Make the most of your FARE tradeshow floor
Making the most of your time at the FARE Conference tradeshow floor is less about covering every aisle and more about leaving with decisions your business can use. At FARE Conference 2017 in Dallas on 26–28 June, foodservice operators, suppliers, executives, and professionals from restaurant, convenience, healthcare, education, and recreation will meet to exchange ideas and examine how food service is changing.
Australian delegates can gain particular value by connecting global supplier expertise with local operating conditions. That means looking beyond a polished demonstration to understand pricing, service coverage, food safety, regulatory fit, and the practical effort required to implement a product across multiple sites.
Set priorities before the doors open
Begin with three commercial outcomes rather than a long list of brands. These might include finding a supplier for a new menu format, reducing waste in a central kitchen, improving staff training, or identifying technology that simplifies reporting. Write each outcome on a separate line and use it to judge every conversation and demonstration.
| Time on the floor | Best use of the period | Questions to answer | Result to capture |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opening hour | Locate priority exhibitors and confirm the floor plan | Which suppliers directly match my three outcomes? | A short route and meeting list |
| Mid-morning | Attend relevant demonstrations and product discussions | What performance, pricing and support can the supplier evidence? | Notes for comparison |
| Lunch period | Review findings and contact quieter exhibitors | Which supplier understands our Australian requirements? | Follow-up appointments |
| Final hour | Revisit shortlisted suppliers | What information, samples or quotations are still needed? | Clear next steps and owners |
Protect these priorities when your phone starts filling with event alerts. Build a simple schedule around keynote sessions, educational sessions, networking, and supplier appointments, but leave enough flexibility to follow a promising conversation. Attendee numbers and social activity can create momentum, yet they should not displace the work you travelled to Dallas to complete.
Sponsors and exhibitors serve different purposes, so approach them differently. A sponsor may provide useful market perspective or visibility into a broader solution, while an exhibitor is more likely to offer product specifications, technical support and commercial terms. Give each meeting an intended outcome and a time limit so a useful discussion does not consume the entire morning.
Build a route around your real priorities
Use the exhibitor directory or floor map as soon as you enter the venue. Mark the stands connected to your three outcomes, then divide the day into manageable zones. Trying to zigzag across the entire hall wastes energy and makes it harder to return to a stand before its representatives become busy.
Start with the areas most relevant to your operating model. A multi-site restaurant group may focus early on scalable kitchen systems and waste reduction, while a healthcare operator may prioritise portion control, nutrition and ease of use. Even a convenience network can learn from several categories, but it should protect time for suppliers that can support high-volume, fast-service operations.
Plan appointments around the commercial questions you need answered. A 20-minute appointment can be more productive than an unplanned 45-minute demonstration if you arrive with the required volumes, menu formats and site information ready. When discussing delivery, provide realistic figures for stores, kitchens or covers rather than using broad estimates that invite vague answers.
Dallas venues can be large, and the June weather is often hot and humid. Carry water, schedule brief rest periods, and avoid turning every available minute into another meeting. A clear pace will help you retain more information and remain courteous when you return to a supplier for clarification.
Ask better questions of every supplier
A demonstration shows what a product is designed to do. Your questions should establish whether it will work in your business. Ask for the total operating requirements behind the display, including labour, cleaning, energy use, consumables and expected service life. A low purchase price can still produce an expensive solution if training or maintenance needs are hidden.
Request evidence that is relevant to your segment. Foodservice suppliers can point to comparable sites, service levels or documented results, but you should ask what happened before and after implementation. For example, a waste system becomes more credible when a operator can explain how quantities changed, how staff adopted the process and whether the claimed saving continued over time.
Clarify the commercial model before leaving the stand. Establish minimum order quantities, expected lead times, support available in Australia, freight assumptions, and whether local stock is available. If the supplier works through a distributor, obtain the distributor’s name and confirm which party handles installation, training, warranty claims and replenishment.
Ask to see the less attractive parts of the offer: packaging, user interface, cleaning process, spare parts and failure points. Testing the workflow can reveal whether a machine suits your staffing levels and whether the displayed result depends on ideal conditions. Take notes in the supplier’s language, then translate the claims into the terminology your finance, operations and culinary teams use.
Translate the programme to Australia
Australian operators should treat familiarity with the US market as only the starting point. Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane have distinctive dining cultures, consumer expectations and competitive conditions. Melbourne’s strong café culture, Sydney’s high restaurant density and Brisbane’s growth in casual dining can create different demand for formats, ingredients, service speeds and price points. A supplier’s US case study may still be relevant, but it needs local interpretation.
