Jun 27, 2025
All smiles from the 2025 NRA team
DINZ Market Activation Manager Virginia Connell recently left for the US in preparation for DINZ attending the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York – the second and final in-market trade show of the year for DINZ in the North American market. But back in mid-May, the day after the Queenstown conference, she was on a plane bound for Chicago and the National Restaurant Association show – the largest foodservice trade show in the Western Hemisphere.
With the gains made into the North American market over the past few years, and the growth in retail focus driven by the North American Retail Accelerator programme, the North American market, and subsequent marquee trade events, have become an important channel for promotion. Few countries do sheer size and scale like the US does.
Held annually in Chicago, the NRA show saw 53,000+ foodservice professionals in attendance, representing 110 countries. The year’s show was held 17-20 May and featured more than 12 (American) football fields worth of exhibition space.
“Attending this trade show allows us to engage with our key stakeholders, selling our product in market as well as raising awareness through the market and promoting New Zealand venison generally rather than through a brand.
“My time at these shows is used to grow relationships with the distributors as well as educate individuals at the show about farming deer in New Zealand. This show [NRA] touts foodservice as a focus, but there is a lot of retail here too.”
In addition to Connell and DINZ-contracted chef Shannon Campbell, each New Zealand exporter has a distributor representative present on a specific day, though, as Connell states, the focus of the event is purely on New Zealand venison instead of branded product, although having company representatives there helps with the conversion of sales leads down the line.
“The biggest difference from attending the show in 2024 for me was that there was more understanding around the product. This shows that the awareness-building activities in-market around New Zealand venison have definitely had some success. For example, I found myself explaining what venison is, and the differences between farmed and wild, a lot less this year,” Connell says.
With a range of offerings that were more adventurous this year compared to last, including sliders with steak meat, venison sushi with wasabi caviar, a range of specialty sausages, and some lovely mini dishes with pickled blackberries or pistachio rubs.
“I think the kombu marinated venison still creates the most interest around the table and is a real drawcard at grabbing and keeping attention,” says Campbell.
“While Virginia was flat out engaging with people, I didn't really have a lot of time for conversation at the show,” says Campbell, “as I was simply too busy cooking to engage in lengthy discussions. Any interactions I did have, however, were overwhelmingly positive. New Zealand venison continues to surprise people with its unique points of difference around flavour and texture. It’s a continuing pleasure to watch people open a gap between their perception of the product through its association with game and the actual product that they have just tried.”
Prior to the Summer Fancy Food Show, Connell and Campbell will be working a series of events for a couple of in-market partners of New Zealand venison, with one in New Jersey and the other in Boston, before heading to New York to set up for the main event. Keep an eye on the DINZ social channels for updates on their North American activities.
