Jun 2, 2016

By: Margaret Core, Vice President, Industry Events, Food Marketing Institute
Globe

When FMI Connect says “Everybody to the Table,” they mean everybody, all over the world! Visit the Expo at FMI Connect and you will have the chance to sample specialty products from all parts of the globe. Six country pavilions and dozens of more exhibitors from foreign countries will display the kinds of choices your customers are demanding. Here are some examples of what you can find in the Expo that demonstrates the global reach of the food retail industry today:

  • In the Italy pavilion, visit Tonon (Booth 4205), a company in Vittorio Veneto that has been making wine from grapes grown in the Veneto region around Venice since 1936.
  • Stop by the booth of Campo d’Oro (Booth 4111), which produces a vast range of homegrown Sicilian products: preserves, pasta sauces, patés and pestos, honey and wine gelèe.
  • Then taste the rices and risottos that Riso Gallo (Booth 3601) has made at its factory in Genoa since 1856.

“The ‘Extraordinary Italian Taste’ and ‘Buy Authentic Italian, Get More’ are much more than marketing slogans,” said Italian Trade Commissioner Matteo Picariello. “They encompass the use of the best ingredients and our rich manufacturing history and tradition in creating extraordinary tasting products.”

  • Next, move on to the Greece pavilion and sample the olive oils produced by Eleon Hellas (Booth 4017) in a complex process that is determined to deliver the best its country has to offer.
  • Try the pistachios grown by the Thermopylae-Molos Pistachio Agricultural Cooperative (Booth 4118) on 270 acres stretching from the coastal region of Molos to the mountains surrounding the ancient city of Thermopylae.
  • Consumer passion for Thai cuisine has moved past the ubiquitous Thai restaurant and into the grocery aisles, as demonstrated by the wide variety of dried and glace fruits the Siam Fruit Co. (Booth 4406) will have on display in the Thailand pavilion.
  • Sample another Asian country’s very different variety of dried fruits once unavailable in the United States – like Yang mei and jackfruit - at the Zhangzhou Jane Orchard Food booth (Booth 4123) in the China pavilion.
  • And what about candy? Since 1996, the Fujian Jinjiang Yonghe Fuhua Food Co. (Booth 3618) has exported delicacies like crispy peanut candy, hard and soft candy, lollipops and its own Chinese interpretation of chocolate.
  • If your customers are looking for the latest in trend-setting hot sauces, visit the Mexico pavilion and check out La Meridana (Booth 2410e), which grows its own habanero peppers in the Yucatan Peninsula and uses them to create four different homemade flavors, each with its own exotic twist.
  • Do your customers scour your shelves looking for the most authentic maple syrup? Stop in at the Quebec pavilion where representatives from L.B. Maple Treat (Booth 3818) can explain the process they go through to make sure their products are preservative-, additive- and chemical-free.

Take a look at the full exhibitor list and sort by the products your retail operations is looking for to meet consumer demands for global products

Your customers expect you to bring the world to their dinner table, and the FMI Connect Expo is the place to find the tastes they’re looking for.