Restaurant Assn. Show Adds Intl. Pavilion
Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 2/14/2005
The Natl. Restaurant Assn. and Intl. Trade Information are co-launching an Intl. Cuisine Pavilion at the Natl. Restaurant Assn. Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show, May 21–24 at Chicago's McCormick Place. NRA Senior Vice President Mary Pat Heftman said that the pavilion responds to increasingly diverse U.S. tastes, the mainstreaming of ethnic foods and growth in the restaurant sector, noting that the ethnic audience is responsible for billions of dollars in food purchases annually.
On the other hand, Heftman said, the launch is not necessarily in response to the rapid proliferation of smaller, more narrowly defined events. One example is the Intl. Fancy Food & Confection Show, held in Chicago in May, New York in July and San Francisco in January. Fancy Food targets specialty food, wine, gift and department stores; supermarkets; restaurants; and mail order businesses.
The NRA Intl. Cuisine Pavilion caters to "a different sector than food service, which is in bulk," Heftman said. "Our show may have hot sauce in five-gallon tubs, while Fancy Food would have it in cases of 12-ounce bottles."
The focus of the pavilion will be Latin and Asian foods. The restaurant association is working with Intl. Trade Information, co-founder of Expo Comida Latina, because of its experience in the international marketplace and its contacts in the U.S. domestic ethnic market.
Due to the short lead time on the launch, Heftman declined to predict the size of the pavilion, which will be sponsored by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce Intl. Buyer Program and the U.S. Foreign Agriculture Service.
