We knew we had a great opportunity on our hands when bidding for the new design and build of Fresh Gourmet’s 20×40 food exhibit for the PMA Fresh Summit. Fresh Gourmet makes the wonderful salad toppings you see in the grocery store, brilliantly placed right there next to the lettuce. Their positioning is smart and their products healthy and original. Their offerings are expanding, which was the impetus for a new custom booth build. Much like the infamous Natural Products Expo West, PMA features some of the industries leading food and floral professionals.
Goal
When starting a new project, our mode is to dig deep. We don’t just try to understand aesthetic needs, we first want to know what drives them. We get to know your company and understand your business goals. For Fresh Gourmet, Jordan Klopf, Product Marketing Manager describes, “Our main goal for the new booth at PMA was to establish an identity in the industry. Our product portfolio has expended substantially. It is important our customers see us as a partner who has their best interests in mind.” Our design team understood that Fresh Gourmet needed to feel trusted and admired as thought leaders in their marketplace. The client also needed buyers to become familiar with expanded offerings, a challenging ask if not orchestrated with intention. We then listened to their aesthetic objectives – Jordan explains, “We wanted to make sure our space was bright, edgy, modern and forward thinking. We needed our customers to make the connection of how our products support the fresh produce department…without being literal with how we merchandise in-store…” This was the fun part for our designers; how can we abstract the banal chore of grocery shopping? How can we add excitement, modernity and beauty to this experience? How do we balance practicality to create easy-to-understand environment for booth visitors?
Result
The final, custom 20×40 food exhibit was a hospitable space that felt simultaneously approachable and refined. 360-degree brand visibility was made possible by a large, rectangular hanging sign. The sign also acted as a large format place to introduce subsidiary brands. The exhibit space itself was anchored by a red-oak-clad tower, suspended pergola ceiling, and two angled, fabric graphic walls. The walls represented a grocery store produce aisle, with painterly fruit and veggie graphics printed on semi-transparent white fabric. Fresh Gourmet’s products were displayed in the center of the aisle, thus providing a hypothetical grocery shopping experience. Reception and sampling stations were located on one end of the exhibit while a semi-private conference space was on the other. The heavy use of wood gave the brand the rustic touches needed to exude the natural quality of the products, while the striking architecture of the angled walls and airy fabric provided the modern sophistication needed to show the brand’s evolution.
Value
Each exhibit we build is a physical realization of our client’s brand. We are always proud of that work, but our job isn’t done unless our product is a value-add for our customer. For Fresh Gourmet, Jordan remarks, “Condit did an excellent job understanding, developing, and executing the vision. It was a pleasure working with everyone at Condit. I think the most valuable thing Condit provided was their experience and creativity. They made us feel at ease and were very transparent throughout the entire process.”
 
Need custom exhibit support in the food industry for upcoming IFT, NPEW, or other trade shows? Learn how Condit is the expert for booth designs in the food & beverage market.