AFMASS Food Expo opens in Nairobi as co-located AFRICHEM debuts
The three day event has brought together thousands of food, beverage and chemicals industry players from across Africa and beyond at the Sarit Expo Centre.
KENYA – AFMASS Food Expo Kenya & Eastern Africa opened on July 15 at the Sarit Expo Centre in Nairobi, bringing together manufacturers, distributors, investors and policymakers from the food, beverage and chemicals industries.
The three day trade show expects about 6,000 attendees from more than 60 countries, making it one of the region’s largest business events for the manufacturing sector. The 2026 edition marks the event’s 11th year since its launch in 2015.
Organised by FW Brands MEA, the expo covers food ingredients, beverage technology, grain milling, animal feed, bakery and the pet food industry. Visitors also have access to Africa Packaging Expo, Africa Logistics Expos and Africa FARMTECH Expos, which are taking place at the same venue.
This year’s event also runs alongside Africa Chemicals Expo (AFRICHEM), bringing together companies from coatings, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and the wider chemicals industry. The move gives food and beverage businesses direct access to suppliers of raw materials and chemical products while opening new business opportunities for companies serving both sectors.
The African chemicals industry currently has an estimated value of about US$100 billion, with forecasts placing the market at US$300 billion by 2030 and US$500 billion by 2050.
Alongside the exhibition, AFMASS has scheduled conference sessions covering food and feed safety, food processing, agricultural value addition, grain storage, milling technology, packaging and supply chains. The programme also includes discussions on funding and growing women led food businesses.
“AFMASS keeps proving what happens when an industry decides to show up in one room together,” said Francis Juma, Founder and CEO of FW Brands MEA. “Eleven years in, this is still where deals get made, partnerships get formed, and businesses find the next market they didn’t know was ready for them. That’s what we’re here to build, edition after edition.”
The event has attracted participants from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, together with delegates from Southern, Western and Northern Africa and other international markets.
The latest edition builds on the success of the 2025 expo, which marked the event’s 10th anniversary and welcomed more than 8,000 attendees from over 80 countries. Last year’s show also featured over 150 exhibitors and sponsors, with a larger exhibition hall to meet growing demand.
It also introduced the Africa Tastemasters Culinary Festival, which added live cooking competitions, bakery showcases, coffee and tea demonstrations, meat preparation displays and mixology sessions to the business programme.
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