On October 21, 2025, the five-day 44th edition of HostMilano concluded successfully at the Fiera Milano , Rho. With “Quality, Innovation, and Sustainability” as its core themes, this year’s fair reaffirmed its position as the world’s leading hospitality exhibition through its high-calibre exhibitor lineup, robust visitor growth, and an extensive array of industry events.
Growing International Appeal and Expanding Scale
The exhibition continues to strengthen its global influence, with both scale and internationalization rising in tandem. This year’s event gathered 2,050 exhibitors from 52 countries and regions, 44% of whom were international. Exhibitors showcased new products and innovative solutions to enhance global brand visibility and deepen connections with international partners. Direct engagement with global professionals and the establishment of high-quality commercial partnerships resulted in a highly satisfying experience for participating companies.
The number of professional visitors grew markedly, with overseas regions showing particularly strong performance. European attendance surged, including a 16% increase from Germany and a remarkable 45% from Denmark. Other regions also performed exceptionally well, with visitors from Australia, Brazil, the UAE, and the United States growing by 20%, 29%, 21%, and 27% respectively.
Notably, thanks to close cooperation with the Italian Trade Agency (ICE), the exhibition welcomed more than 700 high-quality invited buyers, facilitating direct business negotiations with exhibitors and providing an efficient bridge for precise supply-demand matching.
To enrich the exhibition’s content and elevate industry value, HostMilano 2025 curated and hosted nearly 800 industry events, gathering around 3,000 thought leaders, including scholars, experts, masters, chefs, and corporate executives. Through in-depth professional debates and forward-looking discussions, participants shared cutting-edge ideas and envisioned the future development of the hospitality sector, bringing a vibrant academic atmosphere to the event.
Sustainability as the Defining Theme
Sustainability stood out as the defining theme of this year’s fair. As the first exhibition at Fiera Milano to fully implement an ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) strategy, HostMilano 2025 emphasized environmental responsibility, innovation, and inclusivity as key pillars for building core competitiveness and strengthening its international positioning.
Many exhibitors actively responded to the sustainability agenda by showcasing eco-friendly innovative products—such as beer dispensers made from recycled malt fragments and fitness equipment crafted from natural, recyclable materials—demonstrating the industry’s collective push toward a greener, low-carbon future.
Comprehensive Exhibit Coverage Across 16 Halls
The exhibition spanned 16 halls, divided into three core zones and special sections covering the entire supply chain:
Professional catering/Bakery, Pizza, Pasta
Coffee, Tea/Bar, Coffee Machines, Vending/Ice Cream, Pastry, Bakery
Furnishings, Technology/Tableware
Chinese brands, in particular, showcased strong technological capabilities and global vision.
Located across four halls on the second floor, the Coffee & Tea section remained bustling despite its upper-level location, drawing continuous streams of industry experts and buyers.
At Booth L54 in Hall 8, Shanghai Baolutong Coffee Machinery Co., Ltd.—one of Shanghai’s earliest coffee machine manufacturers—attracted numerous business visitors. Since 2014, the company has dedicated itself to R&D, overcoming early challenges in mastering complex coffee machine technology. Over the past decade, its team expanded from a small group to 50 R&D specialists, achieving a breakthrough from technological uncertainty to independent technical mastery.
According to General Manager Jason Chen, the company’s fully automatic machines now cover home, business, and commercial settings, breaking away from the home-use-focused approach typical among many manufacturers. The company also developed a new retail model for coffee machines in China and has reached near-unmanned operation levels—essentially coffee robotics. Overseas markets now account for 65% of its business, with long-term partnerships in the UK and Germany serving as strong validation.
Baolutong made its debut at HostMilano in 2025 to strengthen ties with long-standing European clients, learn advanced technologies, and showcase its robotics-enabled products. With the confidence of “Chinese smart manufacturing,” the company aims to expand global cooperation and bring high-value, immersive coffee experiences to more consumers worldwide.
Integration of Innovative Technologies
At Booth G31 in Hall 14, German company Vaihinger SANOMAT drew strong attention with its cream whipping machines. Combining German precision engineering with innovative technology, the machines offer outstanding efficiency, quality, and food safety performance.
Alice, Head of Asia-Pacific at SANOMAT, explained:
“This cream whipper is engineered for high-load commercial environments, delivering consistent whipping results with high expansion rates and virtually zero waste—greatly enhancing efficiency and cost control. Our rapid-cleaning system requires no disassembly and achieves full sanitation in just 10 minutes, certified by a German third-party laboratory.”
She added that although the equipment requires a higher initial investment due to German manufacturing standards, the operational savings are significant. For instance, a café using 4 liters of cream per day can typically recover its investment within 4–6 months.
SANOMAT has participated in HostMilano many times, finding the event’s professional audience perfectly aligned with its target clients and regarding the exhibition as a key platform for global business expansion.
Global Expansion and Strategic Deepening
In the Ice Cream Pavilion, Aromitalia—an Italian flavor ingredients group from Turin with nearly a century of history—stood out as a new presence at the fair. Founded in 1942, Aromitalia specializes in gelato and bakery ingredients and adheres to “experience, quality, and innovation” as its core product pillars.
With 15 branches, 6 factories, and distribution in over 70 countries, the company has built a comprehensive product system and provides global technical support and training for artisanal gelato makers. For the Chinese market, Aromitalia prioritizes flavors with strong consumer recognition, such as tiramisu, and has reformulated its bases with reduced sweetness to better match local preferences—a distinctive approach compared with other imported brands.
China Regional Representative Ms. Yu Yafang shared:
“This year was meant to be a trial participation, but we were pleasantly surprised by the organized Chinese buyer delegation. It was an unexpected but delightful bonus.”
Feedback from the exhibition has been overwhelmingly positive. Beyond its broad coverage of hospitality and catering, the event highlighted cross-industry integration—a strategic trend gaining increasing global importance and one of the major highlights of this edition.
Frontier Activities and Trend Highlights
The 44th HostMilano staged 800 industry events, including forums, technical seminars, product launches, and international competitions. Many events drew more than 200 participants. Major highlights included the World Barista Championship (WBC), Panettone World Championship, and European Pizza Championship—bringing together top talent worldwide and fostering global cultural exchange.
Global Expansion of HostMilano
HOST continues to strengthen its position as a global hospitality platform. From 15 to 17 December, HostArabia will debut in Riyadh through a collaboration between Fiera Milano and Semark. A new partnership with NAFEM will bring HOST to the United States starting in 2027. These initiatives reinforce HOST’s global expansion strategy, connecting markets, bridging cultures, and generating business opportunities worldwide.
