NEXT Foodservice + Hospitality Expo, powered by Square Sunday September 13 and Monday September 14, 2026 BMO Centre, Calgary, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
We are six days out. Mayor Jeromy Farkas opens the show Sunday morning, and from there you have two full days of programming running at the same time across the Main Stage, four Workshop Rooms, four Test Kitchens, the Culinary Stage, the Bar and Beverage Stage, the Games Area and a massive trade show floor.
Here is what is on.
The 4 NEXT Workshop Rooms
56 business sessions. Two days. Four workshop rooms. Each focused 30-minute class delivers practical insights across technology, marketing, labour, leadership and profitability.
The Technology and AI Workshop Room brought to you by Hostie.
Hidden Technology Costs in Your Restaurant with Adrian Boucek, Square Where the money quietly leaks out of your tech stack, and what to do about it. Sunday 10:30 AM
Why Guest Communication Became an Operations Problem with Vanessa Bégin-Henderson, Hostie Missed calls, unanswered messages and the operating cost of guest communication falling through the cracks. Sunday 11:15 AM, Sunday 3:00 PM, Monday 2:15 PM
Tech Without Losing the Table with Ryan Volberg, Guestologie (Sunday) and Monte Silva, Ten Tables Hospitality (Monday) How to add systems without stripping the hospitality out of the room. Sunday 12:00 PM, Monday 12:00 PM
AI Adoption in Restaurants with Matt Wampler, ClearCOGS What adoption actually looks like inside a working restaurant, past the demo. Sunday 1:30 PM, Monday 11:15 AM
From Chaos to Control: Building a More Mature Catering Operation with Elias Hage, App8 Taking catering from scattered email threads and spreadsheets to a system that scales. Sunday 2:15 PM, Monday 3:00 PM
Building Technology for Hospitality: From Operator Problem to AI Solution with Randall Hom, Hostie How an operator problem becomes a product, told by someone who has owned restaurants. Monday 10:30 AM
How Independents Can Use AI to Compete With Chains, Without Adding More Work with Amin Yazdani, Craver Practical AI for single-unit and small-group operators who do not have a tech team. Monday 12:45 PM
AI in the Restaurant Business: Sorting the Useful From the Hype with Spencer Michiel, Back of House Twenty years of restaurant experience applied to separating what works from what sells. Monday 1:30 PM
The Business Basics Workshop Room brought to you by Butter Hospitality
Small Business Insurance for Restaurant and Hospitality Operators with Gagandeep Grover, TD Insurance What your policy covers, what it does not, and the gaps operators find out about too late. Sunday 10:45 AM
Three Steps to Build Restaurant Systems for Success with Kevin Morrison, Butter Hospitality Decades of operating and ownership experience turned into three things you can build this month. Sunday 11:30 AM, Monday 10:45 AM
The Allergy-Aware Advantage: Turning Guest Confidence Into Repeat Business with Kate Reid, Food Allergy Canada Allergen handling as a revenue conversation, not just a compliance one. Sunday 12:15 PM, Monday 12:15 PM
Where the Margin Went: Fixing the Numbers Inside Food and Beverage with David Monteith, Accountific Reading your own numbers well enough to find the margin you are losing. Sunday 1:00 PM, Monday 1:45 PM
Build the Business: The Systems Behind a Strong Restaurant with Guy Leggatt The operating structure underneath restaurants that hold up without the owner in the building. Sunday 1:45 PM
Stuck Being the Hero: How Kitchen Leaders Get Trapped by Their Own Skill with Simon Zatyrka, Culinary Mechanic Why the best cook in the building often becomes the bottleneck, and how to get out of it. Sunday 2:30 PM, Monday 11:30 AM, Monday 2:30 PM
Tech That Waits Tables: Giving Hospitality Back to the Host with Andre Sequeira, Sadie AI Handing the repetitive work to a system so your host can go back to being a host. Sunday 3:15 PM
Effective Restaurant Menu Engineering with David Hopkins, The Fifteen Group Menu structure, pricing and placement from a firm that has worked with more than 1,250 food and beverage businesses. Monday 1:00 PM
Beyond Trends: Consumer Needs Shaping 2027 with Maeve Webster and Mike Kostyo, Menu Matters Where guest behaviour is heading and what it means for next year's menu. Monday 3:15 PM
The HR, Labour and Leadership Workshop Room brought to you by Push Operations
