Jun 15, 2017

SmartFood Expo to join United Fresh Show in 2018

During today’s opening general session of the United FreshMKT, United FreshTEC, International Floriculture Expo and Global Cold Chain Expo, show organizers announced a fifth new expo will be co-located with the partners in June 2018.

The new SmartFood Expo is being launched to focus on the healthy foods category marketed as “better-for-you” to highlight trends and opportunities for retail and foodservice buyers.

The SmartFood Expo will feature a wide variety of consumer products including natural foods, plant-based foods, fresh and healthy, organics, raw foods, products with clean labels and limited ingredients, and a variety of items that may appeal to consumers’ demand for “better-for-you” foods. The SmartFood Expo Conference will bring together industry representatives to explore consumer trends, market data, merchandising strategies and more.

The primary audience for the SmartFood Expo consists of buyers from multiple retail and foodservice channels sourcing “better-for-you” foods. These include major national chains but also independents, health and specialty food stores, restaurants, online marketers, home delivery and meal kit marketers, and more. In addition, a number of larger CPG companies and private equity investors will be seeking new food products that might fit within their own portfolios. The primary exhibitor audience includes some of those same CPG companies marketing “better-for-you” foods, but also a wide range of small and mid-sized companies looking for product exposure and sampling opportunities.

The new SmartFood Expo will be the fifth partner show in Chicago in June 2018, filling the 800,000 square-foot South Hall at McCormick Place side-by-side with the International Floriculture Expo, Global Cold Chain Expo, United FreshMKT and United FreshTEC.

Exhibit sales, educational program development and attendee promotion will begin immediately following the 2017 shows June 13-15, in Chicago. Sales and program development will be handled jointly by Ensemble IQ, one of the show organizers, account staff and the SmartFood Expo team.

For more information, call John Toner, United Fresh vice president of convention & industry collaboration at 202-303-3424 or email [email protected]; or call Jeff Greisch, chief brand officer, EnsembleIQ, at 224-337-4029 or email [email protected].