Food, Glorious Food

Specialty Food Veep Gathers Products From the Far Corners of the World

Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 7/5/2004

Who doesn't like food? Nobody. Then who could resist five food shows in one? The Food Marketing Institute's Supermarket Convention & Educational Exposition has been gaining widespread attention by bringing together under one roof the FMI Show, Intl. Fancy Food & Confection Shows, U.S. Food Export Showcase, United Produce Expo & Conference and All Things Organic Conference & Trade Show.

But ask anyone who's been there, and they'll tell you the bit with the biggest buzz is the Fancy Food Show. And why not? Specialty foods is a booming market, worth $25 billion in the United States alone and only getting bigger, according to the Natl. Assn. for the Specialty Food Trade, owner of the three Fancy Food Shows that take place each year in New York, San Francisco and Chicago.

An important ingredient in Fancy Food's success has been its aggressive push into international markets — even during the down economy. As savvy consumers seek ever more exotic fare, the show has been there with the best and latest from the far corners of the Earth. The man behind that plan: NASFT Vice President of Exhibition Management Chris Nemchek.

Nemchek spoke recently with TSW Senior Associate Editor Heidi Genoist about how his global strategy worked and where he plans to go next, both in the food business and in the tradeshow industry.

Question: Why did Intl. Fancy Food & Confection Shows have such a growth spurt over the last few years, just as so many other shows struggled?

Answer: We had a slight downturn during the economic slump, but when we thought the economy might be a factor — and a lot of companies were cutting costs — we added staff and structure to compensate for the downturn, and we found that was a way to further strengthen our shows and our industry. Our shows in San Francisco and New York are on pace to be the largest shows we've ever had.

Q: How did you change your sales strategy during the downturn?

A: One of the most significant things we did was to identify the universe of international sales potential. We have developed an initiative to research how businesses and governments around the world are identifying and funding manufacturers of food products to market them in the States. We're trying to get our arms around how it's done in Asia, South America, and putting together programs to go there and get large groups of manufacturers together in a room talking about the virtues of the Fancy Food shows and the value of marketing in the United States.

Q: In fact, Fancy Food's push into the international market has been more successful than most. Why is that?

A: From last year to this year, we'll have an increase of about 12,000 to 14,000 square feet of international exhibits in our summer show in New York. We've always had a strong international presence; roughly one-third of our summer show is international exhibits.

We really relied on government agencies to sell the Fancy Food to their constituents. I had put a couple international sales agents in different countries and found that there was more to be had there by aggressively going out with our own reps than relying on a particular government to do it for us. But all the countries don't do business the same way, so I needed a new way to attack that.

Q: And what was that?

A: A big part of it was hiring (consultant) Cherif Moujabber to help us get our arms around the different approaches from around the world and get us in front of the right people. Then, I and other members of my sales staff just went out and started talking to all those people.

Q: Have recent restrictions on food imports hampered this effort?

A: They really haven't. At the very beginning, when the Bioterrorism Act was introduced, it threatened to be a problem and we started to get nervous. But we learned everything we could about it and educated our pavilion organizers and international reps about what it would take to comply. As it turns out, it's not that big a deal. Through the help of R.E. Rogers customs brokers, we've put together some educational programs to facilitate registering people, and we've only had a couple instances of shipments getting stopped at customs — and they still made it to the show in time for opening.

Q: You were with Reed Exhibitions for five years before NASFT hired you to run Fancy Food operations. What was the transition from a for-profit to an association like?

A: It certainly took some time to adjust to the different approach. At a corporation like Reed, your focus is on growing your shows with the purpose of growing the bottom line. At a not-for-profit association, our mission is to provide a thriving specialty food marketplace to our members, the exhibitors, without the pressures of adding to the bottom line.

It takes a lot to change your mindset. I came here looking to cut costs, things like that, and had to change.

Q: Reed managed Fancy Food before NASFT hired you to do the job. Did that make it more complicated?

A: Yeah, the relationship between Reed and NASFT was not the best. But my experience at Reed was great. I loved my time there, because it gave me a chance to learn the industry from a variety of positions.

Gina Lombardi had been working on the Fancy Food Shows at Reed and made the jump to the association before me. There was a flow of resources between the two, and her job at the association was to manage the show managers. She knew the Reed corporate approach and had spent a couple years at NASFT before I arrived, so she gave me a heads up as to what I was in for.

Q: How have Fancy Food Shows changed since the association took over managing them in 1997?

A: We were largely just a tradeshow — a great show, but just a tradeshow. We didn't have as great an accompanying conference program as we do now, and we've added other programs that increase the value of one's time at the show outside of exhibition hours. For example, in 2002 we started putting together interview sessions the day before the show opens where we match manufacturers with the distributors, retailers and importers they want to see. We have a large room with tables where they get face-to-face with the people they want to see.

Q: Compared to the 50-year-old summer show in New York and the 30-year-old winter show in San Francisco, the spring show in Chicago is practically new. How has it done?

A: Each show has its own identity, and the spring show is known for being collocated with the FMI Show, All Things Organic and United Produce. It's smaller on its own than our other two events, but it's part of a huge event that has really taken off the last few years.

Q: Will you keep it in Chicago with FMI?

A: For the foreseeable future. We're committed to the collocation, and so are the other groups.

Q: How did it come about, originally?

A: FMI sent a rep to our summer show back in 1999 or 2000. They came to us with the idea that we'd be able to capitalize on each other's attendance where there's overlap: new buyers for the FMI exhibitor and supermarket buyers for the NASFT exhibitor.

Q: How has it been having multiple associations working together?

A: Putting a collocation together is a difficult thing. When you've got two associations that do things differently, have different boards, and different objectives, it's difficult to mesh that. But you have to never lose sight of the mission in order to put on a successful event. It's a great project to work on, and we're looking at a successful collocation now.

Q: What is your involvement with exhibition-industry associations?

A: I'm a member of IAEM and ASAE. I attend annual events and conference programs in various New York chapter events. I am interested in participating more, but on what timeframe I'm not sure.

Q: Have you been following various groups' plans to consolidate into one meta-trade association?

A: I'd be interested to see how it pans out. I'm definitely for a more significant tradeshow-industry event. I would plan to be there and participate. I think there's a dilution (now) of where the significance is. It would be a good idea to keep separate associations, but there is an overlap and I would guess that there would be a huge benefit to working together.

Q: What is the most pressing issue show managers face right now? And how would you advise confronting it?

A: Finding a way to drive attendance is a major concern for most show managers — both association and for-profit. I think the major issue is how do we find more attendance, or better qualified attendance and higher numbers — because that's what's going to drive the exhibit side.

Everyone has to go through their own stuff, but in my industry I've found that what drives attendance is increasing the value of the time attendees spend at the show and put more interesting products out on the floor for them to see. I'm trying to put new products in front of them, like exotic international products and, within the States, keeping abreast of trends in the food industry and using that as a way to find new products: low-carb or kosher, for example.

Q: What are your plans, both for yourself and for NASFT?

A: Having been here now eight years, I've accomplished a lot in managing the shows and managing the direction of the shows, but I think there is still a good chunk of work to accomplish in terms of international and state governments. So, I plan to be here — and, of course, someday I'd like to be the president of the association. For now, though, I still have some work to do.

Q: Has working on Fancy Food made you a foodie?

A: I'm getting there. My wife doesn't want to send me to the store for bread and cheese anymore, because I come home with paté. I'm more in tune with cool products out there; I like to shop at Trader Joe's and Hay Day. They have great products. And I actually spend more time preparing food than I ever have.