2017 National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show® and Beverage Alcohol for Restaurants (BAR) at NRA Show® Largest Show in NRA History Our Coverage Sponsored by Fresh Origins
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(Chicago) The 98th annual National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show® and Beverage Alcohol for Restaurants (BAR) at NRA Show® was held at Chicago’s McCormick Place from May 20-23. As the largest and most comprehensive event for the foodservice industry, NRA Show/BAR 17 brought a diverse range of industry sectors together under one roof.
At more than 695,000 square feet, it was the largest NRA Show ever, and welcomed more than 66,000 total registrants.
“NRA Show 2017 was a true reflection of today’s restaurant, foodservice, and hospitality industry,” said Atour Eyvazian, Convention Chair for NRA Show 2017 and multiunit owner of 122 total restaurants between 2 brands (Jack in the Box and El Pollo Loco). “Throughout the four days of NRA Show and BAR, the sold-out exhibit floor represented major advancements in products and services that will solve a wide range of real-world operator challenges, and the energy and optimism of our industry coming together was unmistakable.”
Thousands of independent and chain restaurateurs, along with representatives from the top dealer/distributor, retail, and contract management organizations, filled this year’s Show. Top brands and organizations represented included McDonald’s, Domino’s, Aramark, Stanford University, Sysco, Whole Foods, Panera Bread, Chick-fil-A, Sodexo, Kroger, Starbuck’s, Darden Restaurants, Bloomin’ Brands, and thousands more industry heavyweights. Among the Show’s restaurant and retail attendees, 86% are purchasing decision makers, influencers or product specifiers.
In addition, this year’s international presence was strong. The Show offered 55% more international pavilions this year, with new exhibits added from Mexico, China, the Philippines, Iran, and Canada.
Photos from this year’s event can be downloaded here: http://hellooa.com/nrashow2017pressroom/
“We at Lyons Magnus were very pleased with the results of this year’s NRA show,” said Kent Walrack, President & COO of Lyons Magnus. “All of our sales representatives reported that they had productive meetings at the show and hundreds of new leads to follow up on. In addition, our efforts in promoting our new Lyons Sweet Indulgence Pro Start Sauces and our new Lyons Beverage Syrups at the NRA Show daily really helped communicate our strategy to all attendees. We look forward to executing these strategies again in the future.”
“The NRA Show was a dream come true and an incredible place to launch our product, Ahimi™, to the trade,” said David Benzaquen, Chief Executive Officer of Ocean Hugger Foods. “We met countless foodservice distributors, buyers, retailers, and investors as well as valuable leads. We couldn’t be more thrilled to have presented in front of such a collection of leaders in the industry. We think it’s a great stepping stone for our business to launch nationwide.”
NRA Show/BAR, Beverage Alcohol for Restaurants Highlights
With a wide variety of superlative speakers, celebrity chefs, and industry experts, NRA Show 2017 brought a new level of enthusiasm to McCormick Place. National Restaurant Association President and CEO Dawn Sweeney hosted "Signature ’17: Ahead of the Crave” in front of a standing-room-only crowd. Sweeney discussed the culture of innovation and deep customer knowledge impacting the business ecosystem with Amazon's Dan Park. With Jason Dorsey, co-founder and chief strategy officer for The Center for Generational Kinetics®, the conversation was focused on reaching, connecting, engaging, and acquiring the Gen Z and Millennial customer.
Chicago Cubs Owner and Chairman Tom Ricketts and renowned sportscaster Mike Greenberg of ESPN’s Mike and Mike in the Morning held a lively Supersession discussion titled Defying the Curse, on lessons in leadership, and how a tenacious focus on developing the best organizational culture in professional baseball overcame a 108-year drought.
Attendees raved about the World Culinary Showcase, which featured celebrity chefs from across the country. Attendees had the opportunity to learn the latest cooking practices and trends from acclaimed chefs such as Rick Bayless, whose restaurant Topolobampo won this year’s James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant, Worst Cooks in America host Anne Burrell, and Chopped judge Maneet Chauhan.
Foodamental Studio featured 18 workshops that provided guests with the opportunity to be a part of the action with hands-on demonstrations from top chefs. These interactive classes showcased the latest culinary techniques and trends presented including cooking using Filipino cuisine and flavors with Chef Ricardo Jarquin from Travelle Kitchen + Bar, making the perfect pasta with Osteria Langhe Chef and Owner Cameron Grant, and creating sorbet popsicles with Chicago Athletic Association Hotel Executive Pastry Chef Jove Hubbard.
The 36 FABI (Food and Beverage) Awards recipients were in attendance, representing today’s leading food trends from new takes on gluten-free and vegetarian alternatives to local sourcing initiatives, including vegan mayonnaise, black bean spaghetti, vegetarian gyros, volcanic water, and more.
Honoring equipment and technologies that benefit restaurant operators and increase productivity for back of the house operations, the 18 Kitchen Innovation® Awards recipients put forward their products that specifically address issues including water and energy efficiency, food safety, sanitation, cross-functionality, and space saving.
There were a variety of hot products showcased throughout the three halls, including FABI Award recipient The Beyond Burger: a non-GMO, soy-free, and gluten-free plant-based burger that looks, cooks, and satisfies like fresh ground beef; Beyond Zero: the first commercially available device of its kind capable of automatically freezing pure liquor, wine, or mixed cocktails into ice in a matter of just minutes; and the QuiQsilver Roll-O-Matic™ Silverware Rolling Machine: the silverware/utensil and napkin rolling machine that rolls at the rate of 500 per hour!
BAR, Beverage Alcohol for Restaurants, expanded in its 10th year with expert-led demos and compelling education sessions. Attendees enjoyed the top five cocktail slingers from across the country competing for the title of Star of the Bar, won by Chad Brown of Sacramento’s B-Side. Attendees also maximized their learnings at the brand-new Bar Management Conference, a conference with 18 specialized sessions in four targeted tracks. In his Keynote, The Myths & Misconceptions of Growing Sales, award-winning operator, executive producer, and host of SPIKE TV's Bar Rescue Jon Taffer taught his signature tactics and programs proven to achieve the "Sales Trifecta" of growing new customer traffic, increasing guest frequency, and building guest spend.
About National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show®:
Founded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association (NRA) is the leading business association for the foodservice industry, which comprises more than one million outlets and a workforce of 14.4 million. Located in Washington, DC, the NRA operates the industry’s largest domestic tradeshow (NRA Show, May 19-22, 2018, Chicago); leading food-safety training and certification program (ServSafe); a unique career-building high school program (the NRAEF’s ProStart); as well as the Kids LiveWell program, which promotes healthful kids’ menu options. For more information, visit Restaurant.org or find us on Twitter @WeRRestaurants, Facebook and YouTube.
