CRFA Show a resounding success

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 18, 2011

TORONTO – The 2011 CRFA Show attracted thousands of industry professionals who discovered fresh ideas to help promote, manage and grow their foodservice and hospitality businesses. Held March 6-8 at the Direct Energy Centre, the 2011 CRFA Show added up to a resounding success with:

CRFA Show Awards
Four exhibitors – Ecolab, Garland, Libbey and Vollrath -- were honoured with awards celebrating 50 years of participating in the CRFA Show and its predecessors (HostEx/Food and Beverage Show).

Four other exhibitors were presented with best booth awards: Bevtech for best small booth, Bunge Oils for best traffic-building booth, Rational for best large booth  and RE.CO.TE for best first-year exhibitor.

“It was an honour for Garland Canada to receive the CRFA 2011 loyalty award which recognized the longstanding relationship of our two organizations over the past 50 years. We are proud and grateful for our association and together with the CRFA, look forward to many more years of innovative and collaborative service to the Canadian foodservice industry,” says  John Beck, Vice President and General Manager, Garland Canada.

“Vollrath was honoured to receive the loyalty award as a celebration of our 50th year at the CRFA Show. The ever-expanding CRFA Show has continued to provide our company with an ideal platform to strengthen awareness of the Vollrath brand in the Canadian market.  We look forward to an ongoing partnership with the CRFA show and continued growth in this important foodservice market,” says Paul Bartelt, CEO, The Vollrath Co., LLC.

“As a commodity ingredient manufacturer of edible oils, we look for new ways to draw attention and get people to stop at our booth. We're proud to receive an award from the premier foodservice industry trade show, the CRFA Show, for our efforts,” says Craig Wright, National Marketing Manager at Bunge Oils Canada.

“At Rational, we are extremely proud of our ability to utilize our booth in a way that visitors leave feeling that they’ve invested their time wisely, truly experiencing how the SelfCooking Center will  support their operation versus reading about it in a brochure or looking at a static piece of equipment. We are thrilled to be honoured by CRFA with the award of Best Large Booth,” says Vinod Jotwani, Director of Sales and Marketing at Rational USA and Canada.

Giving Back
Second Harvest collected over 26,000 pounds of food from exhibitors at the CRFA Show, including salmon, chicken, perogies, olive oil, yogurt and fresh produce.  “This food will provide delicious healthy meals to those who are hungry in our city,” the group posted on the CRFA Show Facebook page.

In addition, Friends of We Care, which assists Canadian children who have physical disabilities, raised funds and awareness at the CRFA Show.

“Our thanks go out to everyone in this innovative and dynamic industry whose participation made the CRFA Show such a tremendous success,” says Garth Whyte, President and CEO of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association. “The feedback from visitors and exhibitors has been outstanding, and the wheels are in motion to build on the success to make next year's show even better.”

The 2012 CRFA Show will return to Toronto’s Direct Energy Centre on March 4-6, 2012.

The CRFA Show is owned and operated by the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association, one of the country’s leading business associations. Through its trade shows, member savings and advocacy, CRFA works to create an environment that allows foodservice operators to prosper and grow.

Note to Editors:  Photo gallery will be available today at www.crfashow.ca/2011photogallery

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