More than 2,700 grocery leaders, professionals in attendance over 3 days of events
The National Grocers Association and Clarion Events on March 2 announced the successful conclusion of The NGA Show, which delivered a nearly 20 percent increase in attendance from grocery retail industry professionals to the Caesars Forum Convention Center in Las Vegas for networking, product sourcing and education.
The in-person show brought together independent retailers, wholesalers, food retail industry executives, food/CPG manufacturers and service providers from all over the United States for the three-day event, Feb. 27-March 1. The 39th edition of the annual trade show and conference is produced by the National Grocers Association and Clarion Events.
“The NGA Show, co-located with the IGA Rally and Indoor Ag-Con, delivered a trifecta of education, best practices and actionable insights designed to help independent grocery operators propel their businesses into a future of growth and continued opportunity,” said Greg Ferrara, NGA president and CEO. “With strong retailer and wholesaler attendance, we intend to build upon the momentum of a successful show and the occasion of NGA’s 40th anniversary this year as we work toward an even more exciting conference back here in Las Vegas in 2023.”
Highlights of the show included:
• The exhibit hall, featuring more than 200 exhibitors, where retailers and wholesalers discovered products and services covering the entire spectrum from store design to innovative food products, and everything in between. This year’s expo floor also featured the World of Latino Cuisine pavilion, which ran a full schedule of culinary demonstrations presented by world-renowned chefs. Retailers were given a front-row seat to the latest products and information on how to successfully sell to Hispanic customers, 60 million consumers and growing.
• The opening keynote address was presented by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who discussed the country’s economic and political landscape, and its potential impact on independent community grocery operators.
• Attendees mixed and mingled at several networking events including the kickoff Opening Reception, the Best Bagger Championship and After Party, Creative Choice Awards breakfast and the Closing Celebration.
• With this year’s theme, “Where Grocers Look to the Future,” retailers and wholesalers kicked off their NGA Show experience with exclusive new programming: “”Innovation Through the Eyes of the Independent Grocer.”
The education program expanded to offer 50-plus sessions with more than 100 subject matter experts who spoke on a variety of relevant topics including store design, international commerce, omnichannel, artificial intelligence, inflation, data analytics, workforce development, e-commerce, demand forecasting, category trends, Hispanic marketing, food safety, succession planning, front-end technology, labor costs, digital communications, green energy and ransomware.
Several awards were presented, including:
• The Peter J. Larkin Community Service Award, to Cub Foods, for the efforts of its pharmacy operations to deliver COVID vaccines throughout their home state of Minnesota.
• The Thomas K. Zaucha Entrepreneurial Excellence Award, to Michael Needler Jr., president and CEO of Fresh Encounter Inc.
• WGA Woman of the Year Award, to Suzanne Schmitz, a Save A Lot owner in Western New York.
• Best Bagger Champion, with a grand prize of $10,000, was awarded to Alexa Sobsey from Nugget Markets in California.
• Creative Choice Awards, winners listed here and in these videos: Marketing winners / Merchandising winners
More information about each day of The NGA Show can be found here.
The 2023 NGA Show will take place Feb. 26–28, 2023, at the Caesars Forum Convention Center in Las Vegas.
For information and details, visit thengashow.com.
The NGA Show has been the place where independent grocers gather for more than 30 years, connecting supermarket retailers and wholesalers, food manufacturers and service providers from around the world to share innovative solutions and best practices that support and strengthen the independent supermarket channel.
The NGA Show is produced and managed by Clarion Events as part of the Food & Beverage Group in partnership with the National Grocers Association (NGA). For more information and to register, visit theNGAshow.com.
Clarion Events produces 37 events across 13 sectors of both trade and consumer events. Clarion Events, which is the U.S. division of Clarion Events UK and backed by The Blackstone Group, has become one of the fastest-growing event companies in the U.S. with aggressive growth through both acquisition and launch. Clarion acquired PennWell in early 2018, bringing four Tradeshow 200 events into the U.S. portfolio and supercharging the already rapid growth. Clarion Events has offices in Trumbull, Connecticut; Kennesaw, Georgia.; Boca Raton, Florida; Tacoma, Washington, and Fairlawn, New Jersey. www.US.ClarionEvents.com.
NGA is the national trade association representing the retail and wholesale grocers that comprise the independent sector of the food distribution industry. An independent retailer is a privately owned or controlled food retail company operating a variety of formats.
The independent community grocery sector is accountable for about 1.2 percent of the nation’s overall economy and is responsible for generating more than $250 billion in sales, 1.1 million jobs, $39 billion in wages and $36 billion in taxes. NGA members include retail and wholesale grocers, state grocers associations, as well as manufacturers and service suppliers.
