I'm sick of the Fancy Food Show

For the past 3 years, everything I could possibly think of has gone up in price.

Except for 1 Thing…

The Bag Check Charge at the Javitz Center.

I will give you 3 takeaways from today’s show

1. Bags still cost $4 to check

I will be forever loyal to the person pictured (who wants to remain anonymous). She has been there, checking my bag for the past 3 years, and always remembers my bag. I tip her in food from the show.

No, don’t say she wants money. The food I give is worth way more than a mere (or generous) $2 tip.

It’s funny that I bring a Fancy Nikon D750 Camera (thanks to my dad who has a weirdly expensive set of camera equipment) to the show, take pictures for 7 hours, and my favorite picture is an iPhone photo of this moment at the bags.

2. Italians (Europeans) care about only one thing.

Trade Shows are full of misconceptions. The best way to summarize a trade show is so much yet so little is happening at the same time.

You’d think Italians fly into America to make sales, where in reality, they only care about one thing: soccer.

3. Distributors, Distributors, Distributors

If you know what a distributor is, skip the next 3 paragraphs.

For those who don’t know what a distributor is, imagine you were a farmer who grew strawberries. You have 10,000 strawberries come July but don’t know what to do with them. There are 25 Supermarkets that need strawberries and bananas. They don’t want to deal with 2 different growers, but rather 1 person who can provide them both strawberries and bananas. The issue is Bananas and Strawberries grow in different climates.

A distributor would be the person who brings both the strawberries and bananas to each of the 25 supermarkets. They are the point of contact the retailer (supermarket) speaks to. The strawberry grower and banana grower work a deal with the distributor, who distributes their product to the necessary retailers and gets paid a spread.

There are other synergies as well but just understand, many US brands want to improve their distribution. Most brands who pay $10,000 for the booth at the show are looking to maintain or improve their distributor relationships.

Distributors themselves have booths and in all honesty you may think the distributor booth is full of ambitious brands who post on LinkedIn all proud of the work they are putting on. And yes, there are brands like the Spotted Trotter whose founder is grinding for 7 hours entertaining everyone with a full demo.

(He was fantastic).

However, the reality is this:

This picture encapsulates everything I want you to know about a tradeshow. People seem to be doing really important things, and you’re watching like “I should be behind their negotiating with distributors.” One thing I can say for sure is I’m thrilled to not be roped into a 45 minute conversation that will result in an email with 10 unanswered followups.

Luckily for me, as I wear my measly Palloncino Olive Oil badge, I can take any sample I want without necessitating a 15 minute follow-up conversation from a brand that wants to get into Whole Foods (requires UNFI, Kehe, or similar type of distributor). They know I serve no purpose to them. Mutual agreement. I take food, I leave. I’m happy, they’re happy.

Perhaps I’m an undercover, but most people don’t think that deep.

Final Thoughts

I’m not actually sick of the Fancy Food Show.

I’m sick from it.

At every food show I attend, I have trouble containing my appetite and go into my default “grab food and don’t look at you” snacking mode.

Now I’m paying the price.

-Jack

PS my Aunt is obsessed with Jennifer Fisher, maybe you are too.

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See ya soon.