Hyderabad-based chocolate brand Byond’s stall at the AAHAR 2026 fair at Bharat Mandapam in Delhi

Plant-based foods, luxurious chocolate textures, innovative regional offerings and sustainable packaging caught the eye at the just concluded AAHAR 2026 at Delhi’s Bharat Mandapam. A walk through the 40th edition of the food and hospitality fair, which had over 1,800 exhibitors from 17 countries, offered a sneak peek into the flavours and trends set to dominate the year.

Plant and protein push

How strongly the culinary compass has swung towards the east was evident in the number of distributors showcasing Korean, Japanese and Thai products.

Though Italy as the official partner country brought a fair share of pasta, olives, and truffles, this time, across halls, one saw a sea of noodles, ramen, rice crackers, kimchi mixes and sauces from Korea and Japan, and exotic fruit from Thailand. Australia had a strong presence with its meats, though, interestingly, it was also pushing plant-based foods, especially a protein-packed flour made of fava beans.

The halls were full of luxurious chocolate innovations, with companies like Morde, 2M Cocoa and Cargill showcasing indulgent products for the bakery sector. But it was Hyderabad-based Byond’s beautifully designed stall that really stood out. At its centre was a captivating installation of a cacao tree with red and yellow pods, the walls were lined with pictures of farmers from West Godavari cultivating cacao, and strewn around were real pods with the sweet white pulp oozing out. The shelves showcased the B2B chocolate maker’s bean-to-bar philosophy and visitors could be seen savouring a delicious mango chocolate bar, which could easily go into ice-creams and cakes. Founder Sirish Kothapally described how he was attempting to raise the profile of Indian-grown cacao and push for pure cocoa-butter products.

Fascinating regional flavours and enterprise were on view at the fair. At the Kerala pavilion, Subith Kunnamangalam’s Holaa Foods was offering samples of coconut chips and coconut pickles — both of which turned out to be utterly unique and scrumptious.

The Kannur-based entrepreneur said he was currently distributing across Kerala but hoped to go national.

The Uttar Pradesh pavilion was promoting all its GI-tagged foods — a far-sighted approach by the State in marketing its produce. Pratapgarh aonla, Allahabad surkha (guava), Rataul mango, Mahoba Deshawari paan, Kalanamak rice from Gorakhpur, Adamchini chawal, Jaunpur imarti and Bundelkhand kathiya gehu were among the GI-tagged products that were lovingly showcased.

Beyond foods, the needle really seemed to have moved in packaging solutions — on display were sustainable and eco-friendly options with a focus on improving shelf-life. Well-known aluminium foil brand Homefoil was advertising all over the fair, promoting its new launch, a grease-proof paper, taking its range beyond its established aluminium, gold and silver foils. It said the grease-proof paper offered oil resistance of up to 168 hours and was biodegradable and non-toxic.

Published on March 23, 2026