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Thank you for watching.
Welcome to the Community Call Podcast.
I am Melissa Travers, Director of Community here at BevNET & NOSH.
We are here with my co-hosts, Monica Watrous and Mike Schneider.
If you're enjoying the show, please follow and review us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you like to listen to podcasts.
So in the last couple of Community Call Podcasts, we have been talking about food trends with organizations like Spins and Nielsen IQ.
Just recently in Forbes, I was reading about their new heart healthy trends, which are pretty on point with everything else we've been hearing.
So they talked about the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet that we are talking about with yomamas, mushrooms, fermented foods.
And then they had something about mindful eating, and they were saying that it can help people with elevated blood pressure stick to a heart healthy diet.
The steps they listed were to ponder whether you're hungry, appraise how it smells, eat slow so you can feel full faster, savor, stop when you're full.
Do you guys do any of this?
I do because my hypothesis was that there's an amount of time that your body thinks that you should be eating.
So the reason you're supposed to chew 15 times, yes, is so you don't choke, but also because it takes time.
So you feel full because you've been chewing, chewing, chewing, and you just get tired of eating, which is part of the win.
I never get tired of eating.
No, me neither.
I think that, no, there is something to that, Mike.
I believe that it's 20 minutes that it takes for your brain to confer with your stomach that you're full.
That's what they say, yeah.
Yeah.
I personally try to eat as fast as possible because that way you make sure you get your share.
Like if you're eating with someone else, you don't want them to get more food than you do.
And if you take too long to eat, then your stomach does shut down and you can't fit as much delicious food in it.
It's basically the opposite of what I...
Mindful eating, yeah.
And what's the difference between mindful eating and intuitive eating?
Those terms get used a lot interchangeably.
And I've read the book about intuitive eating.
It's a lot more about assessing whether you want to eat, but also eating what you want in that moment versus trying to hack some sort of hunger signal by eating something like an apple when you really want a brownie, and then you end up overeating just because you can't really scratch that itch.
So that's part of it.
This is where the whole listen to your body, eat what your body wants kind of thing comes from?
Yeah, I mean, I think that intuitive eating is built on the idea that diets and intentional calorie restriction is something that our bodies are programmed to fight against.
We want to survive.
So inherently, we're going to fight by humping the hormones that signal hunger into your body and making you want to eat and not stay at a...
Well, okay, I could really go down.
I'm not gonna go down this rabbit hole.
I can feel that happening because you have all these snacks in front of you right here.
And whatever Monica's saying, the machine is working.
Well, when I think of snacks that I want to just pour into my mouth quickly so that I can fit as many in my stomach as possible, I definitely think about Doosera.
Mike, why don't you give those a try and tell us what you think?
I just had the opportunity to...
I know, right?
Chat with Kartik Das.
He is the founder of Doosera.
He wanted to make a snack for chai time, which sounds very similar to tea time.
And it's such a tasty little snack.
There are chickpea flour puffs.
He gets his spices from Spice Walla, which is a James Beard award-winning spice house, if you will.
Roasted peanuts from Gujarat, green mango powder.
And then the caramelized white chocolate pieces are very delightful.
It sounds like those are not traditional, but very tasty.
These rule.
I like to throw.
Monica, I'm really sorry that we're so rudely eating right in front of you, but it really is such a nice, but I'm just gonna talk about it even more.
But it really is such a nice combination of crunchy, salty, sweet.
And I do love those caramelized white chocolate chips in there.
Yeah, there are fewer and farther between them the rest of the goodies in here.
But when you get one, you're just like, ooh.
Really delicious, Kartik.
Thank you so much for sending those.
Kartik just joined our Slack community, which you can do as well, slack.bevnet.com.
Join us there.
Tell us what you're thinking about, what your questions are.
Kartik was talking about something that I think would make a really great community call, which is how to scale a CPG brand without taking on large scale capital, which is certainly a question so many brands are asking themselves right now.
So, great, yeah, that gets the evil laugh.
So we're going to work on that.
Well, welcome Kartik to our Slack community.
Great to have you here.
Kartik will be walking Expo West with some samples.
So if you see-
I can't wait to meet him.
I know, he's a great guy, really someone we're rooting for.
And of course the product is delicious, which is such a big part of it.
So getting so many things right.
There's so much traffic at Expo West, paying for an exhibit is no small expense, and certainly brands wanna make sure they're attracting the right folks to their booth.
Monica, I know this is something that you know so much about as you're working on some really great Expo West content for NOSH insiders.
So if you're not an insider already, definitely sign up so you can check all of that out.
In this episode of Community Call, we talked to Goodles, Pocket's Chocolates and Wade Yenny of The Fresh Market to find out how to stand out from the crowd, attract the right people to your booth and make a lasting impression that carries on after the show.
Please enjoy.
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To view the rest, head to win, that's win.bevnet.com/nosh.