Labour Is Your Biggest Controllable Cost: Forecast Demand and Schedule Smarter with Cam Harold, Push Operations Connecting demand forecasting to the schedule so labour stops being a guess. Sunday 10:45 AM, Monday 10:45 AM
That Unremarkable Resume Could Be Gold with Sheila Musgrove How to read past a plain resume and find the person you actually need. Sunday 11:30 AM, Monday 11:30 AM
Tip Transparency, Trust and Earned Tip Access: Building a System Your Team Believes In with Steve Hooper, TipHaus Building a tip structure your staff trust, and what earned tip access changes about retention. Sunday 12:15 PM, Monday 1:00 PM
Mental Health First Aid and the Hospitality Industry Round Table with Tom Mitchell, The Burnt Chef Project An open round table on recognizing when someone on your team is struggling and what to do next. Sunday 1:00 PM, Monday 3:15 PM
Energy Is a Leadership Tool: Practical Wellness for Hospitality with Robin O'Grady Wellness treated as an operating input rather than a nice idea. Sunday 1:45 PM
Leadership Is a Skill, Not a Title: Developing the Managers You Already Have with Laura Darrell Building leaders out of the people already on your payroll. Sunday 2:30 PM
Build the Business, Build the Team: The Systems Behind a Strong Restaurant with Guy Leggatt The team side of the systems conversation, and what has to be in place before you grow. Sunday 3:15 PM
Own Your Business, Don't Let It Own You: Systems That Run the Floor When You're Not On It with Nathan Satanove, Pasta Pantry and RNKD UP Second-generation ownership experience on building a floor that runs without you standing on it. Monday 12:15 PM
Growing Past the Founder: Team, Culture and Delegation for Independents with Peter Keith, Meuwly's What has to change in your team and culture when the founder can no longer be everywhere. Monday 1:45 PM
Growing Without Losing Your Team with Marc Brazeau, WOW! Factor Desserts Scaling up without the turnover that usually comes with it. Monday 2:30 PM
The Marketing Workshop Room brought to you by App8
Beyond the PDF Menu: Why Catering Buyers Quietly Slip Away, and How to Turn Them Into Repeat Revenue with Sandra Holland, App8 and Rally Catering The catering enquiries you are losing before anyone replies, and how to build repeat business instead. Sunday 10:30 AM, Monday 12:00 PM
Fundamentals of Marketing with Dan Slisko The basics, done properly, for operators who do not have a marketing department. Sunday 11:15 AM, Monday 2:15 PM
Plate to Profit: Using Photography, Video and Storytelling to Sell More Food with Ekieti Abia, KK Elixir Shooting food and telling the story behind it in a way that moves product. Sunday 12:00 PM, Monday 11:15 AM
Turning First-Time Diners into Regulars with Monte Silva, Ten Tables Hospitality Thirty years of restaurant leadership on what turns a first visit into a habit. Sunday 12:45 PM, Monday 1:30 PM
Designed to Perform: Connecting Brand, Guest Experience and Restaurant Results with Chris Kourouniotis, CKDESIGN How design decisions in your room show up in your numbers. Sunday 1:30 PM, Monday 3:00 PM
Dessert by Design Marketing with Marc Brazeau, WOW! Factor Desserts Building a dessert programme that sells itself and lifts the whole cheque. Sunday 2:15 PM, Monday 12:45 PM
Marketing with What You've Got with Jacquie Fenske, Fifendekel Marketing a family business on the budget and the hours you actually have. Sunday 3:00 PM, Monday 10:30 AM
The Main Stage
NEXT Main Stage MCs: Laura Darrell and Matt Wampler.
Sunday, September 13
10:00 AM | Opening NEXT Mayor Jeromy Farkas
10:30 AM | Welcome Laura Darrell and Matt Wampler open the Main Stage.
10:45 AM | Getting Ready for the Next Two Days Robin O'Grady and Jay Barnard, founder of the Empower2Recover Foundation, lead the opening session.
11:00 AM | Welcome to Foodservice in Western Canada Chef Connie DeSousa and Chef John Jackson of CHAR Hospitality Group
11:45 AM | Keynote: The Great Resignation Laura Darrell.
12:30 PM | Keynote: AI in Restaurants Matt Wampler.
1:15 PM | Panel: Women in Foodservice Hosted by Meghan Monk, Director of Business Specialists for Sysco's Prairies Region, with Sandra Holland (App8), Vanessa Bégin-Henderson (Hostie), Jacquie Fenske (Fifendekel) and Kimberly Flear (Last Call Coaching).
2:00 PM | Panel: Mental Health in Foodservice in Canada Hosted by Tom Mitchell, President of The Burnt Chef Project North America, with Peter Keith (Meuwly's), Jay Barnard (Empower2Recover) and Kimberly Flear (Last Call Coaching).
