The FBIF2026 Food & Beverage Innovation Forum and FBIF Food Innovation Exhibition (F-Expo) were held from April 27-29, 2026, at the Hangzhou International Expo Center. The 3-day FBIF2026 featured 160+ speakers, 650+ exhibitors, 6,000+ channel visitors, and attracted 53,000+ total visitors. FBIF2026 was themed 'Great Trends, Great Potential.' Answers lie within change; we explored with industry peers the key variables that will determine the future direction of the industry. The forum discussed industry trends and innovation cases from perspectives including dairy, snacks, bakery, and beverages, as well as industry strategy, functional ingredients, marketing, retail, packaging, and product development. Meanwhile, the FBIF Wow Food Innovation Awards 2026 ceremony and the FBIF Food Innovation Exhibition brought more innovative inspiration. Swipe left or right to see more. In an era of rapid change, opportunities and answers never come automatically, but the path forward can be found in trends. 'In the new business world, great trends still hold great potential.' Over the 3 days of FBIF2026, we reviewed global landscape changes, dissected real business cases, accumulated practical insights, and gained forward-looking trend references. Now, let's look back at the exciting highlights from the first day of FBIF2026.

  • Dairy Innovation: Hitting New Categories In an on-site interview session themed 'Navigating Cycles: From Cultivation to Reshaping Growth Curves,' guest Zhu Xi, Chairman of Yoplait Dairy, and moderator Xiao Yao, Founder of Source Flow Brand Strategy Consulting, discussed Yoplait Dairy's growth methodology in an environment of intense competition and reconstructed growth logic. Xiao Yao, Founder of Source Flow Brand Strategy Consulting, and Zhu Xi, Chairman of Yoplait Dairy. Xiao Yao noted that reviewing Yoplait Dairy's growth journey in China, it experienced phases from pressure to restored profitability, and then to phased capital exit and new brand development milestones. Zhu Xi summarized that in this growth process, Yoplait Dairy had three key lessons: first, start with science; second, deeply understand consumer insights and purchasing behavior; and third, never be afraid to disrupt yourself or cannibalize your main business. Regarding how to maintain a premium positioning and achieve growth in a consumption downgrade environment, Zhu Xi believes that for consumers, cheaper is not always better; in fact, consumers are willing to pay a premium for healthy products. The real reasons for involution are, first, a lack of understanding of consumer needs, and second, a failure to innovate around consumers' true needs, ultimately resulting in undifferentiated products. 'There's a saying in the industry: "No differentiation, no survival." This has always inspired me,' Zhu Xi said. Where do traditional dairy companies get stuck in product development? Xia Weihua, General Manager of Jiale Dairy, shared his views in a speech. Xia Weihua, General Manager of Jiale Dairy. Xia Weihua believes that on one hand, many dairy companies have high barriers between internal departments; on the other hand, many dairy companies don't know what they should do. 'There are many demands in the market—one moment sugar-free, another moment zero-additive. Should we listen to consumers word for word?' For Xia Weihua, choosing what not to do is more important than choosing what to do. Therefore, Jiale Dairy's brand Jiufeng Ranch insists on 'not making ordinary milk, only making distinctive products.' Xia Weihua stated that only after understanding yourself clearly and taking stock of your channels can you do deeper work and invest energy in making products well. In product development practice, Xia Weihua said brands should perceive consumers' real emotions—whether it's an emotion toward a product, an emotion of feeling 'pain' or 'itch' about a usage scenario, or an emotion toward a certain phenomenon in the industry.
