On March 19, 2013, SBN successfully hosted its 2nd Buy Local Trade Show and Seminar at the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center in Boston, despite being hit by a fierce New England snow storm!
The theme for this year’s Buy Local Trade Show was “Overcoming Barriers to Greater Specialty Crop Integration,” and was attended by:
- Massachusetts and New England-based wholesale specialty and non-specialty crop growers, fishermen and value-added producers who were looking to connect to buyers.
- Massachusetts and New England-based wholesale buyers, including college and healthcare institutions, restaurants, retail grocers and more.
- Exhibitors that support or do business with food growers, producers or buyers.
This event was designed to facilitate connections and stimulate trade between local buyers and sellers of specialty crop food products, and included expert panel discussions and open floor trading. The Buyer and Seller Seminars generated interest from more than 100 people and they were extremely well-received. Buyers came as far as Maine Public Schools and NH Dining Services.
SBN registered 48 Sellers and 86 buyers in advance of the Trade Show.
Of those who attended:
100% of Trade Show participants, both Buyers and Sellers, rated their experience as good, very good or excellent.
100% of Trade Show participants rated the Buyer and Seller Seminars as good, very good or excellent.
On the day of the trade show, each specialty crop seller met an average of 7-8 potential buyers.
36% of sellers left the trade show with at least one new trade agreement established. The remaining 64% were confident that their networking and information exchange would result in a sales transaction in the weeks and months following the event
100% of participants (both buyers and sellers) expressed an interest in attending a Trade Show in the future.
The high enrollment rates, positive feedback, and pre-event surveys indicating current vs. desired wholesale buying/selling practices proved that the Buy Local Trade Show fills an important need within both the local seller and buyer community and SBN looks forward to continuing to provide this important venue for local buyers and sellers.
Thank you to everyone who participated in transforming our local food system; and a
special thank you to the Seaport Hotel & World Trade Center and our partners, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR), Northwest Marine Alliance and Health Care Without Harm. We could not have done this work without your generous and continuous support!