Signals

UK – Day one of the International Food & Drink Event (IFE) kicked off in London, UK, on 30 March 2026. Attracting more than 30,000 professionals and over 1,500 suppliers, the event offered a clear snapshot of how food innovation and retail are being reshaped.

The day began with a panel entitled From Lab to Label: Ingredient Innovation for the Future, which emphasised the importance of education to drive consumer adoption of lab-grown ingredients. Although consumers may be averse to lab-grown products at present, one of the panellists argued that Britons have been consuming functional, modified foods through fortified products for the past 30 years. The focus now, however, is on health optimisation and sustainable production.

End-to-end processes can take as little as two weeks to transform cells into market-ready products, reducing years-long agriculture breeding timelines. Lab-grown processes also enable manufacturers to customise their nutritional profile – highlighting a major opportunity for food brands and manufacturers as consumers seek out healthier foods and pay more attention to what is on their plates.

Later in the day, Bryan Roberts, retail futures senior partner at IGD, delivered a comprehensive keynote entitled Retail 2030: Forecasting the Future for UK Supermarkets. Roberts highlighted key opportunities for retailers, including appealing to specific age demographics and treating different age groups of shoppers appropriately: The over-60s population is only going to grow, while Gen Z have different taste preferences.

He also pointed to increasing diversity in ethnic food offerings and seasonality as important considerations for UK retailers. Celebrated holidays such as Eid provide opportunities in promotional seasonality and go-to-market strategies. Targeting shopper missions and occasions such as birthdays or a big night in allows brands to show up better in-store for specific consumption events. Our Halal Food Futures report spotlights the brands driving innovation in the halal food and drink sector.

Roberts also highlighted new channel dynamics, from the large warehouse-size supermarkets of the 1990s to the online shopping boom during Covid-19 and now to social commerce platforms such as TikTok Shop. These channels are disrupting household, beauty and snacking categories, forcing retailers to innovate and rethink their marketing strategies. Read our Content Commerce report to understand how commerce and social media are colliding to create seamless shopping. 

The keynote speaker concluded that in five to six years there will be structural change in UK retail ownership and operations. Products will be sold differently, focused on mission and occasion. Technology will transform the retail experience, and retailers should consider sustainability and community impact as central priorities.