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Expo West is coming up quickly.
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Today on Community Call, we are going to be talking about Expo West.
It's at the top of all of our minds and it's coming right up.
We're specifically going to dig into what draws quality traffic to the booths.
Brands spend so much money on Expo West.
So we're here to find out what's worth investing in.
On the brand side, we've got Chris Young, CEO of Pocket's Chocolates, and Dan Chadrow, Creative Director of Goodles.
And then on the decision maker side, we are thrilled to welcome Monica Watrous, Managing Editor of NOSH, and Wade Yenny, VP of Center Store at The Fresh Market.
So we've got the brand side and the decision maker side.
We're going to get to the bottom of this today.
Thank you all so much for joining us on Community Call.
This is going to be a great conversation and it's so great to have you here.
Monica, why don't we start off with you really quickly.
This show is actually a companion piece to a NOSH article that's going to be coming out.
Can you tell us a little bit about the idea in the article?
Yeah, so we're putting together a field guide to Expo West, whether you've been going for 20 years or whether this is your very first rodeo.
And we're going to have a bunch of fun pieces.
It might be a little irreverent, but hopefully practical for anybody who plans on either attending or exhibiting at the show.
Well, thank you so much for that.
Let's dig right in to hear from our brand partners.
Again, we've got Chris from Pocket's Chocolates and Dan from Goodles.
Thanks again so much for joining us.
And I know that we all know you so well, but why don't we just start quickly with just sort of to revisit the brands themselves.
Dan, can you just give us the sort of boilerplate explanation of Goodles and what you all do over there?
Sure.
We're Goodles.
We're noodles gooder.
We essentially make a better for you mac and cheese and pasta that tastes awesome, right?
So the opportunity to kind of do both of those things in one fell swoop is kind of our desire, our magic, our secret sauce, and what we like to share with the world.
We believe in sort of little moments of joy.
We do it with our little noodle and a little bowl, but we also kind of invite everybody else to do it in their own way in the world.
So we're looking to spread joy and a little bit of weirdness, and it's what we try to do at Expo as well.
So that's Goodles in a nutshell.
Pleased to meet y'all.
There's a lot of deliciousness in that secret sauce of yours.
Chris, can you tell us a little bit about Pocket's Chocolates?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So we're Pocket's Chocolates.
We're kindly sweet and seriously fun.
We just do things differently.
Flavors that you haven't really seen in chocolate, and we have fun doing it.
Fantastic.
That's the important part.
All right.
Well, Chris, why don't you start off by telling us a little bit about what your show goals typically are.
If we're going to be able to understand how to attract quality traffic, certainly the whole point of a brand being there is important to understand.
So when you're heading into a show like Expo West, how do you put together your goals and your strategy?
What does that look like?
Yeah.
So two words that I tell my team all the time, they're probably sick of hearing it, are strategic and intentional.
So yeah, like you said, if we are going to make the investment to be at Expo, then we at least should know clear as day what our goals are.
And then we could start to strategize with intention to get there.
So it's usually defining who our hit list is, the key retailers that are on that hit list, and knowing exactly who those buyers are for that retailer and our category.
And then also actually doing consumer data and seeing if we're a good fit and why.
And that way when we meet them, it's not necessarily a cold pitch or a hard pitch.
It's more like, yeah, let's see if this makes sense.
And how many retailers, and it may totally vary from year to year, but how many retailers do you typically have on that hit list?
We try to keep it short.
Last year was three.
This year, oddly enough, it's actually zero.
Not to say that we don't want anybody.
That's not what I'm saying.
It's very good details.
Excellent.
And are retailers the only folks that you have on that hit list?
Who else is on there, if anybody?
It depends on the year, but sometimes in the past, it has been investors.
It has been press, of course, and also a lot of founders.
We find that talking to founders or even potential advisory positions helps itself tremendously.
Dan, how about you?
Can you walk us through how Goodles puts together a strategy for a show like Expo West?
Sure.
I mean, the way we think about Expo is as a place to sort of bring our business goals to life.
So as opposed to looking at the show as something separate, we're first looking at our business goals and our marketing goals and saying, what can we do at Expo that aligns with those?
Right?
So what we do every year is going to be a little bit different because the goals are going to be a little bit different every year.
But whatever that key goal is, that's sort of driving everything.
It's driving the creative brief.
It's driving the conversations we're happening.
It's driving the products we're featuring.
All of that is being lined up against those goals and Expo just becomes a way of expressing those.
We're looking to reach different audiences, but with that same core message, whatever it might be.
So last year, we were about to launch pasta, the little pink boxes right over my left shoulder, right?
So the booth was pink.
The message was about coming in hot pink.
And everything we were doing was about featuring that message.
Obviously, the conversations that we're going to be having with prospective retailer customers is going to be different than we're having with fans or fans-to-be or, you know, prospective brand partners of one kind or another.
But pasta was the focus.
