Private Label Magazine - November/December 2009

PLMA Show 2009

This year’s PLMA will be held November 15-17 at Chicago’s Rosemont Exhibition Center.

The 2009 PLMA Trade Show features more than 20,000 store brand products from nearly 1,000 private label manufacturers covering food, beverages, household and kitchen products as well as health and beauty care.

PLMA’s annual Private Label Trade Show is the nation’s largest marketplace for store brand products. PLMA’s 2009 show is expected to attract more than 5,000 visitors and 2,000 buyers and will be held November 15-17 at Chicago’s Rosemont Exhibition Center.

PLMA Highlights

PLMA Matchmaker is now live. Visit www.plmamatchmaker.com to connect and announce new products to the trade, invite retailers and wholesalers to visit the show, and use the My Calendar option to keep track of appointment requests from registered buyers.

PLMA’s “New Products Expo” gives a glimpse into what’s new from exhibitors this year. The New Product Expo displays the latest ideas from exhibitors of food, health and beauty, kitchen and household and other major product categories.

PLMA’s “Idea Supermarket” will showcase what retailers around the globe are doing with products and packaging. There will be more than 60 gondolas of products from the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, and South America to explore.
This year’s show will offer international pavilions from Canada, Italy, Mexico, India, Taiwan and Brazil. There will also be a World of Private Label Pavilion with exhibitors from the PLMA Trade Show in Amsterdam.

Plan your visit in advance by using PLMA’s online show preview. Check out exhibitors and their products 30 days in advance. Retailers can use PLMA’s exclusive Matchmaker appointment system to set up meetings prior to the start of the show.

Innovation Hall

PLMA will be launching Innovation Hall, a unique “show-within-a-show,” at this year’s PLMA 2009 (see accompanying sidebar). The theme of Innovation Hall in its premier year is “Store Brands: The Next Generation.” The new exhibition space will feature an array of companies that offer innovative products and services for private label that go beyond product development.

“The Innovation Hall represents the next logical step in the evolution of store brands,” says Brian Sharoff, President, PLMA. “Over the past decade, store brands have expanded to annual sales of $80 billion. This has been driven by remarkable gains in product quantity and assortment. But as business gets larger, more complex and demanding, there is a strategic need by both retailers and manufacturers for more than just products.”

Store brands success is more than making products. The new Innovation Hall will keep help manufactures keep up with today’s rapidly changing marketplace and allow them to meet more than 40 companies on the cutting edge of store brand innovation. In addition to company exhibits, there will be demonstrations and classes open to all trade show attendees.

PLMA’s Innovation Hall opens Sunday, November 15 at 3 pm, the day before the regular show floor, with workshops beginning at 1 pm. Innovation Hall will be presented in the mezzanine hall and will be open all day Monday from 9 am to 6 pm and Tuesday, 9 am to 12 noon.

Innovation Hall Categories
Laboratory Testing and Certification
Business Consulting
Market Research
Marketing Services
Software and Technology
Design and Graphics
Education

PLMA’s “Weekend with St. Joe’s,” developed in conjunction with St. Joseph’s University’s Food Marketing Institute, provides executive education courses covering fundamental subjects such as new product development, store brand advertising and promotion, and profitability. Now in its ninth year, PLMA’s Executive Education Program has helped more than 700 men and women improve their understanding of the business. Created for both retailers and manufacturers, classes are interactive. Faculty is drawn from the university as well as industry. Graduates are eligible for admission for PLMA’s Advanced Best Practices curriculum offered each spring.

Classes include: Private Label Brand Management, New Product Development, Supply Chain Relations, Private Label Around the World, Changing Consumer Behavior, Private Label Profitability, and Advertising, Packaging and Promotion. “Weekend with St. Joe’s,” will take place Saturday and Sunday, November 14-15.

PLMA “SQF Training” is a new program this year, offered Tuesday and Wednesday, November 17-18. Developed in conjunction with Silliker, Inc., a respected industry leader in food safety and certification, the curriculum is designed for company personnel who are responsible for SQF compliance, quality control, and technical and operational management.

The course is intended to give participating companies the information and knowledge they will need to achieve compliance with SQF 2000 Code for manufacturers and distributors. Retailers supporting SQF Certification include stores such as Wal-Mart, Supervalu, Publix Super Markets, Harris Teeter, Food Lion, Safeway and Wegmans Food Markets.

For more information about educational programs, email education@plma.com.

For more information about exhibiting or attending, contact PLMA at (212) 972-3131 or info@plma.com. Visit their website at www.plma.com.

Show Schedule

Saturday, November 14

Executive Education Classes 1:00pm – 6:00pm

Sunday, November 15

Executive Education Classes 9:00am – 1:00pm
Sunday Seminars and Workshops
Opening Session 1:00pm – 1:30pm
Optimizing the Store for the Retailer’s Brand
Wes Bray, president, Retail Optimization, Inc.
Concurrent Workshops 1:45pm – 2:15pm
Concurrent Workshops 2:30pm – 3:00pm
Innovation Hall Open 3:00pm – 7:00pm
Opening Night Reception 7:00pm – 8:00pm

Monday, November 16

Salute to Excellence Breakfast 7:30am* – 8:30am
Keynote Address:
Innovating to Build Better Private Brands
Scott Lucas, executive director, Interbrand
Concurrent Workshops 8:30am – 9:00am
Trade Show Floor Open 9:00am – 6:00pm
Innovation Hall Open 9:00am – 6:00pm
Idea Supermarket & New Product Expo 9:00am – 6:00pm

Tuesday, November 17

Retail Trends Breakfast 7:30am* – 8:30am
The Winning Formula
Kieran Forsey, senior VP, Agentrics
Concurrent Workshops 8:30am – 9:00am
Trade Show Floor Open 9:00am – 4:00pm
Innovation Hall Open 9:00am – 12:00pm
Idea Supermarket & New Product Expo 9:00am – 3:00pm

*Note new breakfast times