Welcome to the 2021 Basin Food & Buyers Expo. On April 9, farmers, food producers, chefs, grocers and food industry-supports will gather virtually to reflect, learn and connect. Now more than ever, the Basin food community has reason to come together.

This year’s event will offer a host of new opportunities for producers and buyers. Setting up and visiting expo booths and networking can take place from the comfort of your farm, home or office, meaning zero travel time this year.

Two underlying themes at FABx21 will be adaptation and collaboration. We will hear from businesses around the Basin who have achieved innovative successes despite 2020 being a challenging year. As always, we hope this is an opportunity where new ideas can emerge through our collective participation.

We encourage non-exhibiting food producers from the Basin to participate in the day as well. There will be takeaways and opportunities for anyone wanting to strengthen, diversify or grow their business.

Navigating the Virtual Expo

FABx21 will be held on the Whova virtual conference and expo platform. For those who attended the 2019 Basin Food Summit, you may recognize some of the functionality. To get the most out of your FABx21 experience, take some time to go through the attendee guide. Speakers and agenda will be publish soon.

Exhibiting and the Virtual Exhibition Booth

In the weeks leading up to the event, we encourage exhibitors to begin thinking about preparing their booth. Each exhibitor will have a virtual booth to populate with custom business content. As an exhibitor you will be able to chat with buyers, demo products, provide giveaways and coupons and record and retrieve leads. Support staff can also be easily registered in Whova to support exhibitors with their booth. The exhibitor function overview can be read here.

Setting up an exhibitor booth is easier than ever. The FABx event organizers will be providing exhibitors with booth access and simple support materials the week of March 9 (please check your spam inbox if you do not see the link that week). In the meantime, there are three main components to consider beforehand as you prepare to setup your booth: a copy of your logo, quality product photos, a sell-sheet or price list with all necessary information so a buyer can directly download right from your booth. As well, you have the option of producing a brief product demo video with your smartphone or camera, explaining the product as you would at a regular expo (no longer than 120 seconds).

See our Producer Readiness sheet for more information on expo readiness.

Finally, the event organizers will be hosting a rehearsal session for exhibitors on April 5th from 1 – 2pm. This will serve as an opportunity to get acquainted and ready to make the most of your expo experience.

We look forward to your participation in FABx21!

If you have any questions about this years virtual event please email us, we will be happy to help!