So every year, we look for that focus and then drive it through the different conversations, the different audiences and the different channels.
And in terms of timeline, when do you start reaching out to the folks that you want to stop by?
And does it depend on who those parties are?
Early, but not too early, I think is the sort of the shortest hand answer to that.
Everybody kind of knows Expo is coming.
You know, different folks inside Goodles, sales or ops or R&D or on the brand side are teeing up conversation with the folks.
They expect to be there, they know are going to be there, and we're kind of thinking of it as an easy meeting, right?
It's that gravitational pull of Expo, of Anaheim, right?
And as much as it's a place to show up, to showcase or tell the story, whatever the story of the year might be, we also know it's just a good time for that, you know, pheromonal productivity.
That's kind of the way I talk about actually being able to meet with people face to face, right?
We get to kind of smell each other a little bit and have those conversations that have been sort of relegated only to Zoom or to the phone.
So early, but not too early to get back to your question.
It's definitely a feast for the senses at that show.
And actually, I'd love to hear from our decision makers on Timeline.
Wade, when do brands start reaching out to you and to your team to stop by, and what's the most effective?
Well, it's kind of a difficult question.
When we look at most of my team, and I solicited them before jumping on to kind of get a well-rounded view of how they approach the show, because it's kind of a divide-and-conquer approach.
Everybody kind of has their own category, so they have their own itinerary that they want to get around and see.
And the consensus for most of the team, myself included, was they take very little, if any, meetings, because they want the show to happen organically and be able to experience the show and get around.
And the feeling was oftentimes with the traffic that is Expo and just the sheer volume of people, it's difficult to stop and have meaningful conversations as it pertains to what they're looking for or kind of what their objectives are.
So maybe an impromptu or a stop-by, exchange of cards or some conversation with regards to how to follow up or something like that is a little less intimidating for the group as opposed to trying to stop when there's literally thousands of people coming by and either trying to look over your shoulder or something like that.
But as far as reaching out, we start getting probably, I'd say, a good six, eight weeks out, here's my booth number, stop by, those kind of things.
And while the majority of the group may not necessarily have formal meetings or schedule day by day, they certainly on each of their own accord have kind of a list of where they want to stop.
And they're going to do that on their own, like I said, organically as opposed to, okay, I'll be at this booth at 1.15 and then realize in half an hour they have to be three floors over or building over and trying to hit that next one.
So that's kind of our approach as we look at it.
And I know that certainly you don't, it sounds like you don't book a lot of meetings, which I think is music to the ears of so many brands who are listening in here.
For the meetings that you do set, do those typically wind up being with brands who are already partners as a way to sort of catch up?
That's always how it seemed anecdotally to me.
Yeah, yeah.
I think, again, in talking to the group, I think that was pretty much the focus on all of their plates as far as looking at making contact with some people maybe they haven't seen since last show or maybe a few months out.
And oftentimes those meetings happen at the early part of the morning or towards the end of the show so that that gives that freedom on each end of the spectrum to be able to get around and make their rounds.
But I'd say that's spot on as far as not necessarily booking appointments with new brands, rather they're going to stop by and let the booths draw their attention as far as they're walking the floor and use those meeting times if they schedule them for existing brands or existing relationships.
And Monica, how about NOSH?
When do you see brands start to reach out and what would your suggestion be?
So yeah, we probably start getting press releases and emails about a month to maybe two months out.
I think kind of January rolls around and then we're starting to think about Expo.
I say, you know, please share as much as you can as early as you can to help us figure out what we need to cover, what we need to look for.
Share your big brand news under embargo if that helps you feel like you want to have a big reveal at the show.
So, you know, whatever you can share with us ahead of time is super helpful because it is a huge show and there's only a few of us out there trying to cover all of it.
Similar to Wade's point, historically, I've just gone to the show and not scheduled meetings, so I can make sure to try to stop by through every aisle because time is of the essence.
But can I just throw my email address out there as one way that people can...
Okay, so M-W-A-T-R-O-U-S at bevnet.com.
We also have our new submission section on our site.
Please reach out and let us know where you're going to be exhibiting, and we'll do our best to share it with our audience.
All right.
Let's go back to Dan and Chris for our next topic of discussion.
Where do you invest money to attract booth traffic?
I mean, just sort of being there alone is certainly not a small expense.
And then when you figure in the cost of samples, the cost of swag, the cost of having your team there, it's especially for emerging brands, but certainly even for more well-established brands, it really is a tricky thing to make sure that you're not just hemorrhaging money.
Where do you invest money to attract quality traffic?
Dan, why don't we start with you?
I know that you guys have had some really cool swag in the past.
You guys did the stuffed mac and cheese bowls.
You had the conveyor belt.
There are so many fun things that Goodles has done.
How do you decide where to invest money and how does it align with the goals that you set up for the show?
