2008 PRESS RELEASES
March 3, 2008
VIRGINIA COMPANIES INVITED TO EXHIBIT AT VIRGINIA FOOD AND BEVERAGE EXPO
Contact: Marion Horsley 804.225.3820
It’s a potential $1 million sales opportunity for Virginia food and beverage companies and it only happens every other year.
The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) is inviting companies which grow, produce or process food and beverage products in Virginia to showcase them to hundreds of food industry buyers at the Virginia Food and Beverage Expo. The event will be held on Wednesday, May 14, 2008, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the new Greater Richmond Convention Center in downtown Richmond, Virginia.
The Expo will give exhibitors a one-day opportunity to present and sell their products in one convenient location to hundreds of buyers from grocery and specialty stores, institutions, restaurants, hotels, inns, distributors and brokers from the Mid-Atlantic area and beyond. The show is open exclusively to culinary trade buyers and the public is not admitted.
To participate in the Food and Beverage Expo, exhibitors must be Virginia-based companies which produce, process or manufacture a food or beverage product in the Commonwealth. Product labels must have a Virginia address.
Exhibitors at the most recent Expo ranged from large, nationally-known companies to small entrepreneurs. They presented a diverse selection including desserts, snack foods, condiments, wines, baked goods, peanuts, confections, meats, seafood, ciders and ales.
Exhibiting companies which manufactured and sold a new product between April 26, 2007 and April 25, 2008 are eligible to enter the Best New Product Competition. Products must be totally new; a change in product packaging or container size does not qualify as a new product.
Booths are reserved on a first-come, first-served, paid-in-full basis. To ensure that exhibitor information is included in the show program, VDACS must receive completed registrations by April 25, 2008.
Click here for additional details and the exhibitor registration form. For questions, contact Lisa Lloyd at 804.786.4278 or via e-mail at lisa.lloyd@vdacs.virginia.gov.