ScotHot’s Return to Glasgow sees over 8,000 industry professionals pack the SEC
ScotHot, Scotland’s leading showcase for food, drink, hospitality, retail, and tourism, made a tremendous return to Glasgow over the 26th and 27th of February, welcoming 8,012 attendees as it celebrated its 52nd year – a 17% percent increase from the previous event in 2023.
ScotHot, Scotland’s leading showcase for food, drink, hospitality, retail, and tourism, made a tremendous return to Glasgow over the 26th and 27th of February, welcoming 8,012 attendees as it celebrated its 52nd year – a 17% percent increase from the previous event in 2023.
Throughout the event, delegates and exhibitors alike enjoyed a unique chance to meet, share ideas and inspiration, and learn about the latest trends from across the industry over an action packed two days, with over 250 exhibitors from food and drink, technology, catering equipment, tableware and design and more showcased at the SEC Glasgow.
Highlights at the show included the Spotlight Stage run in partnership with the Scottish Tourism Alliance, where Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands Mairi Gougeon opened the show with an inspiring speech praising Scotland’s rich food and drink landscape. Her address kicked off a packed programme of industry panels, with appearances including Chefs Lorna McNee, Gary Maclean, Gary Townsend and Dean Banks, CEO of HIT Scotland David Cochrane, and Rebecca Brooks, Chair of the Scottish Tourism Alliance and UKinbound, to name a few.
The Spotlight Stage also hosted the 2025 National Hotels of the Year awards and the ScotHot 2025 Innovation Awards, where Unox CHEFTOP-X™ received Gold in the Catering Equipment, Design and Technology category and Buck & Birch BIRCH Premium Botanical Vodka received Gold in the Food & Drink category.
Meanwhile on the Liquid Academy Live stage, a series of lively drinks demos, publican talks and discussions was capped off by the highly anticipated Caledonian Bartenders Cup 2025 sponsored by Franklin & Sons and HIT Scotland, with first place awarded to Janos Otvos, Bar Manager at Gleddoch Hotel.
Exciting competitions took place across both the Live Theatre, Skills Arena, and Culinary Arts as the Scottish Culinary Championships saw challenges for junior sustainable fish dish, plated dessert, risotto challenge, chicken for sauté and others. After an impressive competition, David Millar, Group Executive Chef at Carlowrie Castle was crowned Scottish Chef of the Year 2025 and Oliver Redgwell-Welch, Apprentice chef at Entier Ltd named Scottish Young Chef of the Year.
New for ScotHot 2025, The Buell Hospitality Advisory Hub offered advice from finance to marketing to procurement to hundreds of businesses across two days. Buell Hospitality also celebrated the launch of Buell Connect, an innovative new community designed to support hospitality professionals by offering a suite of essential business benefits, networking opportunities, and access to industry-leading expertise.
Toby Wand, Managing Director of 365 Events, the team behind ScotHot, said: “ScotHot 2025 has once again demonstrated why it is the must-attend event for Scotland’s food, drink, hospitality, retail, and tourism industries. The energy and enthusiasm from exhibitors and attendees alike were phenomenal, reinforcing the resilience and innovation driving our sector forward. From the engaging discussions on the Spotlight Stage to the fierce talent on display in our competitions, the show was a testament to the strength and future of our industry.”
Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon said: “I was delighted to open the largest ever ScotHot this century at Glasgow in its 52nd year. Scotland has incredible producers, makers, experiences and storytellers, and this event is the perfect showcase for our vibrant food and drink, hospitality and tourism sectors.
“It was great to see and meet with so many representatives, from the regional food and drink producers to those servicing the hospitality industry, as well as to see our incredible Scottish chefs in action. The Scottish Government wants to support these key industries of our economy to thrive, in line with the positive vision we have set out in our national strategies for both food and drink and tourism. With such talent, innovation, and enthusiasm on display at ScotHot I have no doubt these sectors will continue to thrive.”
ScotHot25 was supported by major industry partners including Scotland Food & Drink, the Scottish Tourism Alliance (STA), Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA), VisitScotland, Scottish Chefs, HIT Scotland, and The Guild of Fine Food.
For more information, please visit https://www.scothot.co.uk/.
