Fun at the NRA Show 2011

One of the most entertaining trade shows has to be the National Restaurant Association's annual extravaganza with celebrity chefs, international pavilions and food trucks galore. Last week, Chicago hosted 58,000 attendees who had the opportunity to sample their way through 515,000 square feet of food and beverage … while getting a peek at all the ancillary products and services that make a restaurant run. Reports are that both attendance and exhibitor counts were up vs. the last few years and that "optimism" was the word of the week on the show floor.

A few observations from the CBD team that hit the show:

This is an industry made for social media and online services, and providers showed up in force. Groupon was both a sponsor and exhibitor; Yelp, FaceBook, Google, Living Social, Open Table were among a multitude of companies showcasing loyalty programs, text messaging, couponing and app development services.

iPads seemed to pop up all over the place, used to provide menu information, order at the bar and even to customize a drink.

Speaking of customizing … lines were long for blending your own soda concoction from one of Coke's Freestyle machines. The "make your own" ice cream vending machines were fun (I tried MooBella which was excellent), offering a selection of flavors, add-ins and high or low fat content, all in 40 seconds. Other options for getting exactly what you want were flavored sticks for drinks and nutritionally-tailored sandwich menus (how much protein would you like today?).

Jelly Belly introduced a plethora of drinks (kind of like Dairy Queen's old Mr. Misty's but crazier). Ironically, their booth sat adjacent to the Organics aisle. Gee, guess which was more crowded?

Bio-degradable utensils are sooo 2010. Just eat them instead! "Edibles by Jack" offered a variety of great-tasting spoons. Even more over the top was a kind of hollowed-out piece of jerky called a "beef straw" from Benny's Bloody Mary. Hey, why limit it to a Bloody Mary?

"Ancient grains" were showcased in everything from baked goods to soups.

While gluten-free wasn't emphasized like last year, there was still quite a lot of activity around GF formulations and offerings.

Low sodium and clean labeling were recurring themes. I also had a significant number of company representatives tell me they have either eliminated or drastically reduced the amount of HFCS in their products.

Sustainability was also a major topic on the show floor and within the education sessions. One company—Norpac—stood out. Sure, they had a super-large booth located at the entry of the hall, but their "sustainably grown" messaging was loud and clear, the visuals were arresting and their products—soups, vegetables and fruit toppings—were wonderful.

Finally, Lamb Wesson's ode to sweet potato fries continued this year with some new flavorings in store … my favorite was the vanilla coated version. Sounds weird, tastes amazingly good.