From Trade Fair to the Future: What HostMilano Reveals About the New Needs of the Foodservice and Hospitality Industry

The 2025 edition of Host, organized by Fiera Milano from Friday, October 17 to Tuesday, October 21, offered a vision of hospitality that is increasingly fluid and innovative, where cutting-edge technologies, specialized training, and creativity redefine the experience. Host 2025 confirmed that innovation is the key to meeting the needs of a rapidly changing market.

Host Milano provided a comprehensive overview of trends, solutions, and formats, alongside vertical insights that make the event comparable to a specialized fair for each segment of the industry. This is further reinforced by the global foodservice market value, which reached €166.2 billion in 2024, with around 50% coming from professional catering.

With 2,041 exhibitors from 56 countries, the Lombard event once again proved to be an international benchmark. Among the key players, Custom stood out by presenting technological and digital solutions designed to interpret and anticipate the industry’s transformation. Germany, Spain, France, the USA, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom were among the most represented countries, reflecting the event’s growing global profile.

Smart Restaurant 2025: Toward a Faster, More Flexible, and Data-Driven Model

It is clear that foodservice and hospitality are rapidly evolving toward increasingly integrated and technologically advanced operational models. The rise of fast and hybrid dining—combining in-house experiences with takeaway and delivery options—demands a deep redesign of digital infrastructures and management processes.

Digital ordering via QR codes, omnichannel ordering systems, and the adoption of data-driven platforms have become essential to meet the expectations of an increasingly dynamic and demanding market.

In this context, the Custom technology ecosystem positions itself as a complete solution for smart dining, combining advanced hardware and software in a modular and scalable infrastructure. The Custom product range includes fiscal and non-fiscal devices, integrated POS systems, digital communication displays, and self-order terminals—all designed to optimize operational efficiency and enhance customer interaction at every touchpoint.

Omnichannel order management, supported by advanced back-office software, enables real-time synchronization between kitchen, dining area, and external sales channels. This ensures traceability, reduces errors, and accelerates service times. At the same time, Custom’s analytics platforms allow businesses to collect and analyze operational and sales data, empowering strategies based on concrete and predictive insights.

This data-driven approach, combined with reliable hardware, provides restaurants, chains, and operators with a genuine competitive advantage, helping them adopt more agile, personalized, and sustainable business models aligned with the expectations of the 2025 market.

From Menu to Retail: How Hotels and Restaurants Are Becoming Lifestyle Brands

As highlighted by HostMilano, a new trend is reshaping the hospitality sector: hotels and restaurants are transforming into true lifestyle brands, extending the customer experience beyond traditional services.

Dedicated corners for gourmet product sales, branded accessories, and even full-fledged e-commerce platforms are allowing venues to enhance their brand identity while creating new revenue streams.

This evolution requires technological tools capable of integrating operations and retail management, maintaining consistency and control at every customer touchpoint. Management solutions like Inventa enable operators to easily monitor key business parameters, adapting to both foodservice and retail needs.

Custom’s printers, such as the K3 HS, ensure high speed and precision when printing receipts, labels, or barcodes—essential for efficient in-house retail operations.

Through Custom’s integrated order and printing management systems, venues can unify processes between dining room, kitchen, warehouse, and shop, ensuring traceability, process optimization, and a seamless customer experience. In this way, hospitality becomes a complete ecosystem that also strengthens brand identity.

Experience, Data, and Automation: The Three Pillars of Future Hospitality

In modern hospitality, innovation rests on three pillars: user experience, integrated data, and process automation. Statistics show that hospitality is becoming an intelligent, data-oriented, and scalable experience.

Forward-thinking venues have long adopted self-service kiosks, automated check-in/check-out systems, loyalty programs based on customer profiles, and modules for real-time data collection and analysis.

For example, CONNECT and V32 totem solutions can serve as direct interaction points with guests, offering multilingual options, customizable branding, and integration with payment or voucher systems.

With these technologies, Custom offers an ecosystem that connects front-office areas (self-service, lounge, in-house retail) with back-office systems (guest CRM, inventory, customer frequency analysis). This allows the collection of valuable data—frequency, preferences, purchases—and enables automated processes such as:

• upselling at check-in,

• personalized coupons,

• quick access to the brand’s e-commerce or in-venue pickups.

The New Hospitality Customer: Faster, More Demanding, More Digital

Today’s hospitality customer is more informed, more connected, and less willing to wait. They enter a restaurant or hotel with clear expectations: speed, autonomy, transparency, and a consistent experience aligned with their daily standards.

They want to order or check in within seconds, pay contactlessly, receive personalized information, and, above all, enjoy a smooth, uninterrupted experience. Technology is no longer an invisible support—it is now a defining factor in how quality of service is perceived.

In a market where speed is a value and customer attention is increasingly fleeting, venues that invest in integrated digital solutions don’t just meet expectations—they anticipate them, turning technology into a distinctive element of their brand.

As shown in multiple HostMilano sessions, to stay ahead of these demands, venues must adopt systems that communicate in real time with both customers and management infrastructures.

This is where Custom comes in, with a technological ecosystem designed to enhance every stage of the customer journey. From self-service kiosks for fast check-ins, orders, and payments, to smart printers that automate receipt and ticket generation, and mobile ordering or QR code solutions—each Custom technology, whether back-end or front-end, contributes to reducing time, eliminating errors, and creating a more personalized experience.