A Summary of the NFPL 2000 exhibition

It is important to remember the context of the birth of NFPL.  This business to business exhibition was created for three main reasons:

1.                  The non food private label market is currently expanding

2.                  There is no meeting place for European retailers dedicated to non food private label products (the PLMA is concerned with food products and also healthcare and hygiene products).

3.                  It is often difficult for a producer to establish targeted contacts with the buyers of private labels who purchase for the European retail chains

From the start we were aiming for an exhibition that would be used as a work tool by exhibitors and retailers alike who had already expressed an interest in this project.  The first difficulty was to satisfy those who had participated in the exhibition during this first year and are therefore the first to believe in this project and to assure its credibility.

The objective was to attract the Buying Managers from the European retail sector.  It is well known that German buyers rarely attend French exhibitions and even less so when it is the first year of an exhibition.  We had a significant number of pre-registered visitors which has convinced us that (even in this first year) European retailers are aware of the exhibition not just as an exhibition but also as a necessary and useful work tool.

Here are the reactions of the retail visitors (1200 visitors during the two days, of which 75% were buyers, heads of products and marketing managers).

89% of retail visitors who attended have confirmed their interest in the NFPL 2000 and have encouraged us.  Mr Alain Blond of the Opera Group (Casino, Cora…) even thinks that in the medium term, retailers should have their own stand at the exhibition.  More than 55% of retailers who attended have expressed their intention to return, a further 25% will return if there are more exhibitors.  This illustrates the potential of the NFPL  despite the difficulties of launching a new exhibition.

One of our strategic priorities lies in the fact that we want to directly involve the retail sector in the planning of the NFPL 2001.  To do this, we are going to create a “Strategic Committee”, exclusively made up of Buying Managers or those concerned with the managing of private label products.  This Strategic Committee will orientate future NFPL exhibitions and will be the best way to ensure numerous visitors in 2001.

It is a characteristic of Private Label exhibitions that there are few visitors in terms of quantity but important visitors in terms of quality.  This exhibition is exclusively reserved for general and specialist retailers, the success of participation depends upon making quality contacts during the two days.  We wish to continue this selectivity which reinforces our impact on the foreign visitors.

Another interesting point lies in the business potential of a Private Label exhibition.  Private Labels are already well established in the food sector but the non food sector is still developing.  Some of the exhibitors have not yet worked with Private Labels.  Such an exhibition is more demanding in commercial and marketing terms than a normal exhibition.  The retailers have an extensive list of criterion and financial considerations when choosing the
producer to create their Private Label products.  Those who do not have a researched product, an innovative product or a fashionable product  will certainly have felt that this exhibition was a failure.  The foreign exhibitors were able to meet the key French buyers and were enthusiastic about the quality of visitors.  Those who had a product which was not only well presented but also well proposed were able to succeed.  Six good contacts over two days and two or three that materialise constitutes a success for these producers.

The NFPL team has already become a consultant in the private label field because we are in direct contact with the demands of retailers.  This goes beyond the role of exhibition organiser.  The ultimate goal is to encourage the development of Private Labels both during and outside of the exhibition.

From January 2001, French retailers and producers will be able to use the research engine, nfpl.net which will allow them to access our database of European retailers.  Nfpl.net was demonstrated at the exhibition and will be operational from October 2000.  If you need further information concerning the exhibition, the conferences or the verdicts of the retailers which we have interviewed, please do not hesitate to contact the NFPL Communication team by telephone (0033 1 44 74 50 12) by fax (0033 1 44 74 50 67) or by e-mail at info@aol.com.