  • Beverage Innovation: Wow, I Want to Drink! Facing a diverse global market, how do food and beverage brands 'read' the different needs of different markets? George Kovoor, former Senior Vice President and General Manager of PepsiCo India Beverages, shared his views on demand patterns. George Kovoor, former Senior Vice President and General Manager of PepsiCo India Beverages. George Kovoor stated that demand patterns have two components: one is the 'demand code,' including regional elements such as taste and culture. A country typically has different 'demand codes'—for example, Sichuan cuisine is spicy, so the entire region's taste tends to be spicy, while Shanghai's taste tends to be sweet. Another dimension is 'demand momentum,' encompassing lifestyle, consumption levels, expectations, shopping habits, and other aspects. George Kovoor believes that when looking at demand momentum, one should not only look at a city but also the ripple effects around the city. 'Just like a stone thrown into a lake creates ripples, these "ripples" represent jobs, markets, schools, etc. This is the ripple model of demand diffusion,' George Kovoor said. George Kovoor also presented five variables that can reflect the demand pattern of a region: per capita disposable income, nighttime light brightness per square kilometer, density of new retail formats (such as Luckin Coffee), urbanization ratio, and internet penetration rate. These five variables can reflect a region's economic maturity. By collecting data, standardizing, and calculating scores, cities can ultimately be rated from one star to five stars. George Kovoor believes that from one-star markets to five-star markets, different strategies are needed. Chen Hao, General Manager of Peet's Coffee Retail, shared Peet's Coffee's breakthrough strategy in the highly competitive coffee sector. Chen Hao, General Manager of Peet's Coffee Retail. Chen Hao admitted that in recent years, the logic of the coffee market has changed; the functional needs of coffee have been explored to the extreme, while other values have been severely weakened, putting pressure on Peet's Coffee. However, Peet's Coffee also believes that coffee has value far beyond functionality. In response, Chen Hao stated that Peet's Coffee has done some difficult but correct things. On the product side, it insists on a model of sourcing high-quality coffee beans globally and small-batch, handcrafted local roasting. On the other hand, Peet's Coffee is also expanding the boundaries of coffee in the context of new consumption and new channels. Over the past three years, Peet's Coffee has entered more than 20 markets nationwide and opened several specialty stores, such as the Xi'an Metropolitan store, which uses the eave and column structure of Xi'an historical architecture, and the Jilin Songhua Lake Snow House store, located at a ski enthusiast destination, making coffee a supply stop during skiing. 'We adopt a dual-wheel drive strategy, starting with the coffee bean brand story, building a complete product matrix, and using a rich and diverse range of products to meet consumers' needs at different times and in different scenarios,' Chen Hao concluded.
  • Snack and Bakery R&D Innovation: Making Delicious and Fun Snack Brands
  • Marketing Innovation: Growth That Also Spans Cycles In an era of scarce attention, how should brands excel at consumer insight, continuously build relevance, and win brand loyalty? Li Jiayang, Head of Data Insights and Analytics at Kraft Heinz China, and Zhang Yixi, Associate Partner at Prophet, engaged in a wonderful discussion on how consumer and market insights drive brand and business growth. Zhang Yixi, Associate Partner at Prophet, and Li Jiayang, Head of Data Insights and Analytics at Kraft Heinz China. Li Jiayang believes that consumer loyalty remains important because brand loyalty is inherently a process of 'winning.' Brands need continuous operation, outreach, and the establishment of differentiation and relevance to win consumer loyalty. In this process, the first thing a brand must do is to be close to consumers and useful to them. For example, Kraft Heinz planned the 'Ketchup into Chinese Cuisine' initiative and does it every year, with the aim of bringing ketchup, a Western condiment, closer to Chinese consumers. In addition to being meaningful to consumers, Li Jiayang believes brands must also be distinctive. Zhang Yixi pointed out that Chinese consumer behavior is showing four major trends that serve as key fulcrums for continuously building relevance. Brands must constantly evolve composite needs, provide high quality-price ratio, build emotional comfort, and activate deep interaction. 'Extreme relevance to consumers at all times is very important; a brand is absolutely not just a momentary preference,' Zhang Yixi concluded. 'Asian companies have good brands and good products, but to go international, that's not enough. We also need a well-functioning engine to support global expansion,' said Stephan Czypionka, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Advisor to CJ Foods, and former Global Vice President of Coca-Cola. Global Chief Marketing Officer, Advisor to CJ Foods, and former Global Vice President of Coca-Cola. How to build a 'marketing engine' for the international market? Stephan Czypionka believes it mainly consists of four parts. First, build the 'operating system.' The operating system is the connection system between headquarters and different overseas markets. Companies typically adopt approaches such as sending executives to overseas markets, sending small teams to cooperate with local distributor systems, or establishing headquarters to manage local branches. Second, capabilities and structure. A good organization can give a company strong power to execute its marketing. Third, talent and culture. Companies need highly motivated teams to execute, and there must be cultural drivers. Finally, brand and assets. When a company goes global, the local brand image and brand power cannot directly cover overseas markets, so adjustments are needed. Brand strategies typically fall into three aspects: brand positioning, brand design, and brand portfolio.
