The pizza industry in the Northeast is booming. Regional chains including &pizza are expanding their footprint from the nation’s capital into New York and Shake Shack’s Danny Meyer has launched what many feel could be the next multi-unit concept: Pizzeria Martina.
With that growth in mind, International Pizza Expo®, the largest pizzeria business-to-business trade show in the world, is launching a new two-day trade show that focuses on pizzerias and Italian restaurants. The 2017 Pizza & Pasta Northeast show will incorporate a blend of food demonstrations, contests and educational sessions to augment an exhibit hall showcasing top suppliers for both of these strong foodservice segments.
Under the guidance of seasoned show manager Bill Oakley, the event brings a long and distinguished track record of success from its Las Vegas roots. Now in its 34th Year of serving Independent and Chain Pizzerias, attendees at the ‘Vegas event include pizzeria or pizza-concept restaurant owners, operators and managers, as well as distributors and food brokers.
Exhibitors in New Jersey will include suppliers of pizza ingredients and pizza flour, point-of-sales systems, ovens, kitchen equipment, marketing and promotional materials and many other companies providing goods and services to the pizza restaurant industry.
The show will be held October 17-18, 2017, at the Atlantic City Convention Center, Atlantic City, NJ, just 10 minutes from Atlantic City International Airport in Egg Harbor Township, NJ, and just an hour drive from the Philadelphia International Airport. Atlantic City was chosen for several reasons, including its central location on the East Coast, access to the largest concentration of pizzerias and Italian restaurants in the U.S., a top-notch convention center and affordable first-class hotel and dining options.
The 2017 Pizza & Pasta Northeast show will deliver a one-stop shop exhibit hall where Italian and pizza-concept restaurant owners can meet face-to-face with leading national and regional industry suppliers. Attendees will also have access to food demonstrations that will focus on new and traditional, Italian ingredients, flavors and products — allowing attendees to stay on top of consumers’ growing desire for pizza and pasta menu items. The education program will spotlight current menu trends, as well as top-level business and marketing education sessions.
Show organizers are looking to integrate a strong pasta component as part of the experience for both Italian restaurateurs and pizzeria owners and operators.
“No tradeshow would be the same without a few top-notch, world-class competitions,” said Pete Lachapelle, Vice President and Publisher of Pizza Expo and Pizza Today magazine. “We’ll be on a quest to find the perfect combination of pasta, sauce and other ingredients that sets a signature pasta dish apart from the rest of the competition. Our newest cook-off will pit 20 of the world’s best pasta perfectionists against each other to find who’s the ‘Best of the Northeast.’ And as most everyone knows, pizza in this country was born in the Northeast, so we’re proud to announce our partnership with Antimo Caputo and Orlando Foods to hold the annual U.S. ‘Caputo Cup’ competition at our Northeast show. At the third annual U.S. competition, contestants will be invited to compete in two categories: Traditional Neapolitan and New York Style.”
The New England region combined with Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. is home to more than 28,000 Italian restaurants and pizzerias, making this region No. 1 in the U.S. in terms of the total number of pizzerias and Italian restaurants. This means one-third of the country’s operators, generating 30 percent of the industry’s revenue, are located in one tightly condensed geographic area.
“This is in no way a replacement to Pizza Expo for East Coast pizzeria operators and their staffs, but more of an opportunity to let them be a part of this regional two-day experience,” said Bill Oakley, Group Show Director – Food Group. “Most of our eastern U.S. attendees have two days of travel in order to attend the Expo, making it difficult to attend the entire four-day show, which would keep them from their pizzeria for an entire week. This event is a natural progression and one that we hope will allow more restaurateurs and pizzeria operators the opportunity to experience some of the things they have been missing for years are now at the International Pizza Expo. Adding some new twists to this new event should make it a very compelling event to attend.”
Now in its 33rd year, International Pizza Expo® is the world’s largest industry event with more than 1,100 booths, 460 exhibitors and 7,000 attendees, Pizza Expo is owned and operated by Emerald Expositions, a leading operator of large business-to-business trade shows in the United States, producing more than 50 trade shows and more than 100 face-to-face events in total, including conferences, summits and other events. Emerald Expositions connects more than 335,000 sellers and buyers each year and operates within the U.S. in 10 end markets (Gift, Home, General Merchandise and Manufacturing; Sports & Apparel; Design; Jewelry, Luxury & Antiques; E-Commerce; Creative Services; Licensing; Healthcare; Military; and Food).
For more information on attending Pizza & Pasta Northeast on Oct. 17-18, 2017 at the Atlantic City Convention Center, visit their website and use code TFS1 for a discounted registration, compliments of Total Food Service.
