ECRM is planning a food, beverage virtual trade show

ECRM is underway planning an international virtual tradeshow of sorts that will bring retail buyers and food and beverage suppliers together for face-to-face meetings — and some retailers involved will be looking to explore private label partnerships through the meetings.

The virtual event is called “2021 Global Market: Food & Beverage,” powered by the company’s ECRM Connect and RangeMe platforms, that will include product discovery, virtual meetings and educational sessions. The product discovery portion of the event begins May 17 and runs through June 21. During that time, retail buyers can find products from food and beverage suppliers over the RangeMe platform and request a virtual meeting for the June 28-July 2 dates using the ECRM Connect platform. Additionally, a content lineup will be held during the week of meetings including a fireside chat with entrepreneur and bestselling author Gary Vaynerchuk. There will be keynote speakers and workshops, too.

Registration is now open for both buyers and suppliers and it runs through June 7.

Wil Magistrelli, director of wholesale, international sales at Wakefern Food, and one of the architects of the company’s Paperbird and Bowl & Basket lines as detailed in this profile, said the retailer is looking forward to joining the 2021 Global Market event to connect with suppliers and stay on trend. “ECRM’s innovative and market leading platforms have helped Wakefern drive effective and efficient product discovery and business solutions that meet the needs of our customers,” he said.

Over the past year, ECRM, Cleveland, has scheduled more than 100,000 virtual face-to-face meetings for buyers and suppliers through its ECRM Connect platform, particularly filling a need when in-person trade shows were being canceled or rescheduled due to concerns with the COVID-19 pandemic.