BOSTON -- The second annual Foodfest Expo, a retail consumer-oriented event, was held here Oct. 2 and 3 at the Bayside Exposition Center. The show featured a mix of 120 exhibitors geared to sell to the "everyday cook," said show organizers.
Attendance fell short of the 20,000 anticipated, likely due to the unseasonably warm weather -- in the mid-70s with bright sunshine -- but still,13,000 to 14,000 entered the doors, according to Jackie Ralston, president of Foodfest, Cohasset, Mass.
Star Markets, Cambridge, Mass., and its Wild Harvest units were among the sponsors. Ralston said that while neither took booth space this year, both had promoted the event in their in-store circulars and with in-store ticket sales. Admission at the door was $10 for adults.
Some of the stores' food vendors were there, including Green Mountain Chocolates of Vermont, Waterbury, Vt., and Pastene, Canton, Mass., a regional brand of pastas, sauces and olive oils. Snapple and Coca-Cola were among the national players with a presence.
Green Mountain Chocolates was showing its Java Jitters in French Roast Coffee and Mochaccino Truffle, and put them into kiosks at three new units of Genuardi's Family Markets, Norristown, Pa., that opened Oct. 8, according to Jeff Mannion, sales and marketing director for the chocolates.
