Recently Kristin Avery sat down with Tom Tipps to have a conversation about his National Restaurant Association Show experience held in Chicago this past April 29, 2011.
1. In a 100 words or less, what is NRA?
NRA stands for National Restaurant Association and has been around since at least the early 70’s. The NRA show is really an industry gathering recognizing that everyone in the industry is either in a restaurant operations business, distributor, or manufacturers [sic]. Many of our manufacturers attend who sell through distributors to restaurants, so it’s an industry wide function and it’s a great opportunity to stay updated on industry trends. Not only can restaurants stay up-to-date on industry trends, but the whole distribution area can stay updated on consumer insights for consumers who are restaurant patrons. It’s almost a must attend if you’re in the industry and it’s almost mandatory if you’re a key decision maker in the industry.
2. What year did you start attending the NRA conference?
My first NRA was in 1974, so I have been attending now for about 30 years. When I first started going the industry was doing about $50 billion in sales. I also remember going to the IFMA (International Foodservice Manufacturers Association) meeting back in the early 70’s, IFMA which is a part of NRA, and predicting that the industry someday would be a $100 billion industry. Today we are close to $600 billion. The industry has grown a lot, more than many had ever imagined. If you look at consumer spending, the dollar spend in restaurants is more than the dollar spend in supermarkets/ retail grocery industry.
To watch more of the conversation about NRA, please click on the YouTube link.
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