With more of the highest-quality visitors than ever before, Free From Specialty Food & Wine Expo 2025 was the most successful edition in its history. Its growth mirrors the trend for free-from, healthy and specialty food, which continues to thrive right across Central Europe. This 12th edition in Vienna featured more than 250 producers from 31 countries around the globe, including Hungary, Italy, Bulgaria, Algeria, Slovakia, Czechia, Spain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. It attracted more than 4,200 buyers – up by 15% on the previous edition.

Healthy Innovation At Its Best

In an exciting, dynamic and growing sector for the Central and Eastern European markets, Free From Specialty Food excelled for the first time in this part of Europe, showcasing the best new free-from food and drink products, ingredients, and premium and wine products.

Located strategically, Vienna offered the best platform for connecting top buyers with the right suppliers in the middle of Europe. Products on show this year included lactose-free cheese, organic tea, free-from noodles, vegan crackers, gluten- and sugar-free mayonnaise, ancient-grain flour, gluten-free ready meals, natural honey, and natural supplements.

More than 65 industry experts were also part of the line-up in the two conference theatres, highlighting the trends, market developments, challenges and opportunities in this fast-developing mid-European market.

And The Winners Are ...!
This year’s Free From Specialty Food Innovation Awards saw the introduction of the Most Healthy Free-From Product Award, which was won by the Austrian company Pure Bio, with Seven Dates and VitalyV as runners-up. Cambodian brands She Mango and Confirel won Newcomer of the Year for their ranges of natural palm sugar and specialty tea, and the runners-up were Angrain and Nectar d’Olive, from Algeria. Balevski & Kirov scooped Product of the Year for its Hagebutten Natural, with Polcz Food and RV Venturoli as runners-up. The Best New Brand Award was taken back home by the Slovakian company McLloyd’s, with Eliya’s Lean & Clean as runner-up.

Ronald Holman, event director, said, “There is no better place for producers to showcase their innovations, and no better place for buyers to discover them than at this geographically central […] city of Vienna, so close to Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, [the] Czech Republic, Italy, Germany and Switzerland. This year’s event has outshone the rest.”

Source: ESM Magazine