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 Trying out virtual trade shows Participating in trade shows has always been an important tool for Canada Beef’s Channel Marketing team. These shows provide a one-stop-shop to meet with clients face-to-face as well as engage with new audiences, showcase products and resources and develop business opportunities. Finding an alternative was going to be challenging. So, given the restrictions around travel and social distancing this year, both the grocery and foodservice industries took a virtual approach to their annual tradeshows. The Grocery Innovations Show took place in November 2020 and the Restaurants Canada show happened February 29 – March 3, 2021. “Given the challenging circumstances, I applaud the organizers of these shows and their attendees,” said Rod Koning, Executive Director, Channel Marketing. “These shows brought industry together to celebrate and share wins during a very difficult year—everyone across the industry stepped up to find innovative ways to provide virtual solutions to the COVID restrictions.” Both shows offered virtual booths that attendees could visit online to view the latest products and services and connect with vendors. Both shows also focused on providing online seminars and demonstrations to engage with visitors and highlight products of interest. These two premier shows had approximately 4300 industry attendees. In addition to providing a virtual booth, Canada Beef participated by sponsoring events which provided the opportunity to highlight programs and services, commitment to the industry and offer information directly to industry leaders At the Grocery Innovations Show, Canada Beef presented the Quality with Confidence seminar featuring “Safeguarding the Canadian Meat Supply” with Dr. Xianqin Yang, Agriculture Canada and Agri-Food Canada as well as an overview of Canada Beef and the programs and services available, presented by Michael Young, President of Canada Beef. For the Restaurants Canada Show, the Canada Beef team participated at the Sysco Virtual Kitchen Webinars where the team conducted six virtual educational sessions with a combined audience of approximately 15,000. These sessions featured an overview of Canadian beef programs and services along with technical information about Canadian beef. Both tradeshows offered culinary demonstrations and the Canadian Beef Centre of Excellence (CBCE) was front and centre, showcasing merchandising and cooking demonstrations of Canadian beef which were very popular with viewers. While the virtual shows provided an opportunity for industry to reach out and connect during this challenging time, it appears they won’t replace the real thing. “I believe the virtual shows were a reasonable stop-gap this year and provided a chance to bring industry together,” noted Koning. “The learning from this experience is that we still need to get in front of customers--nothing beats a face-to-face meeting .” Back to main page  ROD KONING Executive Director, Channel Marketing |
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CONTACT US Suite 146, 6715 – 8th Street NE Calgary, AB Canada T2E 7H7 Tel: (403) 275-5890 info@canadabeef.ca canadabeef.ca |
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