Running out of food ideas to offer at trade shows? Check out this list of suggestions to attract your prospects during the show.
Trade Show Food Ideas for Your Prospects
1. Alcohol
Most people love alcohol, especially when business-minded individuals gather in one event. Trade shows are just of the many business gatherings where companies in a single industry come together.
These businessmen also attend the show to have fun and socialise with existing and future business partners. They may discuss more about business, but the conversation would be more interesting and exciting with a glass of wine.
Amp up the show with your company-branded drinks, and customise the bottles to show off your brand image. This is a good way of promoting your brand in a more social and fun manner.
Trade Show Definition: It is an exhibition of products and services of various businesses in a particular industry, primarily for product promotion.
2. Biscuits or Cupcakes
Most of the time, a trade show already has a caterer contacted to prepare food for the event. What you need to do here is to talk to the caterer and ask them which types of foods they will allow you to bring in.
If they will only allow desserts or snacks, you can bring your customised biscuits or cupcakes to promote your brand. Make this food idea as colourful and creative as possible, so people can easily see them in your booth.
For cupcakes, you can put yummy, colourful icing on top and arrange or display them like you would at a wedding or birthday party. You can also create different sizes and shapes with your biscuits to make it more fun.
3. Chocolates and Candies
The assigned caterer during the trade show will surely be busy serving people from many companies, and some might have to wait a while before they can get food. Take this opportunity to offer your company-branded candies and chocolates that will help keep them occupied while waiting.
Doing so will allow people to remember your efforts in letting them know you appreciate their patience in waiting. You can talk to your prospects too while offering your candies, creating an opportunity to make a deal with them in the future.
4. Brownies
You can also opt for another snack option you can wrap with plastic or paper, such as brownies.
Wrap each slice of brownie with packaging you can print your logo on, along with some artistic designs. You can even have colourful, eye-catching wrappers for the brownies, or choose a wrapper colour that represents your brand instead.
5. Doughnuts
Free doughnuts may be typical food people see at the office, but many individuals still enjoy eating them on their own time. Doughnuts are not only delicious, but also offer many flavours that suit almost everyone’s taste.
You can experiment with the doughnuts, like sprinkling them with powdered or tiny sweets or dipping them into melted chocolate – the possibilities are endless. People will not hesitate to visit your booth and get doughnuts simply because they can’t resist the snack.
You can place the doughnuts in cupcake liners, making sure they fit in them, and print your logo on the liners or personalise the liners with your brand colour. Placing them in cupcake liners will also make them easier to eat without making a mess for people.
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6. Theatre-Style Popcorn
One of the trade show food ideas that effectively attract people’s noses is popcorn. People can already smell the cheesy or caramel scents of popcorn a few meters away, and the smell alone can tell them where you are if they want it.
Customise the paper container of your theatre-style popcorn with your logo, playful colours, and some unique designs. A single popcorn serving is already a great way to entertain a small group of prospects.
7. Bottled Water or Fruit Juice
Water is always good for your overall health, and giving bottled water to people at the trade show can save them from their thirst and keep them hydrated. Bottled water is especially helpful to speakers of each company because they will be doing a lot of talking.
You should know what to do with the plastic bottle in customising it for your brand. To save money, you can contact a local bottled water supplier as your source for the clean water.
Aside from water, you can also opt for bottled fruit juice for some sweet beverage for your booth visitors. You can buy commercially bottled fruit juice in bulk and then paste your logo sticker on the bottle caps.
The bottled fruit juice may not be your own product, but you can still be resourceful in customising it for the promotion of your brand. The logo sticker will also remind them where they got the drink.
8. Fruits
You can go for a healthier option for your trade show food ideas by giving fruits to your booth visitors. Fruits are naturally fragrant, so they can easily attract your prospects.
Isolate a corner in your booth for a fruit stand, so your visitors can freely pick the fruit they prefer. You can have apples, oranges, or lemons on the stand and paste a logo sticker on each fruit to remind them where they got the fruit.
9. Peanuts
Peanuts are also a great food to offer to people at a trade show. Like popcorn, they can give people something to mindlessly munch on while also filling them up.
You can go from salted to sugar-coated peanuts, but you must remember not to add too many strong-smelling spices as the smell can spread across the trade show area. Your brand promotion will concentrate on the packaging of your peanuts, whether you will go for paper or plastic containers.
You can be artistic and creative or simple with the packaging, as long as your brand logo stands out.
These custom food ideas for trade shows primarily help promote your brand by targeting hunger and thirst. You only have to let your creativity flow and apply it to the type of food that best fits your brand.
Choose any of these food tips for your next trade show and invite more of your prospects.
Which of the food ideas do you like most for your next trade show? Let us know in the comments section.
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