Steve Barber
Photo: Courtesy of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservice Association
The Canadian Food & Beverage Show and the HostEx Show attract many of the same visitors, but the annual events have always operated separately, at different times of the year. That will change this Sunday, when the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (C.R.F.A.) brings the two shows together under one roof in a new location—the Direct Energy Centre at Exhibition Place.
Steve Barber, vice president of expositions for the C.R.F.A., is responsible for executing the marketing program and content for four food-service shows across Canada each year, including the newly combined C.R.F.A. show (which is appropriately titled "Together At Last!" for 2008). The show has 1,700 booths and includes cooking demonstrations by top local chefs (including Mark McEwan and Lynn Crawford), cookbook signings, and a series of free seminars that address such food-service challenges as labour shortages and energy costs.
The show starts this weekend. What have you been working on this week?
When we put the shows together, we thought we could attract the interest of a broader audience and a more sophisticated audience, and visitors wanted a very strong educational program and access to accomplished chefs. We're also working with sponsors—probably for the first time on this large a scale. For example, we went to companies like Kraft and built a stage with their help to showcase the chefs that are going to be at the show. That was a way of utilizing the interests of multiple parties to create something of real value for the audience, and it also creates buzz and interest on the show floor.What was the evolution of bringing the Food & Beverage and HostEx shows together?
It's been something that's been discussed for probably three years, and there's always been an interest from exhibitors on all sides to have everything under one roof. All parties had to agree that this was good for this business. And then we had to have a facility that could house that big a show—and, fortunately, with the redevelopment of the Direct Energy Centre a dozen years ago, it's really an ideal place for putting these two shows together.
What can people expect from the show?
Both shows wanted to maintain their integrity as shows within shows. When you walk in the door to the C.R.F.A. show, you turn right and you're in HostEx, you turn left and you're in the Food & Beverage show. So we've maintained, proportionally, the two shows, although it's all in one room. Having it in downtown Toronto is also a plus. Many of the visitors who come to the show also come to see what's happening in the city, so if they're from small-town Ontario or small-town Saskatchewan or Quebec, they really want to see what the trends are in hospitality and restaurants and bars.
Have there been any challenges in producing the show in a new venue?
The Direct Energy Centre was so well suited to our needs that it's been a very smooth transition. I think exhibitors will have a certain degree of trepidation going into a new building from one that they knew well [the International Centre]. There are different issues to face in downtown Toronto, like you're going to have paid parking where in suburban facilities you have complimentary parking and things like that. But that's an expected thing, and it doesn't appear to have any impact on visitor interest.
How are you dividing the space to represent the two shows?
We made a conscious decision not to divide the shows with colour or design. We didn't want to create too much of an "us and them" feeling; however, it will be very clear to the visitors that the shows are distinct by their locations. We're not making an effort to change carpets or drape colours, because we felt like in the longer term, we really don't know how the show will evolve going forward.
What do you hope visitors walk away with after they attend this year's show?
I think visitors are going to walk away with a different feeling about this industry. I think it's always been underserved by the shows, and it's a much bigger industry than most people realize—$56 billion in Canada. Seeing all these products and services together will make people in the industry quite proud of the business they're in and the professionalism that's available to them, right from the chefs to the manufacturers and suppliers in the service industry.
Steve Barber, vice president of expositions for the C.R.F.A., is responsible for executing the marketing program and content for four food-service shows across Canada each year, including the newly combined C.R.F.A. show (which is appropriately titled "Together At Last!" for 2008). The show has 1,700 booths and includes cooking demonstrations by top local chefs (including Mark McEwan and Lynn Crawford), cookbook signings, and a series of free seminars that address such food-service challenges as labour shortages and energy costs.
The show starts this weekend. What have you been working on this week?
When we put the shows together, we thought we could attract the interest of a broader audience and a more sophisticated audience, and visitors wanted a very strong educational program and access to accomplished chefs. We're also working with sponsors—probably for the first time on this large a scale. For example, we went to companies like Kraft and built a stage with their help to showcase the chefs that are going to be at the show. That was a way of utilizing the interests of multiple parties to create something of real value for the audience, and it also creates buzz and interest on the show floor.What was the evolution of bringing the Food & Beverage and HostEx shows together?
It's been something that's been discussed for probably three years, and there's always been an interest from exhibitors on all sides to have everything under one roof. All parties had to agree that this was good for this business. And then we had to have a facility that could house that big a show—and, fortunately, with the redevelopment of the Direct Energy Centre a dozen years ago, it's really an ideal place for putting these two shows together.
What can people expect from the show?
Both shows wanted to maintain their integrity as shows within shows. When you walk in the door to the C.R.F.A. show, you turn right and you're in HostEx, you turn left and you're in the Food & Beverage show. So we've maintained, proportionally, the two shows, although it's all in one room. Having it in downtown Toronto is also a plus. Many of the visitors who come to the show also come to see what's happening in the city, so if they're from small-town Ontario or small-town Saskatchewan or Quebec, they really want to see what the trends are in hospitality and restaurants and bars.
Have there been any challenges in producing the show in a new venue?
The Direct Energy Centre was so well suited to our needs that it's been a very smooth transition. I think exhibitors will have a certain degree of trepidation going into a new building from one that they knew well [the International Centre]. There are different issues to face in downtown Toronto, like you're going to have paid parking where in suburban facilities you have complimentary parking and things like that. But that's an expected thing, and it doesn't appear to have any impact on visitor interest.
How are you dividing the space to represent the two shows?
We made a conscious decision not to divide the shows with colour or design. We didn't want to create too much of an "us and them" feeling; however, it will be very clear to the visitors that the shows are distinct by their locations. We're not making an effort to change carpets or drape colours, because we felt like in the longer term, we really don't know how the show will evolve going forward.
What do you hope visitors walk away with after they attend this year's show?
I think visitors are going to walk away with a different feeling about this industry. I think it's always been underserved by the shows, and it's a much bigger industry than most people realize—$56 billion in Canada. Seeing all these products and services together will make people in the industry quite proud of the business they're in and the professionalism that's available to them, right from the chefs to the manufacturers and suppliers in the service industry.
