Press kit

Dear colleagues, media representatives!

PIR Expo has been operating in the hospitality industry since 1997. Over these years we have established and maintained close links with the companies present in the HoReCa market, restaurateurs and hoteliers, chefs, bakers, baristas and barkeepers.

We will be happy to help you in preparing materials for your publications: we will comment on the industry development, suggest to you competent market experts, arrange interviews with hospitality business persons of interest to you, including VIP-visitors to exhibitions and recommend our own news and articles.

The company profile

PIR Expo (PIR Information Project)– is an information & exhibition project of the hotel, restaurant and catering industry in Russia and the CIS countries.

Since 1997, PIR Group has been acting as the professional event organizer for the HoReCa market experts, and since 2012 the company name has been associated with PIR Fair food festival for general consuming public. Every year the company-initiated projects bring together premium quality product enthusiasts, restaurateurs, hoteliers, chefs and pastry chefs, suppliers, investors, journalists and everybody else who wants to keep abreast of the latest developments and trends in the hospitality business and the catering segment. In 2013, the company business moved to a new level. Focused on everything related to the catering and hospitality business, the company combined projects designed for the market professionals under the general title PIR Expo. Also in 2014 was created a separate unit of exhibitions for bar industry professionals from other Russian cities outside Moscow – MBS on TOUR.

PIR Expo makes business in close cooperation with the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers of Russia and the National Guild of Chefs.

The company projects:

b2b area:

1. PIR Expo – the largest exhibition project for all professionals from the food and hospitality industry and allied sectors in Russia and the CIS countries. The project suggests diverse format events organized concurrently at Crocus Expo International Exhibition Centre (presentations, trainings, competitions, discussions). Every year over 800 exponents from various countries take part in the project, over 500 professional events are organized, PIR Expo brings together over 50 000 visitors on its site.

   PIR Expo includes:

   • PIR. Restaurant Equipment– an international exhibition for experts in the professional equipment field of the HoReCa segment
   • PIR. Food– an international exhibition for the restaurant business professionals
   • HOTEL. Development, design and operation – an international exhibition for the hotel business professionals
   • Moscow Bar Show – an international exhibition for the bar industry professionals
   • Moscow Coffee and Tea Expo– an international exhibition for the coffee and tea industry professionals
   • International Kremlin Culinary Cup – international competitions of professional chefs and pastry chefs
   • Russian Culinary and Service Championship – national competitions of Russian restaurants representatives, professional chefs and pastry chefs
   • Youth Culinary and Service Championship «Student PIR»– competitions among students of the Russian specialized education institutions
2. Professional events outside of the PIR Expo format:
   • MBS on TOUR – regional international exhibition project the bar industry professionals

b2c area:

• PIR Fair  – culinary fair of world and domestic regional food products

Information activity:

• PIR Bulletin  – electronic news weekly dedicated to the food and hospitality industry

The company history

PIR Information Project entered the market in 1997 under the name PIR Group. Now the company is called PIR Expo and is known primarily as the organizer of the international exhibition project PIR Expo for HoReCa industry professionals.

The company organized the first ever exhibition in 1998. It took place in Sokolniki Exhibition Centre under the title «PIR. Food and Entertainment». The first exhibition brought together mainly suppliers of processing equipment and services for the hospitality industry facilities. The 2000-s witnessed the Russian restaurant market boom. That period appeared a crucial point in the history of PIR.

In 2000, as part of the exhibition and with support from the Government of Moscow, the First Russian Culinary and Service Championship – a large-scale national competition of chefs and pastry chefs – was held. The championship drew special attention of chefs and restaurateurs and that of food products suppliers. It was then that the exhibition was ticketed as the key event for the HoReCa market professionals.

In 2002, the exhibition moved to the Shopping Arcade. In 2005, the Shopping Arcade hosted the first International Kremlin Culinary Cup competitions attended by teams of chefs and pastry chefs from 21 countries. During four years, PIR took place in an exhibition hall in the very center of Moscow until it overgrew this platform.

In 2006, the exhibition occupied vast spaces in Crocus Expo. For the first time ever food products suppliers and producers were provided a separate exhibition pavilion to organize thematic forums focused on national cuisines.

In Crocus Expo, the exhibition grew increasingly international in nature. Trade promotion offices and professional associations from many countries regard PIR as a real opportunity for entering the Russia market. National areas are being organized for the first time ever as part of the exposition: collective exhibition stands of food products and professional kitchen equipment and utensils producers from Italy, France, Spain, Japan, Turkey, Germany, China and other countries.

Competitions under the exhibition went global – since 2006 International Kremlin Culinary Cup is being formally held under the auspices of the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS). (In 2006 PIR joined WACS as an extraordinary member, and two years later it was granted the status of a corporate member of the Association).

The new platform opens up fresh opportunities for the exhibition. Every year the exhibition grows by 15 % and in 5 year increased from 32 to 50 thousand square meters. Changes required the project itself, five individual exhibitions were founded as a result: PIR. Restaurant equipment for experts in the professional equipment field of the HoReCa segment, PIR. Food for the restaurant business professionals, HOTEL. Development, design and operation for the hotel business professionals, Moscow Bar Show for the bar industry professionals and Moscow Coffee and Tea Expo for the coffee and tea industry professionals. And that was the right decision, because only in Russia there are 150 000 caterings and 7000 accommodation facilities, not to mention the near abroad. The industry involved 3.5 million people, and the industry continues to evolve, both in quantitative and qualitative terms (annual market growth is 10%).

Another right decision was holding exhibitions in other big cities of Russia – that’s how MBS on TOUR (a separate project for bar industry professionals) was created. The first step in this direction was the exhibition in Novosibirsk in 2013, and its success proved the chosen way of development. Spring 2014 was marked by exhibitions in Rostov-on-Don, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk.

Today PIR Expo is included to the top list of exhibition projects for hospitality professionals and is a significant international event. 850 companies from around the world present their products on an area of 50 000 square meters. More than 50 000 Russian and CIS specialists annually participate in 1000 professional events: master classes, seminars, presentations, round tables, competitions.

Each of the above exhibitions is the ideal platform to find effective business solutions and new business partners, increase the personal level of professionalism and acquaintance with the trends of HoReCa industry in Russia and the world.

PIR experts

Ivan Merkulov

President, PIR Information Project,
Vice-president, Federation of Restaurateurs
and Hoteliers

Igor Bukharov

President, Federation of Restaurateurs
and Hoteliers

Alexander Filin

President, National Guild of Chefs

The company projects