  • Packaging Innovation: Starting with Looks, Loyal to Brand Fernando Arendar, Founder and Director of Nitid Studio, reinterpreted the value of packaging design from a neuroscience perspective. He believes packaging is not merely visual expression but a key signal that influences consumer brain decisions. Fernando Arendar. Fernando proposed that the brain makes rapid predictions and judgments about external information based on past experience, and packaging is an important entry point that triggers this mechanism. Color, shape, layout, and display environment all affect consumers' perception and choice of products. He used multiple cases to show that packaging details can significantly change perception. For example, with the same capacity, a taller bottle is mistakenly perceived as having more capacity; cut fruit surfaces stimulate consumers' senses more; compared to square bottles, round bottle designs more easily convey 'sweetness,' while familiar brand elements can strengthen trust and preference. Fernando emphasized that there is no unified standard for consumer preference; design strategies should differ across categories and cultural backgrounds. In the future, packaging design may shift from experience-driven to 'evidence-driven,' and the emergence of predictive processing theory models will better improve packaging decision efficiency and commercial performance. Koichi Kosugi, Creative Director and Brand Designer at onehappy & Hanying, shared his design methodology around 'communication personality.' He pointed out that packaging should not merely stay at visual beautification or functional expression, but should become the core medium for brands to build relationships with consumers. Koichi Kosugi, Creative Director and Brand Designer at onehappy & Hanying. Koichi Kosugi emphasized that brands need to be understood and perceived like 'people.' The key to design is not to highlight product functionality, but to transform brand will and stories into clear personality expression. By clarifying the target audience, the brand's persona is constructed in reverse, including dimensions such as age, personality, and lifestyle, thereby achieving natural communication with consumers. At the specific execution level, he breaks down design elements into 'personality language': color represents character, typography conveys tone, layout reflects attitude, photos reflect perspective, illustrations represent fashion, and information volume represents persuasiveness. Only by maintaining consistency across multiple touchpoints can brand personality be continuously strengthened. Koichi Kosugi said: 'What we output is personality, not function. It's not about emphasizing functional values like looking better or being more convenient to use, but through brand will and stories, from a visual perspective, we establish our persona and personality, creating a long-lasting brand that consumers need and love. This is the most important point in the design process.'
  • Chief Product Selector Forum At the Chief Product Selector Forum, She Xianping, Vice President and Chief Product Officer of Yonghui Superstores, shared insights on 'Products as Strategy: Practice and Thinking on Yonghui's Product Structure Adjustment Path,' systematically reviewing Yonghui's adjustment path and core methodology over the past two years. She Xianping, Vice President and Chief Product Officer of Yonghui Superstores. Facing the transformation pressure commonly seen in offline retail, She Xianping pointed out that the key to adjustment lies in deeply learning from Pangdonglai's advanced concepts and culture, and gradually establishing a clear and firm strategic framework better suited to its own characteristics. He summarized this framework into four cornerstones: users, model, mindshare, and efficiency. At the user level, Yonghui Superstores has shifted to a clearer user profile, focusing on new middle-class families led by women around 35 years old as the core customer base. In terms of model, it emphasizes that a replicable business model takes priority over 'blockbuster stores,' promoting SKU simplification and structural optimization. At the mindshare level, Yonghui Superstores is shifting from short-term price-driven to a 'long-term evaluation' system. On the efficiency front, Yonghui Superstores believes that truly long-term efficiency lies in reshaping and upgrading the zero-supply relationship with suppliers. She Xianping stated: 'Yonghui Superstores' adjustment starts with re-embracing reverence for the market and users, and we will surely end with an unrelenting pursuit of quality and efficiency as our ultimate foothold.' Shen Qiang, Vice President of Dingdong Maicai and Dean of its Research Institute, shared the development path of Dingdong Maicai's private brands. Shen Qiang, Vice President of Dingdong Maicai and Dean of its Research Institute. Initially, Dingdong's business was called 'Dingdong Community,' with 10 businesses, one of which was grocery purchasing on behalf of users. After a period of testing, Dingdong found that the most essential need for users was the grocery purchasing service, so it canceled the other 9 businesses, gradually forming an online food instant retail platform based on the front-warehouse model, retaining the name Dingdong Maicai. In fact, Dingdong's product structure has long been not limited to groceries. Groceries are just a high-frequency fresh produce category for consumers, and Dingdong used the fresh produce mindshare to gain user recognition, ultimately forming a 'two-way engagement.' Based on the core need for grocery shopping, Dingdong gradually evolved into an instant retail platform with fresh produce as the entry point, building a capability system covering upstream supply chains and food R&D. Based on this upstream R&D system and platform insights extremely close to users, Dingdong Maicai launched its private brand strategy in 2020. After developing from single-category to multi-category and then cross-category, it has now formed a distinctive private brand matrix with the core proposition of 'doing simplification, creating surprises, and providing quality-price ratio.' Through front-warehouse and digital capabilities, Dingdong Maicai achieves efficient fresh produce turnover and 'thousand warehouses, thousand faces' differentiated supply. 'Good users, good products, good service, and good mindshare' will become the mindshare foundation running through product development for Dingdong over the next 5-10 years.
