What to serve at a
full-day exhibition.

Exhibitions are the format where the beverage offering matters most. A two-hour brand activation can run on coffee alone. An eight-hour exhibition at ExCeL or Olympia cannot. Guests arrive at different times, stay for different durations and have different requirements throughout the day. The bar needs to serve the 9am delegate who needs an espresso as much as the 3pm visitor who has been on their feet for six hours and needs something cold.

Most exhibition bar setups fail because they are planned for one part of the day rather than the whole day. A single-origin flat white is the right call at 9am. By 2pm, the same guest wants an iced matcha latte or a cold pressed juice. Planning the bar around the full arc of the day - not just the morning - is what separates a good exhibition bar from a forgettable one.

For exhibitions under four hours, a coffee bar alone is usually sufficient. A skilled barista on a La Marzocco can serve a significant volume of covers in that window and the coffee service alone creates a natural focal point and dwell time at the bar.

For full-day exhibitions - anything over four hours - the combined coffee and hydration setup earns its place. Cold pressed juices, matcha lattes and health shots serve guests who have already had their coffee and want something different. They also serve the portion of your audience who do not drink coffee at all. At major London exhibition venues like ExCeL, Olympia and the Business Design Centre, UNIT regularly provides the combined setup - one bar, one brief, one team on site all day for the full beverage service throughout the day.

Exhibition venues have specific requirements. Power supply location, load-in windows, freight lift dimensions and catering restrictions all need confirming before the event. UNIT handles all of this as part of the booking process - we contact the venue directly, confirm the access requirements and arrive with everything needed for the full day.

For multi-day exhibitions, the setup stays in place between days wherever the venue allows. For single-day exhibitions, we load in on the morning and load out at close. The brief should include: the exhibition dates and hours, the expected daily footfall, the venue name and location, and any branding requirements if custom cups or bar wraps are needed.