Trade show food ideas can be as simple or complex as you like. However, the most important thing is that they are delicious and well-received. Here are a few ideas that will help you and your display stand out!
Trade Show Food Ideas that Your Prospects Will Love
1.) Alcohol
Let’s be real here. Who doesn’t enjoy a stiff drink? How about sharing a few drinks cocktails with like-minded professionals? Trade shows are just one of the many professional gatherings where companies in the same industry come together.
Thes professionals also attend the show to socialize and have fun with current and future business partners. The discussion will focus on business matters for the most part, but the conversation will definitely be more interesting with a glass of wine or a whiskey on the rocks.
You can rev up the trade show scene with your branded drinks. You can even customize the bottles with your brand image. This is a great way to promote your brand in a more social and fun style.
2.) Biscuits or Cupcakes
Most trade shows already have already contracted a caterer to provide food for the event. If this is the case, you need to connect with the caterer beforehand and ask them what types of trade show foods you’re allowed to provide at your display.
If the caterer will only allow deserts or snacks, you can provide attendees with your customized biscuits or cupcakes. You need to make these treats as colorful and creative as possible, so people can easily see them at your booth.
If you go with cupcakes, you can make them pop with colorful icings and arrange them like you would at a wedding or birthday party. You can also provide biscuits of different shapes and sizes to liven things up.
3.) Chocolates and Candies
The in-house caterer will be busy serving attendees all day. This is a great opportunity to offer your branded candies and chocolates to curb attendees’ appetites while they wait for the main course.
Doing so will provide prospects with a reason to remember your brand since you took care of them in their time of need. This is also a great time to converse with your prospects, which opens the door to making a deal later on down the road.
4.) Brownies
You can always opt for another snack option that you can wrap in plastic such as brownies.
All you need to do is wrap each brownie square with packaging that features your brand. You can even wrap your brownies in colorful wax paper.
5.) Doughnuts
Doughnuts are among the most common food items people see around the office. However, most still enjoy eating them on their own time. Doughnuts are delicious, and they offer many flavors that meet the needs of even the pickiest palates.
You can tinker with doughnuts. You can sprinkle them with powdered sugar or tiny sweets or dip them in melted chocolate. The possibilities are literally endless. Most people will not think twice about visiting your booth to grab a doughnut simply because they love the tasty morsels.
You can place them in cupcake liners with your logo on the inside of the liner. Placing the doughnuts in cupcake liners makes them easier to eat without making a mess.
6.) Theater Style Popcorn
Popcorn is one trade show food that will always appeal to people’s noses. People can already smell the cheesy or caramel scents of popcorn a few meters away, and the scent alone can tell them where you are if they want it.
You can customize the paper container of your theater-style popcorn with your logo, festive colors, and some one-of-a-kind designs. A single serving of popcorn is a great way to entertain a small group of prospects.
7.) Bottled Water or Fruit Juice
Water is always a safe bet given that it’s a healthy option. Furthermore, providing bottled water at a trade show will quench the thirst of attendees and keep them hydrated. Bottled water is especially helpful to speakers of each company since their mouths with be dry since they’ll be doing a lot of talking.
Besides water, you can also go with bottled fruit juice if you want to provide visitors with a sweet beverage. You can purchase commercially bottled fruit juice in bulk and then paste your logo on the bottle caps.
While bottled fruit juice may not be your own product, you can still be creative when customizing it to promote your brand.
8.) Fresh Fruit
If sweet and salty treats don’t align with your brand, you can offer various fruits as a healthier alternative. Fruits are naturally fragrant, so they will easily attract prospects.
You can isolate a fruit stand in the corner of your booth, your visitors can freely pick the fruit of their liking. You can offer apples, oranges, or bananas on the stand and paste a logo sticker on each piece of fruit to remind your prospects where they got the fruit.
Closing Thoughts
These trade show food ideas 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 aligns with your brand.
Choose any of these food tips for your next trade show appearance and invite more of your prospects!
