Culinary know-how serving the events industry
In 2025, Palexpo’s banquet catering department once again demonstrated the full extent of its expertise through major events combining culinary creativity, logistical precision and operational excellence. Three major achievements particularly illustrate the teams’ unique know-how.
An exceptional watchmaking banquet for 1,750 guests
On 18 September, Palexpo hosted a major watchmaking evening event in the form of a banquet occupying the whole of Hall 2 and bringing together 1,750 employees. Prepared over nearly a year alongside a new organiser, this event required the gradual building of a relationship of trust, essential to meeting particularly demanding specifications.
The menu, inspired by the participants’ roots in the Jura region, involved extensive culinary development work. But the main challenge lay in executing a mirror-service format: a meticulously choreographed operation requiring all plates to be placed simultaneously at tables of 16 guests. To achieve this level of precision, several dedicated training sessions were organised for the service staff. This rigorous preparation ensured perfect synchronisation, exemplary fluidity of execution and compliance with an exceptionally fast-paced dispatch schedule, supported by highly precise logistical orchestration.
Watches and Wonders Geneva: a production on an exceptional scale
From 1 to 7 April, the Watches and Wonders Geneva exhibition represented a major technical and operational challenge. One of the distinctive features of this edition was the construction of fully external kitchen infrastructure on the forecourt of Hall 6. To meet this exceptional configuration, Palexpo commissioned a local company specialised in container kitchens. Twelve units were deployed to create genuine production spaces, complemented by technical trenching to route the various utilities.
The volumes handled reflect the scale of the operation: more than 10,000 meals served each day for seven days, a staff restaurant serving 3,000 covers, 1,100 seats in the public areas, as well as 12 bars and 4 operational restaurants. The result of a full year of planning, coordination and concept development, this project illustrates the teams’ ability to design and deploy tailor-made solutions, even in unprecedented technical configurations.
AI for Good and WSIS+20: a strategic first
From 7 to 11 July, Palexpo hosted the AI for Good Global Summit for the first time, alongside the WSIS+20 Forum. These two joint events occupied several areas of the site – Hall 4 and Congress Centres 1, 2 and 3 – requiring particularly finely tuned multi-zone catering operations.
Preparing the catering offer required more than six months of close coordination with the organising teams. The presence of an international clientele and numerous VIP delegations led to the creation of a dedicated area, the “Blue Zone”, designed to meet high hospitality standards.
The feedback gathered during the debriefings was particularly glowing, praising both the quality of the catering and the professionalism of the teams involved. Building on this success, the event has already confirmed it will be held again at Palexpo, with deployment planned in new spaces.
