US Trade Shows – Is There A Right Time To Exhibit Or Attend?
Trade shows in the US are a critical part of launching in the market and are an essential investment for aspiring food and beverage brands.
In a country so physically large and with a fragmented retail structure, trade events are an efficient way to meet customers, distributors, brokers, research companies, marketing agencies and investors, who are all focused on the food industry.
Emerging from a two-year hiatus, many suppliers have benefited from the cost saving of no trade shows but now they are beginning to realize their importance and are missing the industry connections.
I am frequently asked the question: when is the best time to attend and exhibit at US a trade show and which shows are the most effective?
The answer is, it depends. It depends on a number of factors like: the category that your product competes in, the characteristics of your brand, your trade channels, whether you have a regional or national plan, and at what stage are you with market entry and US development. Finally, it depends also on your budget; as show entry, exhibiting, staff, accommodation, and travel in the US is expensive.
My first rule of thumb is: if you’re not selling yet in the US, don’t exhibit yet. If you’re at pre-launch stage, consider just attending the show, it’s a great way to do some research on the competition and network for possible sales and marketing partners. Try to set up meetings with them in advance but remember it’s unrealistic to expect retail buyers to make appointments at shows with a new, speculative company that is maybe not ready for launch.
Sometimes country pavilions at shows are a good start point to exhibiting early, to get feedback on your product and packaging but unless your set up to supply, many buyer leads can go unfulfilled.
When you are at launch stage (i.e. when you have product and packaging adapted for the US consumer, US barcodes, have sales materials ready, a supply chain set up and have identified your appropriate customers, distributors and sales resource), then you could consider exhibiting. Even then, unless you have a big budget and are not concerned about revealing yourself to competitors too early, I would carefully consider waiting until year two, when you have product availability in distributor warehouses.
While you may be dreaming of meeting an important buyer from one of the larger retail supermarket chains, the reality of starting up in the US market is that it often involves building brand strength in a series of smaller regional and local customers, who are serviced through national and regional distributors. An effective trade show will enable you to meet literally hundreds of retail buyers who will want to know which distributors you are available in, to place purchase orders to get your business going.
There are the four big national shows that cover a wide range of food and beverage product categories: 1. Natural Products Expo West (Anaheim, CA in March) which is the largest of them all, and then the East coast sister show, 2. Natural Products Expo East (Philadelphia PA, in September), these cover natural and organic classes of trade plus the many larger mainstream retailers attend too. 3. The Summer Fancy Food Show (New York in July) and the smaller 4. Winter Fancy Food Show (usually on the West coast in San Francisco in January) targeting specialty channels but again attracts big supermarket chains.
There are also category-specific shows like IDDBA (the deli and bakery show), and the All Snacks Show (Sweets and Snacks) that are very impactful for their more specific product areas. The most effective selling shows can be those run by the distributors like UNFI and KeHE. The smaller regional shows are less expensive and less busy, giving you time to build closer relationships with buyers and broker teams.
If you need advice about US trade shows and how to enter the US food and beverage market, please feel free to get in touch. Green Seed North America has a team of 20 sales, marketing, research and operations consultants that have a track record of successfully launching brands to the US retail trade.
David Wilson
david.wilson@greenseedgroup.com