curved ones has fallen. And it's all because of something known in the baking trade as 'the spreadability factor' with Brits finding it easier to spread jam and other fillings on the straight ones.

For four days, visitors walked the aisles of the Paris-based Event Center located at the Porte de la Villette for the second edition of the exhibition of Gastronomy Overseas. Babette De Rozières, creator of the show and a famous chef herself, and host of France's top cooking shows, invited more than 100 chefs from French overseas regions to showcase their gastronomy and the culinary arts.

Millions of ‘healthy’ Brits have a ‘blind spot’ over hidden sugars and calories in sauces, condiments and snacks, research revealed yesterday.

A study carried out among 2,000 adults, found that while calorie counting and ‘five a day’ are a focus of their daily food plan, over two thirds (69 percent) admit that they often forget to consider the calories, sugar and fat content of sauces, condiments and toppings. It emerged that many adults are consuming ‘invisible calories and sugar’ on top of their usual daily intake, with syrup and sugar on breakfasts among the biggest culprits.

In a recent survey, from a list of 12 most sexually satisfied countries, the UK was nowhere to be seen, but nature’s answer to the little blue pill could be just the trick to get you feeling fruity this Valentines Day! A diminished libido is something that at least a fifth of us suffer from at some point, but swapping the mighty blueberry into your meal this Valentine’s Day, could help to ramp up your sex drive!.

Local people are being asked to share their views on Sandwell Council's hot food takeaway planning policies, to bring them up to date, taking into account the increase in takeaway premises. The consultation takes place between February 1st and March 11th, in an extension to the original consultation from November/December. If you took part in the previous consultation, your views will still be taken into consideration, unless you wish to make additional comments, then your views are logged.

With Britain's bees continuing to face major challenges, the St Ermin's Hotel, Westminster will be holding a series of taster urban beekeeping workshops during the Chelsea Fringe led by bee guru, Camilla Goddard of Capital Bee. The popular workshops will be held on Saturdays 16th and 30th April; 7th and 21st May, with more to follow in September during the hotel's annual 'honey month'.

Waitrose has launched its first TV advertising campaign to highlight its money-saving scheme Pick Your Own Offers.  Pick Your Own Offers gives customers the power to choose their own savings, as customers can select which ten products from over 1,000 they'd like to save 20 per cent on every time they shop. The scheme has been a success since its launch last year as a million customers now use the ground-breaking scheme to save money.

The continued success of GBBO, the demonisation of sugar and the recent discussion about whether to add folic acid to flour have all fuelled the already significant interest in baking and buying "real bread".   Since 2010, Virtuous Bread has been a leading voice in the real bread world, supplying information about and recipes for real bread and, through its network of micro bakers, has been the leading supplier of access to real bread and bread baking courses.

Waitrose has announced plans to reduce sugar in its range of breakfast cereals during 2016 by stripping out more than 7.5 million calories or nearly two tonnes in the coming year.The commitment will involve a 15 per cent sugar reduction in cornflakes, one of Waitrose's top selling lines, and significant sugar reduction in other popular products, including honey nut cornflakes and choco pops.

Robinsons will be out delivering free squash to offices across central Birmingham to keep workers refreshed during dry January as part of their ‘Enjoy drinking more water’ campaign. All that is needed is tweet @drinkrobinsons with their office location along with #enjoyRobinsons and Robinsons will do their best to deliver some squash, following a study of 2,000 Britons conducted by One Poll for Robinsons has found that almost ¾ (70%) of people questioned have gone seven hours or more in a day, without drinking a glass of water.

In My Kitchen is a brand new You Tube channel in which professional chefs are challenged to create a delicious two-course meal for six guests using only the ingredients in show creator Giselle Whiteaker's ordinary London apartment. The only concession: they can bring their own knives and one magic ingredient. This is a real chance for professionals to showcase their skills and individual style in an environment where they have much less control than usual,” says Giselle.

Food & Drink Expo 2016 will return to the NEC Birmingham in April, providing buyers from the grocery, wholesale, speciality retail, manufacturing and foodservice sectors with a unique opportunity to source new products and learn about the trends set to shape the UK food and drink industry over the coming years. The future of food and drink in the UK will be a key theme throughout the 2016 instalment of the event, which will run from 18-20 April, alongside the Farm Shop & Deli Show.