Channel Summit EMEA 2026: Our Takeaways

Last week, Anastasia Kvasyuk and Dermot Connolly attended the fifth edition of Channel Summit EMEA, held from 16 to 18 March at the Fairmont Monte Carlo.

The invitation-only event brought together over 70 international brands with 300+ distributors and retailers from more than 50 countries, facilitating over 3,000 pre-scheduled one-to-one meetings across two days.

The meeting format was one of the strongest aspects of the summit. Every session felt purposeful and well-matched, and the organizing team was present, responsive, and genuinely helpful throughout.

The quality of participating brands opened up a number of promising opportunities, and we left with several conversations to follow up on after the event.

The only challenge was that some vendors we hoped to meet already had fully booked schedules, so planning ahead and locking in priority meetings early is key.

Beyond the meeting arrangements, the organizers provided excellent networking opportunities, including an evening event on day one and the Channel Awards ceremony on day two, both creating a relaxed setting to build connections in a more informal way.

Overall, it was a well-organized, results-driven event with real business value, and we look forward to exploring the opportunities that came out of it.