Honey Shines at FNCE, Making for one Sweet…

Last month the National Honey Board (NHB) exhibited at the 2017 Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo in Chicago. The event, which took place October 21-24, is the premier event for Registered Dietitians (RDs) and Nutritionists. Celebrating its 100^th anniversary, honey was on hand to make for one sweet event.

On the opening night of the festivities, exhibitors had the opportunity to engage with event goers on a more intimate level at the opening night reception. To showcase honey’s versatility in the kitchen, the NHB served its delicious Honey Strawberry Salsa. This recipe proved to be a hit with all who visited the booth and was a great conversation starter about honey various culinary benefits.

The first full day of exhibition saw a lot of buzz around the honey booth. In addition to the return of the fresh salsa, the NHB also featured five honey varietals for attendees to sample including Alfalfa, Blueberry, Meadowfoam, Avocado, and Buckwheat, and debuted the new Hive To Table VR experience. These exciting elements not only caught the eye of passers-by but kept them around to ask questions and really engage with the honey team.

In addition to the exhibition hall, the NHB also sponsored an off-site event that put honey in front of some of the most influential members of the RD community. Not only was mead a featured beverage, but honey was also showcased in our Buzzy Bruschetta small bites.

Following a successful showcase of honey on day one, day two of exhibition really had people buzzing with the inclusion of an observation hive, donated by local beekeepers at The Honey Supply. The addition of this live hive allowed people to get up close and personal with our favorite pollinators and ask a beekeeper all about them. The popularity of this piece was evident not only by the consistent crowd of people buzzing around the hive, but also the many posts we saw about it on social media.

As the show came to close and the crowds dwindled, the NHB was glad to see the overall success of its return to this show. We feel that this show is a great fit for honey and were very pleased with both the representation of honey and the positive feedback we received from attendees of the show, who were glad to see honey back. We look forward to returning to this show and fostering relationships with this very important audience.