Well, for us, from a brand perspective, Joy, plus a little weird, we want to make sure that's coming through in our booth.
So how we show up matters.
We put a little bit of effort into what we're wearing.
Last year it was pink jumpsuits.
You know, this year it'll be something else.
Stay tuned.
But even what's on our bodies is kind of conveying that sense of smile.
It's really what we're looking to do.
Certainly the booth itself, its design, again, keeping in mind whatever sort of objective we've set out, how it's lining up with what we're doing with the brand at the time.
We want to make sure we execute that in a way that's going to get a bit of a wow.
So that's sort of part of the brief, that little wow, that eyebrow raise, the thing that's a little weird, that's part of the brief and it's driving what we do.
And so we do invest there.
We invest in the video content that comes with it.
That same brief is driving what's on the screen, not just the booth in which that screen lives.
It's driving what our premiums might be, our highly collectible party favors.
That stuffy, it still blows my mind.
What kind of interaction folks have with that stuffy.
It's irrational in the best possible way, that interaction, sort of the emotions it elicits in people.
So we really, we make an investment in those things because people remember them.
I think one of the nice things we also try to do is allow the booth to be a bit of a potential memory maker for people.
So this is the smallest tactical thing possible, but we're always finding a place that's photo worthy within the booths.
So if someone wants to get a snap and say they were there, that's a nice little thing.
We're always looking for that spot.
In year one, it was a cascading noodle wall.
Last year, it was a wall that actually featured a product, featured our packaging as a kind of a backdrop, and we'll be doing something similar this year as well.
So it's worth investing in kind of keeping those things in mind, that consistency from year over year, what are the things that are working, and that's certainly one of them.
For something like the cascading noodle wall, that sounds perfect for an influencer to post on TikTok or Instagram or whatever.
Do you have any examples of either influencers that you went after that you tried to draw to the booth or that were a little bit more serendipitous and that working out well for you?
You know, without getting too specific, I think where we have seen great success is cultivating relationships with influencers, sort of micro influencers, influencers at a much sort of lower audience rate.
We find that you sort of get a critical mass of those folks together.
It's inevitable that a lot of them will overlap with food, not lifestyle, but food, and therefore a high likelihood of those folks being at a show like Expo is there.
So we make sure if we know they're going to be there, we're having those conversations.
And that's again, just looking at the booth in as much as it is an attempt to showcase, it's a little bit of a gravitational pull point for us.
We're trying to leave as little to chance as possible, get conversations out there with folks ahead of time so they come to us and have the conversations with us, whoever they may be.
I think you mentioned expo is an opportunity to flex a little bit.
It certainly seems like a way to sort of communicate the creativity of the brand and the people working at the brand and leave attendees with a lasting impression of that.
That's the hope.
And then I have one last question for you.
So when we're thinking about swag in the way of stuffed mac and cheese balls, I would have to, and actually, are those, now I'm just going to go down the rabbit hole, where did you get those?
Were those custom made?
Did someone's grandmother make those?
How did that work out?
We knew what we wanted.
The beautiful thing about the world we're living in now is if you can imagine it, someone's probably already making it or at least making something like it so you can get a conversation started.
We're always looking for opportunities.
If we find a partner, you want to only build so much yourself and then you want to find experts to help you build.
But places where we can customize and vary.
So even with something as simple as the stuffed mac and cheese, our mac and cheese stuffy, what we did in year two with it was different than what we did in year one.
And perhaps you might even see a version of the stuffy this year that's a little different than last year's.
But that goes to all our premiums, all our highly collectible party favors.
You know, it could be a key chain, it could be a sticker.
We're looking for ways that are cost effective, but still kind of amplify and carry the brand for us when we're not there.
And Expo's a great sort of launch point for those things.
So, you know, once you sort of built the brand world and you have that aesthetic, finding inexpensive ways to apply it and amplify it, I mean, Expo's a great jumping off point for that.
Chris, for Pocket's Chocolates, how do you typically look at things like sampling?
I know that you made a comment about how Expo West is a place for people to try and enjoy things.
How do you look at sampling for something like Pocket's Chocolates?
I know it's not an inexpensive product.
How do you decide what to give away?
We really believe in our products.
I should start by saying that we're very passionate about what we do.
And so we figured it's the once a year opportunity where the entire industry gets together and sees what's new and tries new things.
And these are potential consumers, they're potential retailers, they're all the above.
And so the way we look at it is while we're there, let's just give out as many packaged samples as we can.
I just feel like the little souffle cups with a few bites in it doesn't quite do it justice.
Of course, that depends on the product.
I don't think Goodles can hand out a box to every single person.
But yeah, for brands like us, we can just make a smaller pack that we can then distribute and give out thousands and thousands and thousands at Expo.
We found that to be one of the most important investments that we make if we're going to be at Expo.
And then also, yeah, the swag, like tote bags and all those are good.
