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From the Archives
Booming Expo Reflects Changing Dairy Industry
From Dairy Field, October 1979.
(Editor’s Note: As the industry gathers for
Worldwide Food Expo ’05, we look back on then-publisher Jay
Sandler’s commentary on an earlier show.)
TThe tremendous response to
Food & Dairy Expo ’79 has the Dairy & Food Industries Supply
Association scurrying through its files to see how long it has been since
there was a show of this size and scope. The final count isn’t in
yet, but it looks like we’ll have to go back at least 17 years to
find an expo that has so much to show to the dairy industry.
Because the forthcoming show in Chicago comes on the
heels of the record breaker held just one year ago, the high interest from
both suppliers and processors is especially significant. There are several
factors responsible for this excitement.
At its core is a new vitality in the dairy industry.
Many processors are more profitable than they have been in recent years.
And there is renewed willingness to make capital expenditures that will
reduce costs and ensure continued profitability. Dairies are also breaking
out of their traditional conservatism. They know they have to start
competing to hold or increase their share of food sales, and they are
willing to try new ideas — new packages, new sizes, aseptic products,
longer shelf life through improved processing and sanitation, premium ice
cream novelties, marketing aimed at ethnic and minority groups, new and
expanded flavor lines, “natural” products, yogurt novelties,
products and packages for the away-from-home market, retail stores,
flavored milk drinks, more efficient delivery vehicles. There are so many
directions for improvement that alert dairy managers will be hard pressed
to establish priorities.
All of this, and more, will be there for your
company’s managers to see at Expo ’79. And you won’t
have a similar chance until 1981.
No small part of the already-assured success of the
show is due to the efforts of DFISA and suppliers in general. I wonder how
many dairy buyers appreciate the effort that goes into the planning and
execution of Dairy Expo, certainly one of the very best-run shows of its
kind. The investment made by suppliers to develop new items and to present
them to you is enormous.
You’ll note that I still refer to Expo as a
“dairy” show. Fortunately for our industry, this exposition
really is still that. Almost every exhibit will have all or most of its
emphasis on products for dairy processors. Understandably, in view of the
cost of mounting and exhibit, some suppliers wouldn’t mind attracting
other parts of the food industry so they could do it all in one place, at
one time. But you can bet they don’t want to lose your attendance.
The dairy industry is too big, too important to be
merely an incidental part of a food show. If that should ever happen, I
suspect it wouldn’t be long before someone would say, “We need
a special show for the dairy industry. How about starting one?”
We need a dairy show, and you can prove it at Expo with
big attendance from your company, interest and buying activity.
General and concurrent sessions providing ideas and
information from marketing strategy and milk orders to support price
programs will be a main segment of the Milk Industry Foundation and
International Association of Ice Cream Manufacturers (MIF/IAICM) annual
convention. The joint convention will be held November 11-14 in the Palmer
House Hotel, Chicago [as part of Expo ’79].
U.S. Sen. Charles H. Percy (R-Ill.) will be the keynote
speaker at the opening session Monday, November 12. Included in the
multitude of presentations in the three-day business program will be
“Needed: A Review of Federal Milk Order and Price Support”;
“The Dairy Industry — Consumers’ Views of Priority
Issues”; and “Freeing Free Enterprise.” Fran Tarkenton,
former quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings, will speak on
“Inspiration and Achievement: Mutual Goals.”
Ray A. Kroc, senior chairman and founder of
McDonald’s Corp., will be a featured speaker at the 46th annual
national convention of the National Ice Cream Retailers Association
(NICRA), to take place November 11-13 at the Radisson Chicago Hotel.
“The McDonald’s Story” will be the
subject of Kroc’s talk on Tuesday, November 13, at an 8 a.m.
breakfast meeting. He will highlight the building and background of the
corporation that revolutionized the food industry.
An integral part of the convention, which is held
during Expo ’79, will be a series of concurrent workshops on Monday,
November 12, from 2-4:30 p.m. The panel discussions will cover a wide range
of topics in the three programs: “Food & Dairy Fountain
Workshop,” “Dairy & Convenience Workshop” and the
“Production & Distribution Workshop.”
NICRA’s convention luncheon — Tuesday,
November 13, from noon to 1:30 p.m. — will be highlighted by the
awarding of the cup for the Idea of the Year Contest by Dairy Field magazine.
Following the Give & Take sessions on Tuesday from
2:45-4:45 p.m., the convention will conclude with the annual banquet, to
take place in the Radisson’s Grand Ballroom.
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