Both attendee and exhibitor numbers showed positive growth at the 91st annual NRA Show. The increases highlight the NRA Show's position in the restaurant and hospitality industry. The Show is the biggest and more complete international forum for the equipment, products, services and information that operators need to grow their business.
The NRA Show 2010 was held at Chicago's McCormick Place May 22-25.
The NRA Show 2010 attracted more than 58,000 registrants - a six percent increase over 2009 - from 120 countries, up from 107 countries in 2009. Approximately 1,700 exhibitors, covering more than 480,000-square-feet, showcased the most innovative new products and services on the market today.
"NRA Show 2010 was a tremendous success, and we have received excellent feedback from both exhibitors andattendees about the high energy and wide array of easily accessible business solutions showcased on the tradeshow floor," said Ira Cohn, Convention Chair for NRA Show 2010 and President of ARAMARK Business and IndustryGroup. "The Show provides a valuable, efficient, and cost-effective opportunity to interact, under one roof, withall aspects of the foodservice industry from throughout the world. I'm sure that all attendees will return home energized, optimistic, and ready to implement the solutions they discovered.
"This year's NRA Show and associated IWSB Event (International Wine Spirits and Beer Event) were both complemented by an impressive lineup of education sessions. These sections addressed industry imperatives such as: "jobs and careers;" "food and healthy living;""sustainability and social responsibility," and "profitability and entrepreneurship." The unprecedented number ofsessions covered everything from the mobile foodservice craze that has taken the United States by storm to word-of-mouth marketing, and from social media to rooftop gardens and much more. The NRA Show is the only Show inthe World that offers 70+ FREE education sections.
Another highlight of the Show was the introduction of its World Culinary Showcase. At the World Culinary Showcase some of the world’s most celebrated chefs and culinary innovators showed their skills in high-energy,interactive cooking demonstrations all four days of the NRA Show. Among the Chefs that performed culinary demonstrations were Mexican Celebrity Chef Federico Lopez, Rick Bayless, Turkish Chef Hande Bozdogan - who heads the Istanbul Culinary Institute, New Zeland’s Graham Brown – who won Culinary Olympics Gold Medalwinner in 1988 and 1997 and French Chefs Nils Noren and David Arnold from the French Culinary Institute.
The NRA Show also had new specialty Pavilions. Together with the acclaimed Organic and Natural Pavilion, participants could walk for the first time in 2010 an area completely dedicated to green products and solutions. The Conserve Solutions Center was created specifically to help participants to easy find “sustainability related” products andservices. With surveys from the National Restaurant Association stating that more than 56% of Americans aremore likely to visit a restaurant that utilizes organic products and support green initiatives, the Show was quick to react and expand its organic and sustainable section. In addition, participants can also visit the international known NRA pavilions such as American Food Fair, Smart Design, Technology Pavilion and the International Cuisine Pavilion among others.