NASFT TO OFFER DAY FOR SUPPLIER EDUCATION

BARBARA MURRAY

NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade here will launch a new program of educational seminars for suppliers at the 25th Winter NASFT Fancy Food Show, to be held Jan. 23-25 in San Francisco. Although the seminars were created for suppliers, NASFT Chairman Kurt Richter says retailers, caterers and others will benefit from them as well.

The day-long program, consisting of three choices, is scheduled for Jan. 21, the Friday before the show starts, and will be repeated before each of the other two shows slated in 2000. Supplier Education Day is in addition to the shorter workshops, which will cover an array of specialty food and merchandising topics during the show.

Topics for the supplier seminars include: Successful Sales Negotiations: How to Obtain Better Prices and Better Terms While Building Customer Relationships, led by David Yoho, president, Professional Educators, Inc., Louisville, Ky.; Guerrilla Marketing: Innovative Strategies that Get More Customers, led by Bill Gallagher, author and marketing, sales and management trainer, of Diamond Springs, Calif.; and Getting Serious About Profit: How to Double Your Profits and Lower Your Investment at the Same Time, led by Albert D. Bates, president, Profit Planning Group, a Boulder, Colo., management consulting firm.

More information about the Winter Fancy Food Show and the educational seminars is available at www.fancyfoodshows.com.

Approximately 1,000 domestic exhibitors are expected for the Winter Fancy Food Show, which will have 20 international pavilions as well. Of the three shows, the Winter show is said to have possibly the most innovative products, many created by West Coast manufacturers. It offers more Asian and Southwestern flavors and more natural foods than other NASFT shows, according to Ron Tanner, vice president for communications, NASFT. A two-hour workshop on Jan. 24 will feature two speakers from the Culinary Institute of America, Greystone, Calif., on "Southeast Asian Flavors in the American Kitchen."

For retailers, workshops in merchandising, cross promotions, in-store demos, and increasing corporate gift basket sales may be of interest, he said. Three tours will be offered of specialty food stores in and around San Francisco, two on Saturday, Jan. 22, and the other on Sunday.