Home » Lipari ‘Superheroes’ Food Show Gets Super-Sized
Grocery News Midwest Store News

Lipari ‘Superheroes’ Food Show Gets Super-Sized

Thom and Connie Lipari and Jim and Rose Lipari, Lipari Foods; Geoff Welch, The Shelby Report.
Thom and Connie Lipari and Jim and Rose Lipari, Lipari Foods; Geoff Welch, The Shelby Report.

The Lipari Food Show, held April 22, had a superheroes theme and some impressive numbers. Approximately 6,000 people passed through the doors at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, Michigan.

About 158 brokers sold to customers hailing mainly from 12 states in the Midwest.

The show grew by 80 booths vs. last year, bringing the total to 515.

In addition, Lipari added about 3,000 items to the selection, bringing the total to “9,739, to be exact,” said Don Symonds, director of events and trade relations. “We have 630 vendors here, and about 50 of them are brand new.

The Lipari Food Show had a superheroes theme this year.
The Lipari Food Show had a superheroes theme this year.

“Yes, this is the largest event we’ve ever put on,” Symonds told The Shelby Report’s VP-Midwest Geoff Welch at the show.

Some of the growth can be attributed to Lipari Foods’ acquisitions of Soderholm Wholesale Foods last December and Clover Mountain in January.

While also expanding its own product selection for its customers, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin-based Soderholm strengthened Lipari’s natural, organic, vegetarian and gluten-free portfolio.

“A lot of that is all natural food right out of the Wisconsin area, so we’re excited and we’ve seen a lot of people looking at that as a way to expand the variety in their stores,” Symonds said.

Soderholm’s lineup includes frozen—which is new to Lipari—as well as dairy, meat, seafood, deli, bakery and produce.

Clover Mountain Foods, headquartered in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, has a product portfolio of local and national brands similar to Lipari’s as well as shared established relationships with many manufacturing partners. That acquisition expanded Lipari’s footprint and brought with it new vendors, items and customers.

Both acquisitions moved forward Lipari’s strategic plan to be the leading “perimeter of the store and specialty” distributor, the company said.

In January, Michelle Voss joined Lipari Foods as marketing events coordinator and was put in charge of bringing new vendors to the show.

“We brought them in and let them have the experience and see what Lipari is all about,” she said. “It’s been wonderful to see their reaction. They’re really excited and can’t wait until next year to make their displays even bigger and better and continue their growth with Lipari.”

Vendors are, of course, charged a fee for a booth at the show, and Lipari Foods works to ensure that they get their money’s worth.

“We use that money to get customers to come to this show and we get the customers here any way we can,” Symonds said. “We have a 172-passenger charter plane that brings people in out of Milwaukee.”

Lipari and its vendors also paid for roughly 800 commercial flights. Two buses came out of Pennsylvania, one from Ohio and another from Kentucky. All told, Lipari provided 1,500 motel rooms to accommodate everyone.

The show’s superheroes theme was fun for customers and vendors, Symonds said.

“Thev dressed for the occasion and everybody (was) having an awful lot of fun with this theme.”

Lipari Foods holds a dinner the evening before the show, and that, too, has grown exponentially. About 15 years ago, the company began holding an appreciation reception to thank the vendors who spent the day helping set up. That was back when the show had about 100 booths.

This year, Symonds said 2,000 customers and vendors attended the pre-show event, which included nine buffet lines and an in-house casino where attendees could have fun and play to win about $15,000 worth of prizes.

“It’s an event that customers look forward to, and we look forward to putting it on for them, too,” Symonds said.

Now Lipari Foods is looking ahead to next year. Symonds said he was standing in the middle of the show with Lipari Foods President and CEO Thom Lipari wondering how to top this show.

“In the 18 years I’ve been doing shows for Lipari Foods, we have never had a decrease,” Symonds said. “We have never gone backward, and—I’m knocking on wood now—our plan is to make sure next year’s show is more successful than this year.”

Voss also shared her thoughts on the show with Welch.

“The show is absolutely amazing,” Voss said. “I knew what to expect to a point, but to actually see it come to life and in person, you can’t put it into words. You have to be here to see it.”

See photos from the show here.

Featured Photos

Featured Photo PLMA Annual Private Label Trade Show
Donald E. Stephens Convention Center
Chicago, Illinois
Share via
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap