The 2017 NGA Show had its largest turnout ever with the focus to bring industry representatives from the independent supermarkets, wholesale, manufacturing, and food service together to learn about the newest products & trends and connect with fellow professionals.
“Exhibit traffic was the best I've seen for NGA,” said Pat Huston, TRUNO’s West Coast General Manager.
This year featured several exciting innovations in the exhibition hall. Uwe von Sehrwald, TRUNO’s Central and East Coast General Manager, remembered “E-commerce was a big topic. TRUNO’s TruCommerce was a big attraction, along with NCR’s ENCOR and featured Self-Checkout Systems.” Attendees were interested in the solutions that would enhance their business and streamline their POS tracking of online grocery sales.
Conversations with TRUNO customers on the exhibit floor reinforced that view. TruCommerce was the TRUNO booth’s main feature, highlighting this as a middleware solution allowing grocery retailers to integrate eCommerce into their point of sale seamlessly. Huston noticed “our customers were focused on TruCommerce as one of the prime solutions they were interested in.” This exclusive, innovative technology coupled with NCR’s debut of ENCOR, the latest, most innovative POS system, reminded retailers that they need solutions that attract customers to their stores and integrate with their existing systems.
Jared Black of TRUNO noted that “most of all, TRUNO was able to prove that we are a Solutions Partner, not a dealer.” TRUNO knows that stores need systems and solutions that integrate to serve their business and their customers, and that integration is crucial as retailers try to take advantage of the number of innovations available at the 2017 NGA Show.
“TRUNO offers great solutions to our customers, all from one location,” VP of Sales Frank Colbert said. “Our booth at NGA 2017 once again showed that we are the retail technology provider that can offer the best solutions to our customers.”
With this year’s turnout and the extensive number of industry innovations, NGA is the show to attend if you work in the grocery industry.
The National Grocers Association provided the below summary for the 2017 show along with the release of the 2018 dates. We’ll see y’all back in Vegas in February 2018!
National Grocers Association Concludes Record-Setting NGA Show
Las Vegas, NV – The National Grocers Association (NGA) concluded its 2017 NGA Show today with the largest retailer and wholesaler attendance level in NGA history.
More than 3,400 independent supermarket operators, wholesalers, food industry service suppliers and manufacturers attended this year's conference, which took place February 12 – 15 at the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The NGA Show was once again co-located with IGA, and featured over 325 companies, including representatives from the five NGA Show Pavilion Partners, the Brewers Association, Center for Advancing Retail Technology (CART), North American Meat Institute, Produce Marketing Association and the World of Latino Cuisine on the Expo floor.
“Stakeholders and trading partners from the independent supermarket industry come to The NGA Show each year to learn about new industry trends, see innovative products on the Expo floor, and reconnect with industry peers,” said Peter J. Larkin, president and CEO of NGA. "The size and energy of this year’s Show is reflective of the ingenuity and enthusiasm that is currently taking place in the independent supermarket industry, and I hope it has left attendees feeling rejuvenated and ready to take marketplace shifts and challenges head on. I'd like to thank our Show sponsors for the support they provided in making this year's Show a big success, particularly IGA for their partnership in the co-location of our events.”
Other show highlights included new networking events such as the Chairman’s Closing Celebration and the Collaboration and Innovation Lounge, as well as an exciting National Best Bagger Championship, sponsored by PepsiCo, and emceed by Food Network star, Chef Duff Goldman.
The Women Grocers of America (WGA) presented the Women of the Year Award to Cindy Sorensen, Senior Vice President, Business Development, Midwest Dairy Association during the Creative Choice Awards Super Breakfast Session.
“Congratulations to Cindy on this well-deserved award. Throughout her tenure in the food industry, Cindy has proven herself to be a steadfast leader, often lending her time to mentor others. WGA is proud to present this award to someone who has had such positive impacts on her organization and the industry,” said Lorelei Mottese, WGA Chairwoman.
The Women of the Year Award recipient must exemplify the true characteristics of a leader with passion for the independent grocery industry. Recipients are strategic thinkers, standout representatives within their company or organization, and have the perseverance to face almost any challenge presented to them.
Finalists from the NGA Student Case Study Competition gave presentations at Tuesday's Super Session titled, "Reaching Millennial Consumers." Saint Joseph's University and Western Michigan University tied for the top title in the NGA Student Case Competition.
The student case study competition strives to further the professional development of collegiate students pursuing degrees in food and retail programs. Nearly 80 students from 13 universities competed this year.
Student competition teams worked with Harps Food Stores located in Springdale, Arkansas to develop recommendations to expand the company’s e-commerce initiative.
“Students are the next generation of leaders within the independent supermarket industry,” said Larkin. “We are proud to support their path to success by providing opportunities for professional growth.”
The 2018 NGA Show will be held February 11 – 14, 2018 at the Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV.
For more information on The NGA Show, visit www.theNGAShow.com.
The National Grocers Association (NGA) is the national trade association representing the retail and wholesale grocers that comprise the independent sector of the food distribution industry. An independent retailer is a privately owned or controlled food retail company operating a variety of formats. The independent grocery sector is accountable for close to 1% of the nation's overall economy and is responsible for generating $131 billion in sales, 944,000 jobs, $30 billion in wages, and $27 billion in taxes. NGA members include retail and wholesale grocers, state grocers associations, as well as manufacturers and service suppliers. For more information about NGA, visit www.nationalgrocers.org.
