2022 Local Food Trade Show of New England Recap

SBN’s Boston Local Food Program hosted the annual Local Food Trade Show of New England on Tuesday, March 29, 2022. This year’s Trade Show was held virtually via Zoom and the online platform “BoothCentral.” The first session included 1:1 Consultations and the Emerging Value-Added Products Panel. The 1:1 Consultations provided an excellent opportunity for New England food vendors to receive valuable expertise from sales, marketing, financial, and legal professionals. The second session included Opening Remarks facilitated by Nicola Williams and featured a select group of buyers and vendors who shared their personal insights about beneficial buyer-producer relationships, followed by a casual Networking Mixer. Attendees and vendors then moved on to BoothCentral to explore the Virtual Trade Floor. This platform allowed producers at the event to create a virtual booth to display their products and allow buyers to join video chat rooms to explore potential business connections and opportunities. The session concluded with closing remarks from MDAR Commissioner, John Lebeaux and a thank you from SBN Executive Director, Laurence Hammel. The Trade Show concluded with a limited number of producers and attendees participating in Matchmaking Meetings. In addition to this day of programming participants had the opportunity to take part in Marketing and Food Safety Workshops. Overall, the event was a success, and the Boston Local Food team looks forward to seeing all the folks that participated at future events!