SHELTON, CT – As the restaurant and foodservice industry comes out of the year-long impact of the global pandemic, Clarion Events Food & Beverage Group, along with the California Restaurant Association, has made the decision to cancel the 2021 Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo and Healthy Food Expo West that was scheduled for this August at the Anaheim Convention Center. This decision was made following extensive conversations with hundreds of exhibitors, operators, sponsors and speakers who recommended moving the next in person live event to August 2022, which will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Event dates will be announced this July.
“Few business sectors were more impacted than the California dining industry, and although disappointed that we will not be able to gather this August, we know this is the right decision. With overwhelming support from the community for the 2022 event, we are confident we will successfully bring the restaurant and foodservice industry back together for an even stronger event in Los Angeles,” said Greg Topalian, CEO of Clarion Events North America, producers of the food and beverage portfolio of events. “Our events are here to support the industry as a partner, and we know this is the right decision for our community. We are confident that as the industry rebounds next year, the Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo and Healthy Food Expo West will be the must attend events in August 2022, and overwhelming support from the vendor community points to a strong return to a live event in Los Angeles”.
“Restaurants were the first businesses forced to shut down at the beginning of the pandemic and they are among the last businesses to reopen now, 15 months later. The economic losses to restaurants, their workforce and communities have been disproportionately enormous. Every restaurant owner in this state knows that for them, the road to true recovery will be long, so we welcome the decision by Clarion Events to wait until August 2022 to bring the industry back together,” said Jot Condie, President & CEO of the California Restaurant Association (CRA), sponsors of the trade show and conference. “We look forward to supporting our members, the operators, during this recovery to rebound even stronger through the association’s leadership and local/state advocacy.”
At the 2022 Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo there will be a significant change to the education program through a new partnership with EventEd. The restructured program will bring the best of curated content for all visitors through four new Educational Summits, for independents, foodservice, chains, and retail – and will make this a ‘must-attend” event. In the meantime, Clarion Events will continue to support the operator need for education and networking and will continue to provide year-round opportunities for foodservice professionals to connect virtually through Digital Forums, a robust on-demand webinar library and late 2021, a new national digital event. For more information, visit https://www.foodandbevshows.com/.
Although the Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo and Healthy Food Expo West will not be held August 22-25, 2021, Coffee Fest Anaheim, also produced by Clarion Events, will go on as scheduled at the Anaheim Convention Center. For information about Coffee Fest, visit https://www.coffeefest.com/.
Founded in 1906, the California Restaurant Association (www.calrest.org) has become one of the strongest advocates for the restaurant industry in the country. The CRA exists to help restaurateurs navigate the sometimes treacherous waters that are the hospitality industry. Serving a broad and diverse membership the CRA works to maintain its status as the most inclusive and powerful voice of restaurant operators in the state.
Clarion Events (us.clarionevents.com) produces 37 events across 13 sectors of both trade and consumer events. The Clarion Events Food & Beverage Group include the Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo, Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show, International Restaurant & Foodservice Show of New York, Healthy Food Expo, Coffee Fest and The NGA Show. Clarion Events acquired PennWell in early 2018, bringing 4 Tradeshow 200 events into the U.S. portfolio and super-charging the already rapid growth. Clarion Events has offices in Trumbull, CT; Kennesaw, GA; Boca Raton, FL; Tacoma, WA, and Fairlawn, NJ.
