Transforming one of Asia’s largest trade shows into a “trend-launching platform”! Introducing the “latest food trends” discovered at FOODEX JAPAN, including Swicy and next-generation konjac
Hello! I am Tanimoto from SUNNY SIDE UP.
FOODEX JAPAN is one of Asia’s largest food and beverage trade shows, welcoming approximately 80,000 visitors and featuring more than 3,000 exhibitors from 76 countries and regions worldwide.
SUNNY SIDE UP, following on from last year,provided end-to-end support—from PR strategy planning to trend development, media outreach, and exposure planning. With the aim of expanding awareness of “FOODEX JAPAN = a place to discover today’s food trends,” we redesigned how the trade show is presented to the media.
In this article, we will introduce the “current food trends” we experienced firsthand at the venue, along with the PR design behind them.
What is FOODEX JAPAN?
FOODEX JAPAN, one of Asia’s largest food and beverage trade shows, has been held annually since 1976 and will mark its 52nd edition in 2027. Each year, it attracts many exhibitors and visitors from Japan and abroad as a place where business connections expand across countries and regions.
What is “Swicy,” discovered at FOODEX JAPAN?
The moment you step into the venue, you are enveloped in a distinctive buzz where foods from around the world converge. One of the trends that symbolized this year’s FOODEX JAPAN was “Swicy.”
A coined term combining Sweet (sweetness) and Spicy (spiciness), it appeared across exhibits from various countries—showcasing unexpectedly sweet-and-spicy pairings, such as snacks and sauces that add spices to sweet sauces.
In fact, Swicy is one of the keywords in Europe and the United States that is said to be the next wave after the extreme-spice boom. By quickly capturing such overseas trends and spotlighting them as a category in the Japanese market, each individual product becomes more memorable.
We discovered next-generation konjac that looks just like “yogurt” or “salmon”!
One of the most striking highlights at the venue was “next-generation konjac”—an updated take on konjac, a traditional Japanese food.
While connecting with social issues such as reducing food loss and alternative ingredients, it has been crafted into unprecedented looks and flavors—such as yogurt, salmon, and gummies—offering proposals that completely refresh conventional perceptions.This kind of “balance between social relevance and novelty” is also a theme that the media is likely to feature.
Why communicate it as a “trend-launching platform”?
With conventional trade show coverage, exposure tends to focus on unique products and the latest technologies, making it difficult for the trade show as a whole to generate news value.
For this initiative, we reframed FOODEX JAPAN as a single “trend-launching platform.” Using trend keywords such as “Swicy” and “next-generation konjac” as starting points, we re-edited products across the venue in a cross-cutting way to design “angles that are easy for the media to cover.”
As a result, we were able to create a structure that drew attention not only for its original value as a place for business meetings, but also as a venue that symbolizes today’s food currents.
How trends born at the trade show spread
As a result, we secured coverage across numerous media outlets, including broadcasts on more than 10 TV programs. From the first day, media requests concentrated, and we also saw a shift toward becoming a “trade show that gets priority coverage.”In addition, it was featured as a “currently trending topic” on external platforms such as YouTube, creating momentum for trends born within the trade show to spread beyond the venue.
Through this initiative, we once again realized the importance of designing not only “how to communicate,” but also “how it spreads.”
At SUNNY SIDE UP, we can make proposals for corporate, brand, and product communications from the perspective of “how to help positive buzz spread.”
Please feel free to contact us using the “CONTACT” button below.
