Hostelco and Gastronomic Forum in Barcelona

Hostelco 17th edition was celebrated last 20th -23th October in Barcelona. This event is dedicated to the hostel and restaurant industry. Felip Puig (Catalan government) claimed that Catalonia is a trendsetter in this industry and it is helping to reassure the tourism industry, one of the most successful in our country.

For first time, this edition has been organized at the same time than the Gastronomic Forum and Forum Bar, the objective was to create the biggest international industry’s platform.  Both events (Hostelco and Gastronomic Forum) defined the Barcelona Hosting Week: “a must see referent for the culinary industry”.

In this 17^th edition 500 companies participated, the 25% of them were international coming from countries such as Italy, Portugal, Germany, Turkey and UK. Jordi Roure, Hostelco’s and FELAC’s President said that Hostelco “Is a must-see event for all industry professionals, as it is a constantly updating sector that requires of innovation and creativity for being competitive both in a national as in an international context”.

The current edition showed a new expositor’s distribution by sectors: one area was focused on the machines and equipment (coffee, laundry, cleaning, vending…). Also, for first time, subjects like bakery, fitness and ice cream industry were included.  The other area was related to furniture, decoration, wellness, uniforms, IT, security and other services. Finally, on the 3^rd area we could find everything related to the gastronomy’s world where the Forum Gastronomic was established.

The Gastronomic Forum

The Forum, created in 1999, was the first gastronomic fair with Spanish products, and it is being celebrated every year in Galicia or Catalonia. This current edition (15^th) has been visited for more than 100 speakers and more than 200 participating companies. This year the invited country was Mexico.

More than 80 sessions were programmed for this current Forum edition: workshops, talks and cooking demonstrations. Professional and famous cookers were participating: Carme Ruscalleda (Sant Pau), Joan and Jordi Roca (El Celler de Can Roca), Jordi Cruz (Àbac), Paco Pérez (Miramar), Nandu Jubany (Can Jubany), the brothers Sergio and Javier Torres (Dos Cielos), and Carles Gaig (Gaig). Also chefs from rest of Spain like Dani García (Dani Garcia Restaurant), Ángel León (Aponiente), Eneko Atxa (Azurmendi) and Sacha Hormaechea (Sacha).

México counted with the presence of: Jorge Vallejo (Quintonil), José Ramón Castillo (Que bo! Chocolates), Mikel Alonso (Biko), Daniel Ovadia (Pacia), Carmen Ramírez Degollado ‘Titita’ (El Bajío) and Joan Bagur, who have brought the mexican flavours to Barcelona with the Oaxaca Restaurant.

It is also important to mention that the 4ht edition of the prize “Cuiner de l’any” (cook of the year) was celebrated inside the Forum Gastronomic; it was won by Albert Ortiz (Axol Restaurant) who was a StPOL alumni.

In Hostelco there were also awards to the best hotel/restaurant and product projects. A total of 8 projects were awarded. Some of the winners were: Room Mate, Areas, Grupo Sagardi, ISS Facility Services and Environmental Products and Services.