Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España, the world's most influential gastronomy congress, will hold its 24th edition with all of its stages and exhibition area at IFEMA MADRID (Hall 14) from 26 to 28 January 2026. The world’s most influential gastronomic summit will include a major live experiential bid, with many activities to participate in and new training spaces.
The congress will yet again reinforce experiential and sensory contents that are exclusive to congress-goers and will offer more training spaces. The programme includes the most authentic and interesting proposals and tendencies from the world’s haute-cuisine. As in previous editions, it will be streamed via Internet in order to reach all corners of the world.
The 2026 edition is presented under the slogan “The customer takes control”, reflecting a new gastronomic reality in which diners are no longer passive but are well-informed, demanding customers with their own criteria. This will be the most international edition to date, with more foreign chefs than Spanish chefs on the main stage.
The dialogue between the kitchen and the dining room is no longer vertical, but has become a horizontal conversation in which diners set the pace and the topic. ‘The customer takes control’ slogan does not foresee a rebellion against haute cuisine, but rather its natural evolution. The new luxury is not letting yourself be influenced: it is being an active part of the story. The challenge for restaurants will be to find the balance between the diner's freedom and the chef's vision, without losing identity whilst gaining complicity.
The initial list of speakers confirms the global dimension of the congress and includes Mauro Uliassi (Uliassi***, Senigallia, Italy), one of the top Italian cuisine chefs, whose food is a contemporary expression of the Adriatic coast; Bas van Kranen from Flore** restaurant (Amsterdam, Netherlands), who presents himself as one of the most radical cases in today’s cuisine in Europe; Bruno Verjús (Table Bruno Verjus**, Paris), eighth in the world on The50Best list, a self-taught, refined, hedonistic and immensely free chef; Akrame Benallal (Akrame*), one of the most stimulating voices in France, who stands out for his minimalist and surprising cuisine with touches from around the world; and Pía León, one of the leading figures on the worldwide culinary scene, who was named Best Female Chef in the World in 2021 and Number 9 in the world on The50Best Restaurants list and is at the helm of Kjolle (Lima, Peru).
They will be joined by Gil Fernandes, chef and culinary biologist from Fortaleza do Guincho* (Cascais); Chele González (Gallery by Chele**) from Cantabria, who has brought the Philippines to the international stage from Manila; and Diego Rossi, the soul behind the Trippa phenomenon (Milan). Vicky Cheng, chef at Wing and ranked 11th in the world in The50Best Restaurants list comes from Asia, along with the chef from Vea*, whose cuisine has rewritten Chinese culinary heritage from a contemporary perspective; and Tomohiko Kuchiiwa from Japan, who is the chef at Kuchiiwa Soba, a small restaurant in Toyama where he turns soba into to an haute cuisine experience. Giuseppe Iannotti (Krèsios**, Telese Terme) represents one of the freest and most personal voices in Italian nouveau cuisine; Santiago Muñoz, the chef at the helm of Maizajo (Mexico City), a project based on respect for root corn and the reinterpretation of popular Mexican cuisine; and chef Mano Thevar from Thevar** (Singapore), one of the most powerful figures in contemporary Indian cuisine.
They all represent chefs that do not only cook but they interact with the land, the producer, the planet and, above all, the diner, who is calling for authenticity, freedom and experiences with an identity.
Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España will also host the fourth edition of Madrid Fusion Pastry, the major event for Cakes, Bread, Chocolate and Coffee. This event will include the participation of leading figures from the world of sweets and desserts, such as Albert Adrià, Jordi Roca, Alexis García, Diego Pagán, Fran Segura, Fátima Gismero, Noelia Tomosighe, Mireia Riba, José Roldán (named World’s Best Baker 2025 by the International Union of Bakers ), Paco Torreblanca, Pablo and Jacobo Moreno, Ricardo Vélez, Jordi Butrón and Aaraon Melero or the chocolatiers, Oriol Balaguer and Raúl Bernal.
It will also host the fifth edition of The Wine Edition - Wines from Spain, the wine congress that will include new features this year, which will be announced in the coming weeks. The third edition of Dreams #SPAINFOODTECHNATION will also be held, which is where the future of food is discussed and science, health, technology, and the agri-food and agro-tech worlds share experiences in their relationship with gastronomy.
This edition will also host the 2nd National Steak Tartar in the Dining Room Championship, sponsored by La Finca Jiménez Barbero, in which the contestants will have to show off their skills in the preparation of steak tartar in the dining room, adding their own personal touch.
Madrid Fusión 2025
Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España closed it most complete edition in 23 years with a new record number of participants (1,874) from 63 countries and visitors (26,104). This great attendance was in response to the largest and most international edition.
Check the full program