Labour and operating costs also shape the business case. Many Australian foodservice businesses manage higher staffing costs, wage commitments and supply-chain distances than their US counterparts. Ask suppliers how their products reduce preparation time, simplify training, improve yield or reduce service errors. A solution that creates measurable operational value is easier to justify than one supported only by novelty.
Regulation requires careful attention. Products, packaging and menus must work with the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Code, including allergen controls. Ask for detailed ingredient and allergen documentation, traceability information and guidance for any local labelling changes. Do not assume that an American label or claim can be used unchanged in an Australian operation.
Commercial planning needs the same scrutiny. FARE will take place in the United States, so prepare quotations in US dollars while considering the exchange rate, card fees and Australian GST treatment. If samples or equipment might be imported for commercial use, obtain advice from a registered GST adviser and confirm customs requirements before purchasing. In technical discussions, request metric dimensions and check whether equipment operates on Australian 240V power rather than US 120V.
Balance the floor with sessions and networking
Resist the temptation to remain on the exhibition floor from opening to close. The educational programme and keynote sessions can give your team shared context for the supplier discussions that follow. Select sessions linked directly to your priority outcomes, then arrange a short team debrief immediately afterwards to identify questions and useful suppliers.
Networking can be just as valuable as a formal appointment. A foodservice executive facing the same staffing challenge may have already tested a workflow that appears on an exhibitor’s display. Conversations with operators from healthcare, education, recreation and convenience can reveal how solutions perform outside the restaurant segment. Treat these exchanges as professional research rather than a break from work.
Use different meeting styles for different needs. Formal appointments suit pricing, specifications and implementation planning. Informal conversations over coffee are often better for market sentiment, operational lessons and identifying emerging trends. Keep a note of the person, organisation and context so your team can distinguish a supplier’s promise from an operator’s experience.
Leave some unscheduled time in the programme. The most relevant exhibitor may not appear in your original plan, and a keynote point may prompt a new supplier search. A flexible period also protects your energy during a three-day event with a full programme of sessions, exhibits and networking.
Work as a team and capture the evidence
If several colleagues attend, divide the work before the event. Give one person responsibility for product specifications, another for commercial terms, and another for sector case studies or technology demonstrations. A shared note for each supplier prevents repeated questions and gives you a consistent record for later comparison.
Record enough detail to reconstruct each important claim. Capture the supplier’s full name, the stand or product, the date of the conversation, the quoted price basis, minimum order, lead time and any promised follow-up. Add a short assessment of Australian suitability, including regulatory, logistical and operational concerns. Photographs can support your notes, but written context remains essential after a busy day.
Assign follow-up ownership before leaving Dallas. The person who asks a technical question should verify the answer; the person who discusses pricing should obtain the formal quotation; and the person who explores a pilot should confirm the required samples or data. This prevents important promises from being treated as informal observations.
Account for time zones when scheduling calls after the conference. Sydney and Melbourne share Australian Eastern Standard Time during the event, while Perth is two hours behind. Sending urgent messages late at night may secure a quick response from one colleague but reduce the likelihood of thoughtful participation from others. Agree on a response window and use it consistently across the Australian team.
Turn conference learning into action
Within 48 hours of returning, hold a debrief while the discussions are still clear. Compare suppliers against the three outcomes defined before the event, rather than selecting the stand with the most impressive presentation. Score each option on operational fit, Australian readiness, total cost, implementation difficulty, support and the strength of its evidence.
Separate immediate actions from longer-term opportunities. Immediate actions might include requesting a sample, confirming a quotation, arranging a technical session or booking a demonstration at an Australian site. Longer-term opportunities can remain in a reviewed pipeline with a named owner and a decision date. This prevents a productive conference from ending in a drawer full of brochures.
Measure the value of the visit through decisions and learning, not the number of conversations. A successful FARE Conference trip might identify one strong supplier, eliminate two unsuitable options and give the operations team a better benchmark for waste, labour or service performance. Those outcomes create value even when the final purchasing decision takes several months.
Register for FARE Conference 2017 in Dallas, prepare your priorities before arrival, and approach every stand with a clear Australian business question. Leave the tradeshow floor with verified evidence, accountable next steps and a shortlist built for action rather than inspiration alone.