3 insights to make your next food fair worthwhile

We talked to a whole lot of exhibitors at ISM Cologne.

Here are 3 insights to make your next food fair worthwhile.

We asked 3 simple questions with the aim to test our experience-based hypothesis: participation at food fairs is expensive yet it is generally taken as a shoot in the dark (read: not strategic).

Spoiler alert: we confirmed it.

The 3 questions:

1. How costly participating at food fairs is?

Very costly. Besides the participation fee and logistics, taking part in a fair also costs time, energy and focus from team (at, pre-post fair).

2. What are your pre/post-fair activities?

Pre: Mostly focused on logistics, announcing participation on social media, research who’ll be there.

Post: Mainly follow up mails to contacts made.

3. How satisfied you are by effects / ROI of participating at FF in general?

Costs are real, ROI is random and not guaranteed.

For SME brands the impact is stronger.

So, what do we learn from this?

If you want to get a date, surely you’ll have a better chance if you get out in a bar than if you stay on your couch watching TV.

This is what happens with most exhibitors at food fairs: you might get lucky by mere exposure effect.

At this point you get our point: it is complete madness to leave it at serendipity if you invest (a considerable amount of) money and (a lot of) other resources.

Fairs are not costly. How you treat them makes that a cost instead of an investment.

Before the fair, how can you get most out of your investment and the fact you’re there besides making a shiny announcement on social media?

At a food fair, you realize you’re not so special. Everyone has something great and a stand.

How do you anyhow stand out?

Is there another way to use the network and inspiration after the fair besides sending everyone a (one in a million) follow-up mail?

Get in touch. We’ve been to & through a lot of fairs and can make sure at your next one you end up with a date.

info@taste-agency.com