NRA Show 2013: A Rich Opportunity for Food and Beverage Distributors

By Derrek J. Hull and Aaron Adams

The annual National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show has held distinction as the biggest foodservice trade show in the world for nearly a century. This comes not just from the sheer quantity of exhibitors and attendees, but the breadth and depth of distributors, operators, manufacturers, industry experts, press, bloggers, plus more who converge from all corners of the industry and the globe. It’s given the NRA Show a reputation for featuring everything and anything foodservice professionals could be looking for — plus a host of serendipitous opportunities one could never plan.

With attendance trending upward for the last several years, NRA Show 2013 (taking place May 18-21 at Chicago’s McCormick Place) promises one of the biggest turnouts yet. And this creates a particularly rich opportunity for distributors.

Why rich? Because one of the best places a distributor can be is plugged into the very latest trends — or even better — ahead of them. And the NRA Show is the single greatest opportunity to:

Experience trends first-hand and learn directly from the people behind them
Interact with large, well-known names alongside emerging innovators for the very first time
See, touch and taste what they believe is the next big thing – and there’s only one place that happens

The advantage for distributors is the ability to act where others can’t. With a range of specialties and flexibility unique to these types of organizations, small- to mid-sized distributors are positioned to seek out, find, and quickly capitalize on great products as soon as they hit the exhibit floor.

It means when customers come calling for that item everyone is asking about, the answer is “yes.” Or you might even put your company in that coveted position where the industry is asking who carries a hot new product and all fingers point to you.

What’s great right now is distributors can put themselves in the thick of everything at NRA Show 2013 at a fraction of the regular price. With early-bird discounts running now through November 16^th, attendees can get their NRA Show badges for just $39 instead of the $99 face value.

And as an added bonus, the NRA show is giving away a $150 American Express Cash Card every week between now and October 26^th. Attendees who make the move to register now will be entered into the weekly drawing and have multiple chances to win — the deadline to grab a cool $150 is fast approaching.

Registering is quick and easy: visit Restaurant.org/Show.