We found that if all of us wear matching swag that has high leverage, people start recognizing it, people start pulling us aside on the...
If we're walking down the hallways, it works.
It gets people's attention.
And then wear it to the happy hours, too.
I was just going to ask.
And then it's just visual reference.
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Thanks for watching!
So are you wearing your branded merchandise basically anytime you leave your hotel room, even in the hotel room, I'm just kidding, whenever you leave the hotel room.
Yeah, sometimes we do have a few different ones, and then we like coordinate it.
It sounds cheesy, but yeah, we don't want to wear the same thing for four days straight.
So yeah, yeah, but yes, we do.
And then I think another investment that I think is worth pointing out, it's so simple.
It's one of the lowest cost, high impact investments is electricity.
I know a lot of newer brands are hesitant to pay the fee because it is overpriced, but the amount of difference that can be had just by having light or something at your booth is quite phenomenal.
In terms of ROI, I think it's one of the best.
When you say lights, are you talking about like a fancy neon light that says Pocket's Chocolates?
What are you thinking?
Not just anything to illuminate your booth.
It could be, you know, like some of the shelves that you might have have like lights.
I actually don't know what they're called, but more like accent lights, not like spotlights in your face, but just something to make the booth pop a little bit, glow maybe.
Yep.
That's something that my marketing team works on for every year, actually.
Mood lighting is always very important.
Dan, you actually, I'm just remembering, you mentioned that you always make sure to invest in, was it a closet?
Yeah, it seems like the smallest thing.
First of all, I second the light that's spot on.
I'd love to think that the wonderful graphics and video content we're creating is compelling, but the fact that it is on a backlit screen, that is like job one is pulling people over.
So there's definitely benefit there.
And then of course, the content we're hoping is compelling.
But yeah, storage, like it seems like the smallest thing, but like when you're designing a booth, there's a balancing act.
How much are you relegating to different purposes?
You just want to make sure you have enough space for your samples, you have enough space for your collateral.
And if that means a quiet conversation with the folks who are going to be at the booth that says, don't bring your backpacks because we don't have room for them, that's a good conversation to have with the squad before everybody heads into the expo.
So that's just, it's a small thing, but it's a thing that I've seen overlooked and it can create problems.
Great stuff.
Wade, why don't we hear from you?
What attracts you to a booth and what's the swag that you take home with you versus leave in the hotel room?
What are the samples that you actually eat or take home with you?
From your perspective, what makes sense for a brand to invest in?
So I think Chris and Dan teed things up pretty well.
You know, some of the notes I have that, just some single words that I have here, I have aesthetics, clean graphics, bright colors, trend and how it relates to booth design.
You know, Dan mentioned, you know, the pink, you know, and I can see automatically how that would draw people in, you know, whether it's, you know, from your packaging to your team's outfits, to the booth colors, stylish tote bags.
That was something else that I had in my notes here.
You know, I mean, there's a zillion tote bags, but if there's something you can do to stand out, and you know, everyone needs a bag at Expo because they're going to be carrying things around, carrying samples around.
I'm kind of the odd person out as far as taking things back because I like to be very nimble while I'm at the show.
And the last thing I want to do is carry around an extra 50 pounds in addition to a backpack that probably has a laptop or something in it.
So more often than not, if I want a sample, if I can't consume it on site right then and there, I might give my card and say, hey, can you send me something as opposed to having to, you know, get an extra suitcase or something, get a carry-on back when I fly back home.
But the other thing that I think, you know, it kind of goes without saying, but Dan and Chris didn't mention is one of the biggest investments I think you can make is in people.
As far as one of the biggest mistakes I see with booths is that either you don't have enough people and so someone comes by and they can't get the attention.
Maybe they want to ask a question or something like that.
Or the person you have at the booth is knee deep in their cell phone or just doing anything but being attentive to the traffic that's coming by.
So I think a big investment that you can make is in the people that you have at the show.
Make sure the person will make sure they understand that they're there to draw attention to your booth, whether it's greeting people as they go by or doing something wacky.
The last thing you want is an introvert that is just going to be with their back to the traffic flow and not paying attention to all that potential business and attention that's going by at a rapid pace.
I think that's something that a lot of people underestimate.
That's a great point about people.
And when you mentioned that, I'm wondering what should everybody at a booth be prepared with in terms of information when a buyer comes by?
What does everybody either need to know or have someone there who knows?
Just the basics at a bare minimum.
We talk about suggested retail price, a little bit about the story if it's not easily accessible or already known.
Launch date, if it's new product, as far as if your introduction is at expo, when is it gonna be in market?
What's your current distribution?
What are, as far as what retailers are you in currently?
What distributors do you have across the country?
And I think those are the bare minimums.
I mean, certainly I could keep going forever, but as far as you have to have those basics, what's the product sell for?
When can I get it?
Where can I get it?
And where is it being sold currently?
Those four, I think, at a bare minimum you have to have.
