Fancy Food Show to D.C. in 2011

The Summer Intl. Fancy Food & Confection Show will be held July 10-12, 2011, at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

The unanimous decision to move the New York-based show for one year was made at the February meeting of the Natl. Assn. for the Specialty Food Trade's Board of Directors.

The move came because the show's longtime summer venue, the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center of New York, is expected to undergo a major renovation and possible expansion in 2011. The show will take place at Javits through 2010 and is expected to return to New York City in 2012.

Chris Nemchek, NASFT vice president of exhibition management, said, “The initial reason that we considered moving the Summer Fancy Food Show at all was that we felt that any major renovation and/or expansion of the Javits Center would disrupt our event significantly. But beyond that, metropolitan Washington is one of the nation's strongest markets for the specialty food industry.”

Initial feedback NASFT has received from members has been positive, he added, and international pavilion organizers are equally excited about experiencing Washington.

Nemchek noted that Washington didn't seek the show. “The impetus was from us. While we would like to be in New York as often as possible, we really felt that it was important to keep our options open so that we would be in a position to protect our major asset,” he added. “New York made a strong effort to keep the Fancy Food Show here. We will return to New York in 2012 and for the foreseeable future.”

This year's show, set for June 29-July 1 in New York, will cover more than 350,000 net square feet of exhibit space and is expected to attract more than 24,000 attendees.