2027 Annual Conference and Culinology® Expo

How it compares

IFT FIRST in Chicago is the July alternative for a wider sweep of food science, research and ingredient sourcing. Its floor spans more than 1,000 exhibitors, giving technical teams more breadth across the food industry. RCA's appeal lies in its concentration of research chefs and Culinologists, with a program that keeps culinary application close to the science.

The October SupplySide Global in Las Vegas extends the ingredient search across supplements, foods and beverages. With more than 1,600 exhibitors, it suits teams comparing functional ingredients and formulation services across several product categories. Its health and nutrition emphasis is especially useful for supplement and wellness product development.

RCA is the more focused choice when taste, culinary execution and commercial formulation need to be discussed together. A supplier seeking feedback from research chefs can demonstrate an application here and discuss its performance in a finished product. For a visitor, the conference matters as much as the booths: the shared professional vocabulary and student competitions put ingredient ideas into the context of the people who will develop and use them.

RCA is the right trip for research chefs and product-development teams who need culinary ideas and food science in the same conversation.

Who exhibits

The Dallas floor brings together flavor houses, seasoning suppliers and ingredient businesses with recognizable food brands. IFF, DSM-Firmenich, Kalsec and Sensient Flavors & Extracts sit alongside LifeSpice Ingredients, Lee Kum Kee, Ocean Spray Ingredients and Sartori Cheese Company. This is a floor for discussing how ingredients behave in a finished food and how a flavor idea becomes a product. RCA's student competition and foundation spaces also keep education visible within the supplier mix.

1. 

   dsm-firmenich

2. 

   ADM

3. 

   Corbion

4. 

   Robertet

5. 

   Chef Works

6. 

   BCFoods

7. 

   Lallemand Bio-Ingredients

8. 

   Lee Kum Kee

9. 

   Palmer Holland

10. 

    Sunrich Products

11. 

    Ocean Spray

12. 

    Rocky Mountain Spice

13. 

    Mitsubishi International Food Ingredients

14. 

    Briess Malt & Ingredients

15. 

    Sartori Cheese

16. 

    Sweet Harvest Foods

17. 

    Boulart

18. 

    Daesang America

19. 

    A.C. Legg

20. 

    St. Louis Food Ingredients

21. 

    Elite Spice

22. 

    Lucta

23. 

    Synergy Flavors

24. 

    LifeSpice Ingredients

The largest exhibitor countries are United States (31) and Canada (2). The largest industries are Food and Beverage Manufacturing (14) and Food and Beverage Services (12).

83 companies are on the list. A HallBrief brief ranks every one against your goals and finds who to meet at each. Get a brief

2027 Annual Conference and Culinology® Expo

RCA heads to Dallas in 2027 after its thirtieth-anniversary conference in Colorado. The Sheraton Dallas brings the conference and supplier expo into one hotel setting. Food science and culinary arts remain the breakout-track themes, while mixology and student competitions carry the hands-on side of the meeting. The supplier floor includes flavor specialists, seasonings and recognizable food ingredients, giving research chefs a place to test ideas against commercial applications.

• Use the expo's tasting conversations to discuss a specific food application with flavor and seasoning suppliers, then connect that discussion to the food science and culinary arts tracks.
• Include the student competition area in your expo route if you work in culinary education or recruit early-career product developers.
• Staying in the conference hotel puts the supplier floor and the RCA professional gathering in the same setting, useful when your trip centers on the culinary R&D community.