Venditalia 2026 (6–8 May 2026) is shaping as much as be a record-breaking version: greater than 300 anticipated manufacturers (together with business leaders), 30,000 sq. metres of exhibition area, 8 halls, emerging global visibility, and a well-established community of relationships with the marketplace’s key gamers.
The business display is going down for the primary time on the trendy Rimini Expo Centre due to the strategic partnership between CONFIDA – the Italian Vending Association – and Italian Exhibition Group (IEG), one in all Europe’s main exhibition organisers.
As of these days, greater than 50% of the exhibition area has already been booked, and overseas exhibitors account for 41% of the whole—a checklist for the development. It is a robust outcome for a sector that, in Europe in 2024, generated €26.4 billion in earnings, with 4.5 million machines put in and 34.5 billion merchandise offered.
Venditalia would be the perfect alternative to show off all of the ecosystem that brings in combination all of the key gamers within the merchandising provide chain: era producers, operators, product providers and stakeholders. It will create actual trade and networking alternatives via a programme of meetings and workshops (together with periods in English) at the maximum related subjects within the merchandising business.
Never ahead of has the merchandising sector skilled such fast technological acceleration, affecting all of the price chain—from system design to far flung control, virtual bills and buyer revel in.
At Venditalia 2026, SmartLink will make its international premiere—the brand new verbal exchange protocol between merchandising machines, fee programs and control instrument, promoted via the European Vending & Coffee Service Association (EVA). Its purpose is to create a extra hooked up, environment friendly, future-ready machine.
“The vending sector is undergoing a true ‘Digital Revolution’,” explains Ernesto Piloni, leader govt of Venditalia. “With connectivity, a vending machine can be managed remotely, adjusting settings and parameters in real time and analysing big data. The integration of AI will make many processes more efficient. And let’s not forget consumer-facing innovations: from touchscreens to cashless digital payment systems, and the rapidly growing payment apps—33% of the more than 800,000 vending machines installed across Italy are equipped with them, and for one in four consumers, it’s the preferred payment method. Vending technology also has significant potential beyond the traditional channel: it can provide 24/7 service in many sectors, from retail to hospitality.”
“Venditalia is a prestigious showcase for Made in Italy foodtech innovation,” provides Marco Cecchini, President of Venditalia. “Thanks to the partnership between Italian Exhibition Group and CONFIDA—which enhances IEG’s already extensive portfolio of out-of-home trade shows—the event will now benefit from a dynamic, international setting that will expand its audience of exhibitors and visitors, strengthening its presence both in Italy and globally.”
New intake fashions will take centre degree at this version below the declare “Think Automatic”: merchandising machines are getting into unconventional areas (from coworking hubs to sensible motels, provided camper spaces and retail environments) to diversify, increase and differentiate the be offering in non-food sectors (type, tech, non-public care, well being and pharma), going past conventional merchandising.
An exhibition space might be devoted to rising merchandise and applied sciences from start-ups and younger entrepreneurial ventures, each Italian and global, whilst workshops on traits and inventions within the merchandising sector will whole the programme.
