2026 Conference Report

26% of guests.
62% of revenue.

What separates the food halls that scale from the ones that stall — from nearly 30 of the operators, developers and designers building the category.

• The dwell time finding. In many halls about a quarter of guests drive close to two-thirds of revenue — and it's time in venue that moves it, not check size.
• The vendor health benchmark. Occupancy cost below 20% is healthy, 20–23% is the caution zone, above 23–24% needs intervention.
• What buildout spend actually buys. $300 to $3,000+ per square foot, with little correlation to sales trajectory.
• The two mistakes that compound. Letting vendors choose their own POS, and giving up control of the bar.

Contributors include The Market at Malcolm Yards, Cana Development, The Golden Mill, Hempel Real Estate, Urban Land Institute Minnesota, Colicchio Consulting, PourMyBev and Tripleseat. Every insight is attributed to the operator who shared it.