TWO PARIS SHOWS BUILD NEW BRIDGES BETWEEN FINE GROCERY, CHEESE AND DAIRY
In early June, Paris briefly became a larder with a passport. Shelves of fine grocery and delicatessen products, counters of cheeses, jars of jam, olive oils, cured meats, drinks, biscuits and dairy specialities shared the same professional rhythm: discovery, tasting, comparison and negotiation. Gourmet Selection and the Cheese and Dairy Products Show had offered a compact reading of where premium food retail is moving next. Together, they sketched a sharper picture of where the premium food sector is heading.
The strategic co-location of the two events gave the 2026 editions a particular weight. Gourmet Selection held its first summer edition on 7 and 8 June, welcoming 5,500 professionals, 270 exhibitors and 360 represented brands, with half of exhibitors taking part for the first time. The Cheese and Dairy Products Show, held from 7 to 9 June, gathered 270 exhibitors representing nearly 400 brands and 7,600 professional visitors from 74 countries. It also reported a 25% increase in foreign buyers compared with 2024.
A summer shift with commercial intent
For Gourmet Selection, the move to a summer format was not only a calendar adjustment. It showed that the fine grocery event could change seasons while maintaining its strong identity. The show highlighted both established houses and emerging brands, while its simultaneous timing with the Cheese and Dairy Products Show widened the audience and created a more fluid route between speciality retail categories.
The numbers point to a fine grocery market still led by curation rather than scale alone. Among visitors, 22% came from outside France, representing 72 countries, while the show generated a social media reach of 5.13 million people across its networks. That visibility matters in a segment where retailers are increasingly expected to curate product listings with a story, a sensory signature and a credible reason to occupy shelf space.
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The event’s competitions gave the show a sharper view of the products and retailers currently shaping fine grocery. In the Best Of Awards, Pellorce & Jullien won Best of Best for its Coffret Marrons Verveine, while category winners ranged from La Falaise qui Rougit’s smoked herring rillettes with mustard seed pickles to Maison Vertueux’s dark chocolate rochers and Wight Tea’s pink sparkling tea. The “Meilleure Épicerie de France” competition, meanwhile, celebrated the specialist shops bringing this kind of offer to consumers. Le Comptoir Corrézien in Paris received the gold medal, underlining the continuing role of neighbourhood fine grocery stores as a bridge between artisan producers and urban shoppers.
Cheese steps further onto the international stage
The Cheese and Dairy Products Show marked its 19th edition with a more independent identity. For the first time, it was held separately from the Salon International de l’Agriculture and alongside Gourmet Selection. This repositioning allowed cheese and dairy to be seen not simply as agricultural heritage, but as an exportable, innovating and highly merchandisable sector.
Internationalisation was one of the strongest signals. The show brought together exhibitors from 15 countries, including Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Greece and Turkey. Foreign exhibitors accounted for 48% of the total, while 33% were new exhibitors. The top visitor countries included Belgium, Italy, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, the United States, Algeria and Japan.
This breadth is important. Cheese and dairy have become increasingly global in their commercial language, even when their identity remains deeply local. Affinage, origin, breed, pasture, texture and ageing are now part of a wider premium vocabulary understood by buyers from delicatessens, cheese shops, hospitality, export distribution and specialist retail.
Business activity also reflected that momentum. Nearly 1,500 pre-scheduled business meetings had been planned before the show opened, confirming the event’s role as a marketplace for face to face networking, rather than a purely showcase-led gathering. The presence of organisations such as the Fédération des Fromagers de France, CNIEL, CNAOL and ENIL added institutional depth to an event that brought together heritage producers, newer entrants and technical expertise.
Where fine grocery meets dairy culture
The strongest story of the two shows was the bridge between categories. Fine grocery buyers discovered cheese and dairy references. Cheesemongers explored grocery ranges that could extend their offer beyond the counter. International pavilions, including Italy, Denmark and Spain, reinforced the logic of complementarity, with products moving easily between aperitif, tasting, gifting and meal occasions.
The same logic is now playing internationally. Around the world, premium food retail is becoming less siloed. A cheese shop may sell crackers, preserves, honey, oils, non-alcoholic pairings and tableware. A fine grocery store may build its authority around cheese, charcuterie and dairy-led tasting experiences. Restaurants and hotels increasingly look for products that can provide both flavour and narrative. In that context, the co-location of Gourmet Selection and the Cheese and Dairy Products Show offered a compact view of how the international food exhibition model is evolving.
The show programmes also revealed where consumer-facing food culture is moving. At the Cheese and Dairy Products Show, session themes ranged from caseology and affinage to digital marketing, while tastings explored pairings such as sake and cheese, soft drinks and cheese, and the craft of maturation. Competitions including the Lyre d’Or and the Grilled Cheese Challenge brought performance and creativity into a sector often associated with tradition.
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Gourmet Selection, meanwhile, placed emphasis on discovery through its Experts’ Agora, the Sentier des Découvertes, Place des Comptoires and product awards. The brand new Business Initiatives Award recognised La Plantation and PureCake, pointing towards a market still hungry for new brands, responsible concepts and distinctive taste experiences.
Influence beyond the aisles
The international food scene is increasingly shaped by specialist events that can translate craftsmanship into trade. Gourmet Selection and the Cheese and Dairy Products Show highlighted how products with strong local identities can reach global buyers when placed in the right professional ecosystem. The influence is not only commercial. It is cultural, shaping how retailers merchandise products, how chefs build menus, how distributors identify trends and how consumers eventually encounter new flavours.
The next Gourmet Selection is scheduled for 13 and 14 June 2027 at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, while the 20th Cheese and Dairy Products Show will take place from 11 to 13 June 2028 in Paris. In the wider SIAL Network, these events add a specialist, high-value lens to the global conversation around food, bringing together the fine grocery, cheese and dairy communities at a moment when premium, provenance-led and experience-driven products are carrying growing international influence.