The National Convenience Show (NCS) 2016 in Birmingham attracted hundreds of visitors from the retail and convenience industry during its run at Birmingham’s NEC from 18-20 April.
Partnered by Debangstix, Friesland Campina, Booker Wholesale and General Mills, the event drew crowds with a portfolio of top exhibitors including Nestle and Bernard Matthews. Those from the industry came to learn about the latest trends in the sector, as well as the hottest products and insights into the current day consumer.
More than 32 percent of floor space is already rebooked for next year’s National Convenience Show with 35 companies already signing up again. They include Nestle, Debangstix, DSL Group, Your Cash and HTEC.
Speaking about last week’s show, Lauren Dellard-Lyle, Events & Activation Specialist for Nestle, said: “We had so much interest at our stand. People seemed very happy with our coffee and we got a lot of good quality leads to follow up on from big companies to smaller independents. We have been here for at least the last three years and have already rebooked for next time – it is definitely worth the time and travel.”
The show’s Great New Idea competition attracted more than 30 entries with Pelican Rouge Coffee Roasters BV walking away with the Best New Idea accolade. Its range of wholebean, roast and ground coffees stole the show and Steven May, International Sales Manager, was presented with the award by David Rees, editor of Convenience Store Magazine.
Speaking at the ceremony, May said: “NCS 2016 has given Pelican Rouge the perfect launch pad for the new Blends and Pod range. We’ve had an amazing opportunity to speak to retailers about a quality premium coffee offering which gives them a really good margin at an attractive consumer price point.
Winning Great New Idea has topped off what has been a brilliant week for Pelican Rouge at the National Convenience Show – we can’t wait to come back next year!”
Exhibitors eXpresso Plus and Haagen-Dazs were announced as runners up, with the Lavazza Eleganza vending machine that offers a complete hot drinks menu, and the new Stick Bars available exclusively for the convenience channel, respectively.
The attractions didn’t end there, as the show hosted an action-packed speaker programme across the three days. Highlights included a panel on ‘Healthy customers, healthy profits’, which saw Kash Khera, Managing Director at Simply Fresh, join a panel alongside Belle Nairac, New Business and Client Manager at him!, where they discussed how consumers’ lifestyles are changing and what retailers need to do to remain competitive.
In the era of coffee-to-go, a panel on the importance of the well-loved drink in retail was well attended. Harvey Headley, New Business Manager of Jacks Beans, was joined by a group of retailers who discussed how installing coffee-to-go in their stores has driven footfall and added incremental business.
Michael Skinner, Business Manager, Fayrefield Foods, attended the show and said: “I had a good time at the show and I made a lot of good new leads. It’s important to make an effort to come to the show as a visitor as there are lots of opportunities to benefit from.”
Fellow visitor, Jai Singh of MJ’s Local, said: ‘’I hadn’t been to the show for a few years but after this year I will definitely be going every year – I was really impressed with the show overall and The Retailer Hub in particular – the whole event was a fantastic source of great information to help my business.’’
Jack Halliday, Event Director, said: “We had a fantastic mix of exhibitors and the topical sessions covered on the main stage were very well attended. Here’s to the continued growth of this show and the valuable insights it offers retailers.”
The next National Convenience Show will take place from 24-26 April 2017 at the NEC in Birmingham.
