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Charles Banks - thefoodpeople

Charles Banks

Director & Co-Founder, thefoodpeople

Charles is a Co Founder, a fourth-generation foodie, an expert in food futures and a ‘champion of change’. Cooking at his mother's side in the kitchen is where Charles' obsession for food began! He and his business thefoodpeople are known for shifting the future of food and drink by harnessing the power of trends.

Charles has spent the past 25 years in the food industry working across all sectors including food service, fine dining, hotels, food brands and food retailing. thefoodpeople, established for over 15 years, is a global trends business, specialising in future foresight in the food and beverage sector. A united group of trend spotters and innovators, they are a team of psychologists, chefs, marketeers, product developers, academics, flavourists, historians and anthropologists. But more than that TFP are ‘champions of change’ that bring their inherent experience, as well as an obsession for food and drink, natural curiosity, intuition and tenacity.

Sessions

2025 MEDIA PARTNERS

2025 INDUSTRY PARTNERS

The Next Chapter for Speciality & Fine Food Fair

From 2027, Speciality & Fine Food Fair will take place 5 – 7 April at Excel London, as part of Food, Drink & Hospitality Week to be the UK’s largest food & drink trade event.

This exciting move will connect our incredible community of speciality producers and buyers with 25,000+ verified trade visitors, creating even more opportunities for products to be discovered, tasted and stocked by buyers across retail, hospitality, wholesale and foodservice.

To prepare for this exciting launch, the Fair will not be taking place in 2026, returning in its new format in 2027.

While the scale grows, the heart of the Fair stays the same - a curated showcase of exceptional producers and a spirit of discovery, now with even greater commercial reach.

We’re incredibly excited about this next chapter and can’t wait to build it with you.

Find out more