by Jim Dudlicek / NGA Director, Communications and External Affairs
From first-timers to veterans, exhibitors and attendees offered rave reviews of the 2023 NGA Show, the biggest show hosted by the National Grocers Association since 2017.
Chatter about the crowds, the content, the energy and excitement accelerated from word of mouth to tangible testimonials shared with NGA and show partner Clarion Events.
Here are just a few of the plaudits shared with show organizers, directly or via social media, illustrating how the show exceeded expectations for being able to make in-person connections and establish or maintain business relationships in a post-pandemic marketplace.
“As a first-time exhibitor, our participation at the NGA Show has exceeded our expectations. Beyond all of the tremendous sales opportunities for our products, we’ve enjoyed networking with all sorts of potential new partners, from retailers to wholesalers and everyone in between.” – Graham Sorkin, The Functional Chocolate Company
“The NGA Show this year is their best show in 20 years with the organization. Amazing foot traffic as well as great conversations with retailers.” – BRdata
“It was a terrific event for us. Great expo traffic, great sessions and it all ran very smoothly. Thanks for all the good work from the Clarion team. We will be involved next year, for sure.” – Derek Hannum, ReposiTrak
“The 2023 National Grocers Association Show was a hit. HUGE shoutout to … the entire NGA crew for putting on such a fantastic, productive and educational few days. Had a blast hosting business meetings … networking with my lovely industry friends …To those that supported Women Grocers of America events … THANK YOU! If you’re a woman in independent grocery and not a part of WGA, reach out!” – Jackie LaPointe, Upside
“The show was a huge success … We met some new grocers who have interest in Ace during the show, but probably more importantly, we had a chance to meet with our wholesale partners in a neutral location, away from their shows/expos where they are very busy. We also have hundreds of grocery-owned Ace members across the country and had dozens of them stop by the booth to chat and see how we’re doing [with] adding more of their peers. NGA has always been one of our best partnerships and hope to continue that relationship into the future.” – Shawn, Ace Hardware
“Our first NGA show was full of conversations about how B2B e-commerce can work for the grocery community, and we made so many new connections.” – Sana Commerce
“From 1-400 stores, we’re able to see them all here. Such a great variety of customers. The NGA Show helps us meet with our existing customers as well as meet new customers and be able to share the story of what we do as a company. This year’s show has been great, the traffic and excitement has been so much more than years past.” – Paul Willoughby, VP of POS solutions, Truno
“The NGA Show provides us the time to actually get face-to-face time with retailers. It’s critically important for us to make those connections and relationships, and The NGA Show allows us to build those. Loved the set up and layout of the show and attendance was phenomenal this year!” – Meagan Nelson, senior director of retail and distributor of growth, SPINS
“The show was well worth the effort to make on short notice. We picked up a couple distributors and got great connections with two grocery chains in our area that will likely be bringing us in soon. The show exceeded my most optimistic expectations.” – Ken, Plum Creek Soft Pretzels