Fantastic.
Monica, how about you?
What gets your attention?
And I'm gonna seed this conversation with a topic that you and I were talking about when we were imagining the show.
There is a tote bag that certainly stood out in your mind from last year's show.
There was.
So I think a lot of people who attended Expo West last year were talking during and after the show about this coveted Yumi bag.
It was like this really big Hunter Green, just eye-catching.
I don't know, it just stood out.
I never got one, so I can't describe it that well, because when I went back to that booth, they didn't have anymore.
But that was one of those that was like a real show talker.
I don't know how much the team invested in those, but I remember it really made an impact.
And then talking about booth decor, one of the things that stood out to me last year that got me to try the products was the Bad Tea Company.
They had a really fun, almost like a plate smasher type apparatus in their booth.
They gave you all these breakables to choose from and that you were able to just crush like a china plate in this little apparatus.
And it was very Instagrammable.
And unforgettable.
And it just kind of played into this idea of we're a naughty tea party, you know, like we're irreverent, we're fun and try our ready to drink tea.
So those are the two examples that really stand out to me when I think about Last Expo.
If you're allowing people at the show to smash plates, you're definitely gonna draw a crowd because there are a lot of those aisles that you can't move through and they make you feel crazy.
How do you feel about booths that have an enormous crowd around them?
Monica, let's start with you.
Do you avoid those because it's just too crazy and you know you're not gonna be able to talk to anybody?
When I talk about trying to conserve my time on the show floor, if I see a big, busy booth, then I maybe take a picture of it as a reminder to go back later and visit maybe when the traffic is a little less intense.
Because obviously there's something going on there that is worth me checking out, but I'm also not going to spend 20 minutes of precious expo time standing in a line and waiting to see what it is.
So, I mean, it gets my attention, but it's not something that I'm going to stop for necessarily.
All right, so you're making a note to go back.
Wade, how about you, if you see a booth that's like three layers deep in people, are you going to muscle your way to the front or are you going to skip it or go back to it?
I might try and peek around one of the edges to see what all the hype's about.
I also at times might use that as an opportunity if there is a sample there to grab it without having to be pinned down and have a long conversation that maybe I don't want to have.
So I can probably argue either way.
But the other thing I just thought of, not to change the subject, but I thought of about investment that might be a good idea.
At least, again, I'm probably the oddball person as far as it comes from a, I'm probably not the average buyer, decision maker as far as that goes.
But one of the things that is a little bit of a pet peeve of mine is by the end of expo or any food show for that matter, you might have an encyclopedia's worth of salesheets, right?
And you talk about things that are gonna end up in the hotel room or not make it back.
Invest in a QR code that your person can come by and scan and hit it and it'll lead you there and take you to something like that.
So they have it on their device as opposed to a piece of paper that's probably gonna not make it back to the buyer's office, let alone our hotel room.
It might not even make it outside the exhibition hall.
So something they can have electronically, right then and there they can hit if they're interested and do on their phone, I think is a great idea as far as minimizing, again, that overwhelmingly of samples and swag and sale sheets.
I think that's another good idea.
I have an unpopular opinion.
I actually love those sale sheets.
It's really helpful for me to have a stack of them as I'm going back to my hotel and thinking about what do I wanna write about?
What are some of the more interesting products that I saw?
So having something tangible really helps me out.
But to your point, there's a lot of things to grab on the show floor and a lot of things to take back with you when you're heading home.
And if I'm super interested, I just tend to take a picture.
I just, even on the sale sheet, that way I have it to your point.
That's exactly what I did last year.
If there wasn't a QR code, I took a picture of it rather than having to take that piece of paper.
It's like, check, this is one I wanna follow up on.
Let's go back to the brands.
Chris, let's start with you.
How many expos is this for you now?
Oh, we've been doing it since 2019.
And how many other shows...
Were you saying that Expo West really is the show that you prioritize?
It is now, yeah.
We used to do about seven, seven-ish, maybe more trade shows a year.
And I think as of last year, we decided like, let's only do Expo West.
Why is that?
Just found it to be the highest quality engagements.
It's certainly the most expensive.
But I think what we've found is that it's much more worth our investment to go there.
Of course, if we are trying to expand into more conventional candy, maybe we'll go to sweets and snacks.
Or if we're going to convenience stores, maybe we'll go to next or fancy food.
And how have your show goals for Expo West changed since 2019?
It's very different, and thankfully it is.
In 2019, we had no idea what we're doing.
We just thought, you know, everyone's going to Expo.
We need to do this, and we did it.
And our expectations were totally off.
We didn't really understand much about the industry.
Still had a great time.
We still met Whole Foods and, you know, Kroger and Albert Sins and all sorts of people, but we didn't really know how to actually leverage that or how to play our cards right.
But yeah, now we're just much more, again, strategic and intentional about what we do.
We know who we want to talk to.
And then it has to make sense for both sides, right?
