NEXT TABLE Exhibition

NEXT TABLE (The Future Dining Table Exhibition) is a comprehensive food event where food manufacturers, distributors and consumers meet in the same venue and think together about the future of the home dining table. Products on themes closely tied to daily life, such as health, time-saving, easy cooking and ready meals, are lined up, and visitors can taste them on the spot to check "whether they would work in our home." This article covers the dates, venue, exhibitor categories and how to attend, as well as how exhibitors can prepare to stay in the memories of households and how to think about food novelties to hand out at booths and business meetings.

NEXT TABLE (The Future Dining Table Exhibition) at a Glance

Most recently, the 5th edition was held at Tokyo Big Sight in May 2026. The dates for the following 6th edition (2027) had not been announced at the time of writing. A major feature of this show is that it is held concurrently with the Hobby Cooking Fair and the Japan Hobby Show, attracting many consumers who love cooking. Dates and venues vary from year to year, so please confirm the latest information on the official website.

Item	5th edition (2026)	6th edition (2027)
Dates	May 8 (Fri) – 10 (Sun), 2026	Not yet announced
Opening hours	10:00〜17:00	Not yet announced
Venue	Tokyo Big Sight East Hall 7	Not yet announced
Organizer	Distribution Economics Institute of Japan / Nihon Shokuryo Shimbun	Check the official website
Concurrent shows	19th Hobby Cooking Fair / 50th Japan Hobby Show 2026	Not yet announced

All past editions have been held in spring (around April–May), with special cooperation from the Japan Supermarket Association. The Hobby Cooking Fair as a whole drew more than 100,000 visitors in 2025, a scale at which consumers who cook at home and food companies can interact directly. Whether exhibiting or visiting, preparing business cards, samples and simple recipes for the next edition makes it easier to feed the reactions on the spot into your next product development.

What companies and products does it attract?

Food categories eligible for exhibiting

The core exhibits are foods in general used on home dining tables. A wide range of items that become part of daily home life is on display, from meal kits and seasoning mixes that help with time-saving and easy cooking to heat-and-eat ready meals and deli foods, soups and dashi stock, dried goods and dried vegetables, frozen foods, confectionery and beverages. Themes such as functional angles for health-conscious consumers, using off-spec vegetables to reduce food loss and environmentally friendly packaging are also featured.

With more dual-income and single-person households, home cooking comes with the dilemma of "wanting to put in effort but lacking time." Dried vegetables that cut down on prep work and soups that become a dish just by adding hot water suit these changes at the dining table. Vegetables that tend to come in small lots from a single growing region can be turned into easy-to-handle forms for households by drying or powdering them.

Who Attends: Consumers and Buyers

Visitors are mainly consumers who love cooking, mixed with buyers from supermarkets and specialty stores, PB (private brand) developers and planners from restaurants and ready-meal businesses. A distinguishing feature is the high proportion of consumers, so you can hear the candid opinions of visitors who cook at home every day directly at your booth. Reactions to tastings and questions on the spot are firsthand information for reviewing product names and packaging.

Distribution and PB buyers also tour the venue at the same time, so it is worth noting that products that got a good response from consumers can be taken straight into business meetings. The experience of "it worked well when we tried it at home" becomes a factor in deciding whether to stock a product. Preparing both a consumer-facing presentation and explanations of lot sizes and prices for buyers makes business meetings go smoothly.

Concurrent Events

NEXT TABLE is held on the same dates and at the same venue as the Hobby Cooking Fair, a hands-on cooking and food event, and the Japan Hobby Show, a festival of handmade hobbies. The Hobby Cooking Fair is run as a "food marketing fair" where consumers can take their time interacting with food companies, and it is a place where people come to understand products firsthand through tastings, hands-on experiences and demonstrations.

Visitors to the Hobby Show who come for handicrafts and crafts also tour the same venue, so in addition to people with a strong interest in food, you can reach a wide range of consumers who enjoy their daily lives. The audience differs from B2B trade shows, and this show's unique position is its strong character of "makers delivering directly to consumers."

Highlights for visitors and exhibitors

Checking Consumer Reactions on the Spot

The biggest highlight is offering tastings to people who actually cook at home and receiving their expressions and comments directly. Comments such as "I'd like it a little milder," "I want a version for kids" or "it would help to keep this on hand" clearly point to areas for product improvement. Beyond business cards and surveys, recording which flavors and cooking methods people reached for helps with reviews after the show.

Gathering Information on Time-Saving and Ready-Meal Trends

Walking through the whole venue gives you a firsthand sense of what kinds of time-saving and easy cooking are popular on home dining tables now. How other companies present their booths, serve tastings and suggest recipes provides hints for your own sales floor design. Products that make consumers stop share common traits, and observing them on the spot makes it easier to reflect them in your next plan.

A Stepping Stone to Distribution and PB Business Meetings

Products that got a good response from consumers can be proposed directly to buyers touring the same venue. Retailers place importance on "whether households will keep using it," so having consumer reactions as supporting evidence moves conversations forward. Summarizing minimum lot size, price and available shipping periods on a single sheet lets you start aligning terms on the spot.

For companies considering exhibiting

Exhibitors include manufacturers of household foods, producers and joint exhibits that want to deliver processed products from growing regions to consumers, and distributors looking to grow their PB. Details on booth formats and booths can be confirmed with the organizers or through the inquiry desk on the official website. Since this show involves facing consumers directly, being prepared to offer tastings and providing recipes people can recreate at home greatly affects the results of exhibiting.

