A
Summary of the NFPL 2000 exhibition
It
is important to remember the context of the birth of NFPL.
This business to business exhibition was created for
three main reasons:
1.
The non food private label market is currently expanding
2.
There is no meeting place for European retailers dedicated to non food
private label products (the PLMA is concerned with food
products and also healthcare and hygiene products).
3.
It is often difficult for a producer to establish targeted contacts with
the buyers of private labels who purchase for the European
retail chains
From
the start we were aiming for an exhibition that would be
used as a work tool by exhibitors and retailers alike who
had already expressed an interest in this project.
The first difficulty was to satisfy those who had
participated in the exhibition during this first year and
are therefore the first to believe in this project and to
assure its credibility.
The
objective was to attract the Buying Managers from the
European retail sector. It is well known that German buyers rarely attend French
exhibitions and even less so when it is the first year of an
exhibition. We
had a significant number of pre-registered visitors which
has convinced us that (even in this first year) European
retailers are aware of the exhibition not just as an
exhibition but also as a necessary and useful work tool.
Here
are the reactions of the retail visitors (1200 visitors
during the two days, of which 75% were buyers, heads of
products and marketing managers).
89%
of retail visitors who attended have confirmed their
interest in the NFPL 2000 and have encouraged us.
Mr Alain Blond of the Opera Group (Casino, Cora…)
even thinks that in the medium term, retailers should have
their own stand at the exhibition.
More than 55% of retailers who attended have
expressed their intention to return, a further 25% will
return if there are more exhibitors. This illustrates the potential of the NFPL
despite the difficulties of launching a new
exhibition.
One
of our strategic priorities lies in the fact that we want to
directly involve the retail sector in the planning of the
NFPL 2001. To
do this, we are going to create a “Strategic Committee”,
exclusively made up of Buying Managers or those concerned
with the managing of private label products.
This Strategic Committee will orientate future NFPL
exhibitions and will be the best way to ensure numerous
visitors in 2001.
It
is a characteristic of Private Label exhibitions that there
are few visitors in terms of quantity but important visitors
in terms of quality. This
exhibition is exclusively reserved for general and
specialist retailers, the success of participation depends
upon making quality contacts during the two days.
We wish to continue this selectivity which reinforces
our impact on the foreign visitors.
Another
interesting point lies in the business potential of a
Private Label exhibition.
Private Labels are already well established in the
food sector but the non food sector is still developing.
Some of the exhibitors have not yet worked with
Private Labels. Such
an exhibition is more demanding in commercial and marketing
terms than a normal exhibition.
The retailers have an extensive list of criterion and
financial considerations when choosing the
producer to
create their Private Label products. Those who do not have a researched product, an innovative
product or a fashionable product
will certainly have felt that this exhibition was a
failure. The
foreign exhibitors were able to meet the key French buyers
and were enthusiastic about the quality of visitors.
Those who had a product which was not only well
presented but also well proposed were able to succeed.
Six good contacts over two days and two or three that
materialise constitutes a success for these producers.
The
NFPL team has already become a consultant in the private
label field because we are in direct contact with the
demands of retailers. This
goes beyond the role of exhibition organiser.
The ultimate goal is to encourage the development of
Private Labels both during and outside of the exhibition.
From
January 2001, French retailers and producers will be able to
use the research engine, nfpl.net which will allow them to
access our database of European retailers.
Nfpl.net was demonstrated at the exhibition and will
be operational from October 2000.
If you need further information concerning the
exhibition, the conferences or the verdicts of the retailers
which we have interviewed, please do not hesitate to contact
the NFPL Communication team by telephone (0033 1 44 74 50
12) by fax (0033 1 44 74 50 67) or by e-mail at info@aol.com.
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