  • Product Development Forum Fu Xunyan, China District Director of IDEO, shared methodology on 'breakthrough innovation' and, combined with the 'Fresh Instant Noodles' case co-created with Master Kong, deconstructed the path of product innovation from 0 to 1. Fu Xunyan, China District Director of IDEO. In this process, IDEO used three steps: first, starting with people; second, using creativity as a bridge; third, using form to embody spirit. 1. Starting with people: Fu Xunyan pointed out that the industry currently relies heavily on data-driven 'incremental innovation,' which, although efficient, struggles to open new markets. In contrast, the key to breakthrough innovation lies in returning to the real needs of 'people.' Through immersive research, the team found that the core demand of middle-class white-collar workers for instant noodles is not simple upgrades, but how to easily obtain a near-fresh-noodle-level eating experience in busy modern life. 2. Using creativity as a bridge: IDEO designed a co-creation mechanism with Master Kong's cross-departmental team and consumers, purposefully creating prototypes for consumers to experience, and continuously iterating prototypes in rapid testing. This connected user needs, technical feasibility, and commercial sustainability in one go, ultimately focusing the innovation direction on noodle body upgrades, clearly configuring a product innovation combination with 'noodles' as the core, paired with soup and ingredients. 3. Using form to embody spirit: Through packaging and product design, abstract value is transformed into a perceptible experience. The appearance of 'Fresh Instant Noodles' follows the design language of modern home kitchen utensils, with a rounded bowl lid conveying a sense of warmth, solidity, and lasting heat retention. A pair of wooden chopsticks placed on top creates a ritual of waiting for good noodles to 'come out of the pot'—thereby strengthening consumers' concrete perception of freshly cooked and rich flavor. User needs, technical feasibility, and commercial sustainability—combining these three points is the core framework of 'human-centered' design thinking. Long-term breakthrough innovation is a systematic design that effectively connects these three points. Around the topic 'When Beverages Become "Water Substitutes": How to Meet Consumers' Thirst Needs?' Lin Hao, Founder of UCC Coffee, Shu Yi, Founder of Rangcha, and Fang Naizeng, Founder of Cocomanman, engaged in a discussion. From left to right: Lin Hao, Founder of UCC Coffee; Shu Yi, Chairman and Founder of Rangcha; Fang Naizeng, Founder and CEO of Cocomanman; Liu Chunyan, Strategic Advisor at OATLY. The guests mentioned that 'water substitutes' are not a short-term trend but a long-term structural opportunity. From a product path perspective, brands are innovating around 'tastier than water, healthier than beverages.' UCC Coffee enters daily drinking scenarios with large-capacity American coffee, moving coffee toward being a 'water substitute'; Rangcha shifts from sugar-free tea to 'sugar-free fruit tea'; Cocomanman expands to plant-based beverages, functional beverages, and other categories, covering different life scenarios. The sharing also pointed out that water substitute products have three major characteristics: mainstream flavor, simple ingredients, and light functionality. Meanwhile, channel collaboration has become a key capability, with co-created products with channels like Hema and supermarkets getting closer to real consumer needs. From an industry trend perspective, as the consumer base expands and scenarios extend, beverage consumption is moving from the 'young people's market' to all age groups. Behind water substitutes, the essence is consumers' upgraded comprehensive demand for health, convenience, and emotional value.
