Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España has consolidated its position in its 24th edition as the benchmark event for the global gastronomy community and the hospitality sector, attracting the interest of professionals from all over the world, and reaffirming its role as a place for meeting, dialogue, and knowledge sharing. Beyond being a conference, Madrid Fusión has established itself as a platform for the exchange of ideas, experiences, and visions about the present and future of cuisine and hospitality, with the role of the customer at the centre of the conversation this year. A global conference where the voices of more than 300 speakers could be heard.

This year, the conference brought together some of the most sought-after chefs on the international scene for the first time. Figures such as Bruno Verjus, Aitor Zabala, Bas van Kranen, Vicky Chang, and Pía León, among many others, joined the programme, contributing diverse and complementary perspectives on contemporary haute cuisine. Their participation not only reinforced the international dimension of the event, but also fuelled an open conversation in which knowledge, creative processes, and cultural identity took centre stage.

Madrid Fusión has also consolidated spaces that are already part of its identity, such as Dreams#spainfoodtechnation Pastry and The Wine Edition Wines from Spain. These three stages have broadened the gastronomic narrative and reinforced the congress's commitment to innovation and the transmission of knowledge in fields such as science, technology, viticulture, and business. Dreams has established itself as a space for reflection and experimentation, Pastry has confirmed the growing importance of pastry as a creative discipline with its own voice and international projection, and The Wine Edition has offered an edition marked by the diversity of content, experiences, and unique tastings with the leading figures of the wine world as protagonists.

With this combination of global talent, specialised content and spaces for exchange, Madrid Fusión has strengthened its links with an increasingly active and committed international community. An environment where knowledge has been shared, questioned, and built collectively, and where gastronomy has been understood as a living practice in constant evolution.

The final figures confirm the success of the 24th edition of Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España, which closed with an overwhelming response from delegates (1,722), visitors (25,992) and exhibiting companies (224). More than a thousand journalists were accredited for an edition that paid tribute to the customer and stood out above all for the quality of the content on its six stages, which were packed for most of the presentations. There was a great response in terms of attendance at the largest and most international edition to date, with visitors from 61 countries and the largest number of chefs in its 24 editions.

Without produce, there is no cuisine

The main auditorium of Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España did not lose its travelling spirit on the last day of its 24th edition. Peru, Italy, and Portugal took to the stage with a representation of their best chefs.

Peruvian produce, specifically its less exploited products, was represented by Pía León, who not only uses them to cook in her restaurant Kjolle (Lima). Tablecloths dyed with plants, flowers, and leaves that are freeze-dried; or dishes made with seeds, leaves, or cocoa veins allow Pía to make the most of each product: ‘usually, only 15% of the cocoa is used, and we use about 85%’. With projects like this, the Peruvian chef explained that they also managed to ‘keep ancestral traditions and techniques alive.’

Another chef who draws on local products for his cuisine is Portugal's Gil Fernandes, who, when he takes off his apron, becomes a forager in the forests and cliffs surrounding his restaurant, Fortaleza do Guincho* (Cascais). ‘It is essential to make more use of Cascais' diversity. I'm talking about wild products. For us, it's a differentiator. Our menu is different because we cook something that the industry cannot sell us. That philosophy sets us apart’, he explained.

The national representative for the event was the chef at Éter* (Madrid), Sergio Tofe, who, in line with his international colleagues, spoke about produce, stating that for him ‘the important thing is the relationship with the ingredient and not the distance’. Chele González, the Cantabrian chef based in Manila, focused his presentation on a specific product, coconut, without which ‘Southeast Asian cuisine would not be possible’. At Gallery By Chele*, ‘every year a product and its bioproducts are the stars of the menu, as an exercise in sustainability’.

Rebelling against the slogan proposed by the conference, Italian chef Giuseppe Iannotti stated categorically: ‘In my restaurant, the customer is not in charge. They decide to come and visit us, but for us it is very important to be able to work on an experience. They will be at the centre of our activity, but they don't know what will happen, only what they will pay’. This makes sense in a proposal that offers a daily blind tasting menu of 35 courses.