2:45 PM | Keynote: A Western Canada Industry Update Cheryl Maitland Muir, Vice President, Western Canada at Restaurants Canada.
3:30 PM | Keynote: Food Trend Watch Report Christine Couvelier, executive chef, global culinary trendologist and founder of Culinary Concierge.
Monday, September 14
10:30 AM | Day Two Opening Laura Darrell and Matt Wampler.
11:00 AM | Interview: Food Media and How Food TV Shapes What Guests Order Chris Knight, president, founder and CEO of Gusto TV, in conversation with Laura Darrell.
11:45 AM | Panel: The Future of Financials in Foodservice Hosted by Meghan Monk (Sysco), with David Monteith (Accountific), Cam Harold (Push Operations), Monte Silva (Ten Tables Hospitality) and Mike Kostyo (Menu Matters).
12:30 PM | Panel: The Rise of Tech in Foodservice Hosted by Spencer Michiel (Back of House), with Amin Yazdani (Craver), Randall Hom (Hostie), David Hopkins (The Fifteen Group) and Simon Zatyrka (Culinary Mechanic).
1:15 PM | Keynote: Technology in Canadian Foodservice Elias Hage, CEO of App8.
2:00 PM | Panel: What's Next in Foodservice Hosted by Mike Kostyo, Vice President of Menu Matters, with Maeve Webster (Menu Matters), Nathan Satanove (Pasta Pantry and RNKD UP), Andrew Shepherd (The Malcolm Hotel), Steve Hooper (TipHaus) and Monte Silva (Ten Tables Hospitality).
2:45 PM | Interview: The Hospitality Developer David Hopkins (The Fifteen Group) in conversation with Frank Kernick, owner and developer of Spring Creek Mountain Village in Canmore.
3:30 PM | Buckhead Beef Culinary Challenge Awards and Closing
The Culinary Stage
Three competitions over two days, hosted by Sam Sabatini of Wescor Food Equipment, Kevin Penner of Sysco and Chef Liana Robberecht.
Quick Bites Quick Cash | Sunday Four rounds, four competitors a round. Culinary students from SAIT are paired with mentor chefs and cook against the clock with a costing sheet in hand, so the plates have to work on a menu and not just on the stage.
Legends vs. Legends | Sunday Teams of established chefs go head to head in front of a live audience.
Buckhead Beef Culinary Challenge | Monday Twelve chefs compete through the day for a place in the championship final. First place takes $5,000, second takes $2,000 and third takes $1,000. Winners are announced on the Main Stage at 3:30 PM Monday to close the show.
The Bar and Beverage Stage
Canada's Top Bartender and the ASCEND Open Flair Championship
This is the Flair Bartenders Association's first return to Canada since 2006, and more than $15,000 USD in listed cash awards is on the line. One open division, so emerging bartenders compete alongside experienced flair competitors.
Sunday September 13, 9:00 AM | Qualifying rounds beginning at 10:00 AM.
Monday September 14, 10:00 AM | Flairco Freestyle Battle, Top 8, with the Flair Finals to follow.
Tuesday September 15, 1:00 PM | FBA Yard Day, optional.
Canadian bartender registration is covered by Wescor Food Equipment. Use promo code CANADAPRIDE and registration is $0.
Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ascend-open-flair-championship-2026-tickets-1992789471955 Rules and competition details: https://bartendbetternow.com/ascend/ Free FBA membership: https://barflair.org/register-2
If you know a bartender who belongs on that stage, send them this.
The Burnt Chef Project
The Burnt Chef Project works on mental health and well-being across hospitality, and they are with us for both days of NEXT.
Square tap-to-donate locations are set up throughout the show floor. Tap once on your way past. Every contribution goes to mental health education and resources for the people working in this industry, and there is no minimum.
Tom Mitchell, President of The Burnt Chef Project North America and CEO of its Canadian social enterprise, brings more than 50 years in hospitality and foodservice. You can find him hosting the Mental Health in Foodservice in Canada panel on the Main Stage Sunday at 2:00 PM, and running the Mental Health First Aid round table in Palo G on Sunday at 1:00 PM and Monday at 3:15 PM.
If you take one thing off the floor this year, take that round table.
Getting there
BMO Centre, 20 Roundup Way SE, Calgary, AB
Doors 10:00 AM both days. Sunday September 13 and Monday September 14, 2026.
Tickets and the full show details are at NEXTFoodExpo.com.
See you in Calgary.