So we would actually study their sets and know why our items would benefit their category as a whole, giving them a category story is what we call it.
And then also just being able to recognize them in person, in real life, if you see them.
So yeah, like we go a little bit deeper into the specific areas that we actually want to excel in.
And then yeah, we also do a lot more networking at Expo.
That wasn't really a thing in 2019 and of course throughout COVID, but now I make it my sole priority to go out there and meet founders that I've never met face to face or investors or press or buyers.
And also things like happy hours.
Last year we did a happy hour that was a pretty big success.
And that just brought the community together.
And yeah, I think it's just a lot of leverage and those types of interactions.
Dan, how many Expo West has Goodles done at this point?
This will be our third.
And how have your show goals changed over the years?
They've grown up with us.
Year one at Expo, it was pre bricks and sticks, it was pre Series A, we were goodles.com, selling a little four boxes of mac and cheese on a website.
We had teed up good relationships with decision makers, and we're using the show just like we always do to kind of have those conversations, but we weren't in any doors yet.
We were brand new, so that was as much a coming out party for us to sort of put ourselves out there and say, this is who we are, this is how we are and why we are, and invite people into our joy and a little weird.
It was our first opportunity to share that with the marketplace.
And then over time, as we grew, our objectives changed as we've grown, and we use Expo sort of as I alluded to earlier to kind of line up with what those objectives are.
So as we've scaled who we're talking to, how many quality conversations we're having is growing with us.
There are so many brands out there who are using this Expo West sort of as a coming out party, even if they haven't just launched as a way to bring exposure to who they are and what they're doing.
Do you have any advice for brands who are really in that stage, who are at Expo West to kind of put the signal out and kind of get the CPG community to understand that they exist?
I mean, again, this is a creative perspective, so keep that in mind.
But having a strong sense of brand, because it will act as an amplifier for you, walking into the show is incredibly important.
Understanding who you are, why you are, conveying a specific look, right?
A specific attitude in what you do is going to go beyond what you can do with your own conversation.
So I think that's, especially in the crowded marketplace of Expo, I think that's incredibly important.
I think that eye grab and attention is even more important in that coming out.
I think the other side of it, which is to be a bit more intentional to co-opt my colleague's phrase, is to have as many conversations teed up before you walk in the door as you can.
By the time you're coming out at Expo, you already should have done some of that good pre-work.
Those conversations are not cold.
You already have warm leads lined up.
I mean, I'm not probably telling anybody on this webinar anything they don't already know, but you really have had done some pre-work, even walking into your first one, right?
It can't be that that is day one, even though it's show one.
And when you're doing that pre-work, are you teasing something, like giving them a hint that there's going to be a conveyor belt?
Are you saying, come to our booth because we're going to have a crazy conveyor belt?
Like, is there an approach that you find gets people's attention in that pre-work?
Yes, I would say that we, what we were fond of saying, if I can cast my mind back a couple of years, is that you wouldn't be able to miss us.
It would be unmistakable.
You wouldn't miss us as you walked down the aisle.
You'd know that there was something there and you'd know it was us.
So in other words, folks already having a sense of who we are, how we look, how we act, how we feel our vibe, that sort of is part of that pre-work, making sure that that's in, you know, perspective folks' heads when they're coming into the show.
So I would say yes, we were seeding it a bit.
We didn't tease specifics about the experience, just that you wouldn't be able to miss us.
For the last few minutes of this Community Call, I'd love to dive a little bit more into the minds of our decision makers.
Wade, let's start with you.
When we're thinking about that pre-work that Dan just mentioned, those emails and maybe their mailings, but that outreach that folks do beforehand, what catches your eyes?
Is there any sort of formula that brands can use to catch an eye like yours when I'm sure you're getting so many emails, maybe so many sell sheets before the show?
For me personally, it absolutely can be overwhelming, the amount of emails, just simply because my goal is going to be to try and cover as much real estate as I possibly can.
I really have the intent to, if not stop by, at least walk by every single booth while I'm there.
And so the ones that I'm looking for maybe are ones that I already have relationships with.
I think talking a little bit about what both, I think both Chris and Dan alluded to a little bit as far as being deliberate with who your targets are and making sure that, for example, at The Fresh Market, we don't have vitamins, minerals, supplements.
So if you're reaching out to me in a category that I don't even have, probably not the best use of your time and resources, even if it is just an email.
So I think if I was advising a brand, I would say choose your targets wisely, make sure that you're a good fit, make sure that you're ready to expand.
If it's a large chain, we have 161 stores in 22 states, are you ready for that type of commitment?
Is your supply chain ready for that kind of commitment?
So asking someone like me to stop by your booth, if you're not ready to expand out of Southern California, again, probably not a good target, a good investment on your part.
