Coronavirus Concerns Postpone More Food Shows
Industry trade shows continue to face delays and cancellations due to the spread of COVID-19 (also known as the novel coronavirus.) Today, the upcoming SNAXPO convention, scheduled for March 22-24 in Charlotte, North Carolina, was cancelled, while Shoptalk was postponed until September. The Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing Expo North America was also postponed yesterday. This follows the postponement of Natural Products Expo West earlier this week.
Elizabeth Avery, president and CEO of trade organization SNAC International, which produces snack convention SNAXPO, said in a statement that the event expected “significantly reduced attendance” due to corporate travel restrictions, which ultimately led to the cancellation. The organization will explore possibilities of rescheduling the event this year, Avery said, but for now, all exhibitors and sponsors will receive refunds. SNAXPO is an international snack industry convention that welcomes exhibitors and attendees from across the supply chain, from snack startups to larger corporations, ingredient suppliers and software companies. In 2019, SNAXPO hosted 1,171 attendees in Orlando.
“We are committed to serving the needs of the snack industry and its supply chain and will stay in close contact as we have more information to share,” Avery said.
Meanwhile, retail conference Shoptalk’s organizers have rescheduled the 8,000-person event for September 14-17 in Las Vegas, where it was originally scheduled to occur March 22-25. The annual event covers trends and innovations in retail — and will this year welcome its first all-female speaker lineup, according to a company statement. But for now, safety was crucial, the company noted.
“The guidance of various health and safety organizations and our commitment to ensuring the wellbeing of our community necessitated the shift,” a company statement said. “We considered input from many of our sponsors, attendees and speakers, as well as the impact of widespread corporate travel restrictions during March across the retail industry.”
Shoptalk plans to transition its sponsors and speakers to the new dates — along with transferring all attendee tickets to the new date. According to a Tweet posted Thursday afternoon, Shoptalk has already reconfirmed over 100 speakers for the September event. Meanwhile, its sister event, Groceryshop, which was scheduled for September, will instead be held in Spring 2021, with more details expected in the next 90 days.
Additionally yesterday, grocery association Independent Grocers Alliance (IGA) cancelled its annual Global Rally scheduled for March 9-11 in Nashville. The event hosts independent retailers and food distributors, and although postponing it was “not an easy decision,” IGA CEO John Ross said yesterday in a statement, the business’ China-based team is in a much tougher situation: IGA China’s headquarters is located in Wuhan, where the virus first emerged, and its China-based stores have remained open, despite multiple business disruptions, he said.
Today, the Senate voted 96 to 1 to approve an $8.3 billion emergency spending bill to tackle the coronavirus outbreak, which has been sent to the White House. As of press time, the U.S. has seen over 150 COVID-19 cases and 11 deaths so far, according to The Washington Post.
