I recently had the chance to go to the Farmshop & Deli show at the NEC. It was my first time at a national tradeshow, and I was interested to see that there were quite a few familiar faces from Hale Events’ regional shows, The Source and Expowest Cornwall there. It made me think a bit about why you would feel the need to do both regional shows and national shows. Is there a benefit difference? Are your goals the same or do you approach the different shows with different strategies?
I ended up having a few good conversations with both smaller Southwest companies expanding into national awareness and national companies that exhibit at regional shows. Their experiences might shine a light on what the benefits are to exhibiting at both.
Tim Ball, co-owner of Barbouy Cocktails says: “Local events are your immediate market and it’s fundamentally important that we take care of those customers on our doorstep and engage with them as regularly as we possibly can. Typically, local events are all your sales channels on your doorstep, so it gives you an opportunity to own that territory. It’s your roots – never forget your roots! And local provenance is more important than ever. And it’s not always about selling but often about partnerships and finding other local businesses to work with. It’s also about being part of a community. Particularly in the Southwest – people buy from people and the personal touch counts.”
“National events on the other hand have the potential for wider opportunities beyond the Southwest. It feels like a harder market to crack, and you have to work more for the results. To use a football analogy, you have an advantage on home turf but for away games it’s tough. However, the results you get can end up meaning more!”
Alice Haseltine, Head of Impulse at Belvoir Farm Drinks says: “You can go to a regional show like the Source trade show and speak to a pub group who has 26 pubs and you can bring them on board whilst you are at the show, and you can come to a national show like the Farmshop & Deli Show or the Food & Drink Expo and speak to a pub group with 100 pubs, but the chances of you winning them is slim. The potential for bigger fish is there at a national show, but it is harder work.”
From the conversations I had, it seems clear that establishing and nurturing relationships regionally with buyers, whether they’re the small corner shop or the wholesaler for the region is very important.
Will Boddington, Business Development Manager from Boddingtons Berries says: “Because we’ve been doing them for so many years, regional shows like Source are about seeing the customers we already have, building those relationships, and seeing what else they want or what new item they would, like to see us develop.”
What is also clear is that consistency in presence is paramount in the trade show circuit. With a myriad of exhibitors vying for attention, visitors can easily overlook or forget companies that do not maintain a consistent presence. Regular participation in both regional and national shows, complemented by networking events and follow-up initiatives in between, helps to reinforce brand visibility and foster lasting connections with buyers.
Will from Boddingtons adds: “Even if you’ve been going to regional shows for years and you’re very well known locally, when you go to a national show for the first time people don’t know you and assume you’re a new company – it’s harder to compete in that market.”
Andrew Collinson, Operations Director at The Food and Drink Forum, says: “Once you go to a national show for a year or two and then you don’t go – people wonder if you’re still around. It’s important to maintain that presence.”
Part of exhibiting at both regional and national trade shows is staying attuned to emerging trends, which is essential for companies of all sizes.
Andrew from The Food and Drink Forum adds: “People come to national shows to see what’s going on – stepping outside their local area or region they get to see what other ideas are out there. New innovations. Trends. Especially if you’re new to the industry and you’re not sure if you’ve got a good idea – you can come to a show and have the conversations and find out!”
I discovered that when it comes to goals and strategies, smaller regional companies may seek to expand their market reach and secure partnerships with national retailers at national shows like the Farmshop & Deli Show or the Food & Drink Expo. In contrast, larger national companies attending regional events like the Source trade show or Expowest Cornwall may aim to cultivate relationships with local suppliers or explore niche markets. While the overarching goal remains market expansion, the approach varies based on the company’s scale and target audience.
Alice at Belvoir says: “We do need to target regional areas and regional wholesalers. Going into a show like Source, we’d know which wholesalers we need to support, and we’d have the conversations beforehand and ask them if there was any conversations they needed us to have with buyers. We know that from March to September they don’t stop, so the best time to engage them is at the show, with a targeted range of products that we know works for the area. Going to national shows where the wholesalers will also be exhibiting, we don’t have those conversations. We have no input with any wholesalers at national shows. The buyers are also so diverse – from the small corner shop to the head buyer for a national coffeeshop chain – that we need to go in with our full range. We do the national shows to maintain brand awareness and to see some of the bigger buyers and chains.”
So, do you need to exhibit at both regional shows and national shows? I’ll leave that decision up to you!!