So I think doing the pre-work on the brand side, as far as who you want to reach out to specifically, if going back to what Chris said, is networking with some peers in the space or maybe a founder that you want to touch base with, solid use of your time, solid decision making as far as reaching out to people like that.
But if you're aiming for the moon and you're not quite there yet, it's probably best to keep centered around where you're going to be able to grow, if that makes sense.
It sure does.
You said that you and your team don't necessarily book your days full of meetings.
How do you plan out your show?
Do you have a hit list of booths that you know you want to see?
Yeah, I go back to existing relationships.
We want to make sure that we go through and see the people that we're already doing business with and touch base with those.
We certainly utilize spins information.
They do a lot of pre-work for us as far as data, as far as what's trending and things like that.
And they kind of put together a little bit of a playbook for us so that we come armed with that.
And then as I said, each category manager is going to kind of have their own hit list as far as, okay, here's my, I don't know, five to eight categories.
And within those categories, here's what I want to look for.
And again, maybe that's, I've done that homework as a category manager.
Maybe I've utilized that spins in information.
Maybe I'm going a little bit of both, but each person is going to kind of come to the table with that information.
And then also there are certainly periods of time where we're together and saying, hey, did you stop by this booth?
And we're sharing that information back and forth.
And for myself, I like to touch base with some of my peers in the space, with larger retailers and some people that I've known over the years.
And we're certainly trading those same conversations.
Hey, I stopped by this one yesterday.
Did you see this?
And so on and so forth.
So that's kind of how we build our plan as far as that goes.
And there's kind of like a debrief after the show or after each day and before each day starts to say, okay, here's what we missed or here's what we want to do.
And kind of you check in your boxes to make sure that you've gone and hit where you want to hit.
And for the boos that aren't on your hit list, if they have someone standing out in the aisle and they say, hey, Wade, come over here or like, you know, folks hunting you down in the aisles, is that annoying?
Is it effective?
It's a little bit of both.
Not having meetings allows me that freedom that I can stop and have that conversation.
The only time I get particularly annoyed is if I'm on the way to go to the bathroom or, you know, trying to hit something that I haven't done.
But no, I do like to stop and talk to as many people as I can.
I think it's, again, smart from the brand side to just be personable, be yourself, and just be approachable, and make sure whether you're going after a target or you're just trying to draw attention to your booth, it can be, you know, having worked for smaller retailers over the years, I want people to have conversation with me because they want to have a conversation about their product and not necessarily just because I'm with the fresh market or because I'm with a large retailer, right?
I mean, certainly I get why you want to have that approach, but at the same time, there's a lot of solid, you know, 10 to 30 store chains out there that, you know, if you aren't giving your attention to people or just, you know, you're looking past the people in front of you to see that buyer that, you know, down there with the 500 store chain, you might miss a lot of people and kind of, you know, throw some off in the meantime.
Can I build on that?
Because I love that thought from Wade, which is that 90% of the conversations that I've had at Expo, rather the first 90% of the conversations I've had at Expo are the same, right?
They're about the product proposition, the brand proposition.
Sure that there's that last 10% that may be about getting into a specific sales conversation or maybe it's ops talking to an ingredient manufacturer.
That's the part that's different, but the part that's the same is most of it, right?
So the ability to have that same genuine conversation, we try to make sure that all of the folks who are going to Expo from the company, they're all kind of hip to what that same core 90% is.
And that's what just keeps it real.
Monica, how about you?
How does NOSH plan out the show?
Do you have a hit list of booze that you know you want to hit?
What gets your attention?
I want to echo Wade's point, do your homework.
We don't write about household or personal care products, so it's not going to be a fit for us, and I don't want to waste your time by having you reach out and follow up when it's not something that we would cover.
And then also, I think, you know, we're really interested in that new new, so anything that you can share ahead of time that really gives us a glimpse of that big debut on the show floor is really helpful for us.
We promise to keep it under wraps until the show starts, but share early, and you don't need to share often.
We got it the first time.
You don't need to follow up.
But we will try our best to keep all of that stuff in mind as we head to Anaheim.
Great advice.
Thank you so much, Wade and Monica.
In closing, really quickly, Dan, can you tell us what Goodles has on tap for Expo West 2024?
What should we keep our eyes peeled for?
Well, we're going to continue to demonstrate how we're growing by showcasing different products.
There might be a few surprises there.
We're going to continue to spread joy and a little weird and inspire people to do the same.
And I suspect there will be a stuffier to be had.
So stay tuned.
Can't wait.
Chris, how about you for Pocket's Chocolates?
What should we be very excited about for this year's Expo West?
The focus for us this year is all about innovation and showcasing some of our recent and upcoming co-branded products.
We'll try our best to have samples, enough samples to give out to as many people as needed.
So yeah, come try it.
It'll be good.
It's fun.
Can't wait for that.
Thank you all so much for joining us on this Community Call.
Really appreciate all of the advice and information you all shared.
That concludes another episode of the Community Call Podcast.
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