  • FBIF Food Innovation Exhibition (F-Expo) The FBIF Food Innovation Exhibition (F-Expo) consists of 650+ exhibitors and exclusive activities planned by the organizer, continuing to empower brands and channels this year. Brand exhibitors cover food and beverage categories such as dairy, beverages, snacks, alcohol, convenience foods, condiments, and functional foods. Leading domestic and international companies and emerging enterprises gathered at the FBIF Food Innovation Exhibition, with brands like Want Want, Lemon Republic, Liubiju, UCC Coffee, and Wushow presenting on-site, bringing a series of innovative products and interactive experiences. Many innovative booths attracted a large number of professional visitors for exchange and experience. Meanwhile, supply chain companies such as Tetra Pak, FrieslandCampina Ingredients, and Mocoffee Coffee exhibited, bringing industry innovation solutions. At previous FBIF exhibitions, the exclusive activity zones specially planned by the organizer have always been highly anticipated. This year's channel activities included the FBiF Channel Matchmaking, WOW FOOD Hit Product Roadshow, and Hit Product Supermarket. The FBiF Channel Matchmaking, through a model of 'themed sharing + product selection matchmaking,' customized 6 channel matchmaking activities, covering chain supermarkets and convenience stores, snack chains, flash warehouses, e-commerce influencers and group leaders, and head restaurant discount sessions. The WOW FOOD Hit Product Roadshow focused on product themes of low GI, clean labels, and medicine-food homology, efficiently linking brands with core channel resources through immersive roadshows. Additionally, pre-registered channel visitors could receive a hit product manual. On the first day, Shizu, Dingdong Maicai, Chichi Shares, Yiming Fresh Milk Bar, Huiyixuan, Pu Mama, CR Vanguard Ole, Jiduoquan, Lianhua Huashang, MUJI, ICELAND, and others participated in the FBiF Channel Matchmaking. Meiyijia, Metro, Kunlun Haoke, Sun Beibei Bakery, Kuailehou, RT-Mart M Member Store, T11, Linli Lemon Tea, Chayanyuese, and Yeren Xiansheng participated in the WOW FOOD Hit Product Roadshow. A total of 100+ leading channels participated in the first day's channel activities. Swipe left or right to see more. Swipe left or right to see more. The FBiF Global New Product Collection showcased over 700+ SKUs of new food products from 30+ countries and regions worldwide, with a more intuitive and easier-to-browse classification guide: six single-character main categories—Chewy, Soft, Drink, Crispy, Lazy, and Nourish; plus seven sub-categories—Eat Alone, Kids' but Adults Grab, Masculine, Feminine, Clean Label, Global Hits, and Souvenirs, further focusing products by people and scenarios. Swipe left or right to see more. The FBiF Global Creative Packaging Collection brought together 180+ outstanding food and beverage packaging design works from nearly 30 countries and regions worldwide, each combining innovative ingenuity and visual aesthetics. This year, we used 'contrast' to understand packaging. The exhibition broke traditional curation logic, using 9 groups of contrasting single characters such as Big vs. Small, Cute vs. Cool, and Complex vs. Simple as clues, allowing designs of different temperaments and logics to echo each other, helping you quickly build an intuitive perception of packaging design. Swipe left or right to see more. This year's Foodtalks Salon focused on pioneering brands and influential figures in the food and beverage industry, bringing together multiple hot topics such as personal growth, brand practice, product innovation, and market insights, presented in two sharing formats (keynote speech and on-site interview), showcasing the most reference-worthy frontline practices. Swipe left or right to see more. This year's exhibition added a new crayfish AI product design experience activity—'One Sentence Creates a Hit Product.' Visitors only needed to input a product idea, and within 10 minutes, from 0 to 1, they could receive a product design plan. The FBIF Wow Food Innovation Award, known as the 'Oscar' of China's food industry, was initiated in Shanghai in 2017 and is a global, comprehensive food innovation award. Since its establishment in 2017, the competition has been held for the ninth edition, attracting 3,000+ enterprise teams and 5,000+ outstanding works from around the world. In the 2026 new season, the three tracks of Product, Packaging, and Marketing, together with a new Ingredients track, received nearly 900 global submissions, resulting in 300+ award-winning works! Swipe left or right to see more.