Granitic Garnachas, tavern-style appetisers and Sherry wines

From the stage of The Wine Edition Wines from Spain, the intervention of The Wine Advocate wine critic Luis Gutiérrez stood out, focusing on how granitic soils, combined with high-altitude Garnacha vines in the Sierra de Gredos, produce vertical, mineral, and elegant red wines, with unique freshness and minerality thanks to the poor soil, steep slopes, and extreme temperature fluctuations. In a tasting and pairing format, the cultural ritual of aperitifs in Spanish taverns was explained, while the last Vinomio of the event delved into the deep connection between Sherry wines and local cuisine.

The wine award, the Juli Soler Award for Young Talents of Tomorrow, went in its sixth edition to Lluíis Subirós, sommelier at Almadraba (Girona); Mario Ayllón, sommelier at Berria (Madrid); Gabriela Palacios, technical director at Marqués de Vargas; María del Mar Ruiz, sommelier at La Lobita (Soria); and Michael Candelario, winegrower and winemaker in La Palma.

Health and future at Dreams#spainfoodtechnation

The future was on stage at Dreams#spainfoodtechnation with the presentation of CrisPR, a revolutionary genetic editing tool, a kind of ‘molecular scissors’ that allow DNA sequences to be cut, inserted, or modified with precision in living cells. ‘CrisPR modifies DNA without incorporating anything from outside. It is not a transgenic because there is nothing foreign in it. Transgenic means cutting and pasting, and this is different’, explained José Miguel Mulet, professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Polytechnic University of Valencia. ‘There are some very powerful developments coming in genetics in livestock farming’, warned Mulet, giving as an example ‘introducing fat into meat and turning a little-appreciated breed into a premium breed’.

Also noteworthy in today's programme, on the innovation and food science stage, was the presentation by marine biologist Carlos Duarte on salt.

The scientist reminded us that salt is crucial to our health: ‘Salt contributes to the alkalisation of the body, digestion, the formation of nutrients, facilitates detoxification, provides us with essential nutrients, helps us recover from colds, flu and congestion, improves the condition of cells, and prevents excess cholesterol’, he listed. However, excess comes at a price. ‘Excess sodium, especially, which is so prevalent in ultra-processed foods, exceeds that of natural foods by four or five times’. One of the solutions to excessive sodium consumption proposed by Duarte is salts derived from marine organisms such as seaweed, rather than from the evaporation of seawater.

Butter and chocolate

The latest Madrid Fusión Pastry has been developed around two essential products in pastry making: butter and chocolate. The former has been taken care of by Canarian pastry chef Alexis García (100% Hojaldre, Santa Cruz de Tenerife), who focuses on butter ‘not only as a technical ingredient, but as a product with its own identity’. Raúl Bernal, pastry chef and chocolatier at Lapaca (Huesca), did justice to chocolate with one of the most iconic desserts made with cocoa, the Sacher cake, which Bernal has reinterpreted by combining ‘chocolate with raspberry, cassis, pepper, and Shyra wine from Bodega Sommos’.

Competitions and winners

The last day of Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España is traditionally the most “revealing” day of each edition, as it is the moment when the winners of the Revelation Awards in all categories are announced. In the most eagerly awaited of all, the Revelation Chef Award by Balfegó, this year's first place went to Javier Ochoa and Garikoitz Arruabarrena, the creative duo of chefs at the helm of Masta Taberna in the town of Zarautz (Guipúzcoa).

The young pastry chef Miguel Yeste (Obrar, Madrid) won the Pastry Chef Revelation Award by Torrons Vicens with a Christmas-inspired dessert. And, in the dining room category, which also rewards the most promising newcomer with the Dining Room Revelation Award, the winner was Adrián Fernández, from the Lera restaurant (Castroverde de Campos, Zamora).

But, beyond the Revelation awards, this Wednesday saw other winners, such as Albert Adrià, who was chosen as The Best Chef of the Year in Europe (an award sponsored by Avolta). Another winner was José Gordón, livestock farmer and owner of Bodega El Capricho (Jiménez de Jamuz, León), who received the Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España Award for Product Defence from the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Luis Planas. Gordón dedicated the award ‘to all the small producers who, in addition to making an excellent product, take care of our landscape and environment’.