At the booth, preparing both "demonstrations" where you finish a dish on the spot for people to eat and "recipe cards" they can use after going home lets the experience continue into their homes. Adding sachet samples that are easy to carry home and long-lasting creates an entry point for visitors to remember you in their own kitchens. Preparing consumer-facing explanations separately from lot size and pricing materials for business meetings lets you handle both kinds of visitors.

Visitor registration and how to participate

Admission procedures and entry fees vary by edition, so check the latest information on the official website before attending. If advance visitor registration is available, you can avoid crowds at reception on the day and choose the booths you want to see before the show. Kokusai-Tenjijo Station on the Rinkai Line or Tokyo Big Sight Station on the Yurikamome Line are convenient, and both are a short walk from the venue. With concurrent events, the venue gets crowded during the show, so if you are coming from afar for multiple days, booking accommodation early gives you peace of mind.

Tips for Businesses Delivering Household Foods

On home dining tables, foods that reduce prep work, keep well and are easy to cook tend to be chosen. Vegetables that are hard to handle fresh become light, long-lasting and usable in just the amount needed once dried or powdered. Agriture processes dried vegetables and vegetable powders, including from off-spec vegetables, as well as dried vegetable soups, tea and dried fruit, and can help design "just rehydrate" or "just add hot water" forms that are easy to use at home, starting from the raw material selection stage.

Consumer reactions gathered at the show become material for your next product. Take home comments such as "make it milder," "please split it into smaller portions" or "I'd like more color," prototype in small lots and then go into the next event to move household product and distributor PB plans forward quickly. You can also proceed in a way where what you hand out for tastings doubles as a prototype.

Sachets of Dried Vegetable Soup That Make People ”Want to Make It Again” at Home

Visitors to NEXT TABLE are mainly people who actually cook at home every day. Even if they find something delicious at a tasting at the venue, whether that flavor becomes part of their lives depends on whether they can make it again in their own kitchens after going home. That is why sachets they can take home to recreate the same flavor are better suited than tastings that end on the spot.

If you add a recipe briefly describing amounts and steps to dried vegetable soup that only needs hot water or vegetable powder to sprinkle on stir-fries and soups, visitors can try them right away at dinner that day or in the following week's menus. A sip at the venue, another cup at home: that second cup is the entry point to having the product remembered in daily life.

Include Amounts and Steps That Can Be Recreated in the Kitchen

To get people to make it again at home, a recipe detailed enough to follow without hesitation works best. If you briefly note the amount of hot water, the portion per cup and about three steps such as mixing and pouring, not only experienced cooks in their 30s to 60s but anyone can recreate it even on a busy weeknight. Individually wrapped, the sachets are hygienic and easy to carry home, in a form people can keep in their refrigerator door or a drawer.

Reflecting Feedback from Home Use in Household Products and Distributor PB

When people try products both at the venue and at home, you collect specific comments such as "milder," "for kids" or "I want to keep this on hand." Dried vegetable soups and vegetable powders that got a good response can be re-prototyped in small lots (from 50 bags) reflecting that feedback and reworked as household products or PB candidates for distributors. While processing such as tablets or capsules is not possible, Agriture can help turn products into "just rehydrate" or "just add hot water" forms for home use, starting from the raw material selection stage.

We have materials available to help you understand vegetable-based novelties

FAQ | NEXT TABLE (The Future Dining Table Exhibition)

Have the dates for 2027 (6th edition) been decided?

They had not been announced at the time of writing. Past editions have been held in spring (around April–May) at Tokyo Big Sight. Please confirm the final dates on the official website.

What kind of visitors does the show attract?

Visitors are mainly consumers who cook at home, along with buyers from supermarkets and specialty stores and PB developers. A distinguishing feature is that you can offer tastings directly to consumers and easily move on to business meetings with distributors.

What events are held concurrently?

It is held on the same dates and at the same venue as the Hobby Cooking Fair, a hands-on cooking and food event, and the Japan Hobby Show, a festival of handmade hobbies. It draws people with a strong interest in food as well as a wide range of consumers who enjoy their daily lives.

Can novelties be made in small lots?

Yes. Agriture can prepare dried vegetables, vegetable powders and dried vegetable soups in small lots from 50 bags and assemble them into sachets with simple recipes. What you hand out for tastings can also be repurposed as prototypes for household products or PB.

What preparations are effective for exhibiting?

Preparing both tastings and demonstrations for people to eat on the spot and simple recipes they can recreate at home increases effectiveness. Adding sachet samples that are easy to carry home helps visitors remember you in their own kitchens.

Summary | Using NEXT TABLE (The Future Dining Table Exhibition) to Shape Home Dining Tables

NEXT TABLE (The Future Dining Table Exhibition) is an exhibition where food manufacturers, distributors and consumers meet in the same venue and think together about the future of home dining tables. Precisely because it is a place to offer tastings directly to people who cook, products become part of daily life when visitors take home sachets they can make again, rather than stopping at a single bite at the venue. Starting with sachets of dried vegetable soup that only needs hot water or vegetable powder with simple recipes that can be recreated, and reflecting consumer feedback in small-lot prototypes, moves household product and distributor PB plans forward. The dates for 2027 (6th edition) have not been announced, so check the official website for confirmed dates.

Official information: NEXT TABLE (The Future Dining Table Exhibition) Official Website

Recommended reading

Commercial dried vegetables / Original vegetable novelties / Restaurant Industry Innovation Week Tokyo / FOOD STYLE Tokyo

Last updated: August 12, 2026