Our First Fancy Food Show: 3 Days, 30,000 Attendees & Strategic Power Naps
Last week, Team Mei Mei packed up a CR-V, filled it to the brim with dumplings, and headed to New York City for our very first Fancy Food Show.
If you've never heard of it, the Fancy Food Show is basically the Super Bowl of specialty food. More than 2,000 companies from around the world gather at the Javits Center to introduce their products to retailers, distributors, hotels, chefs, grocery stores, and foodservice buyers. Over 30,000 people attend, all looking for the next great thing to stock on their shelves or menus.
It’s a must go to show for any growing company like ours!
First things first: huge props to our Manager Maddy!
Before we even loaded the car, there were months of work happening behind the scenes.
A massive shoutout goes to our Business Development Manager, Maddy Meech, who handled the applications, paperwork, planning, and logistics to get us to the show. They also secured a Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) grant that helped offset the cost of exhibiting—a huge help for a small business like ours.
Trade shows aren't cheap, but they're one of the best ways for emerging food brands to meet hundreds of potential customers and partners in just a few days.
Thanks, Maddy. We literally couldn't have done it without you.
Maddy at the Javits center setting up for the show
The Great Booth Experiment
If you've ever wondered how much thought goes into a 10' x 10' booth...
...the answer is: a surprising amount. We wanted our booth to feel unmistakably Mei Mei while fitting into our tiny allotted footprint. So before leaving for New York, we tested out our set-up on the Dumpling Factory patio, using blue tape to mark our foot print. Co-owner Alyssa may or may not have ordered six different tabletop display options, that she then narrowed down to the top three to take to the show. Worth it.
When we arrived at the Javits Center for setup, all that preparation paid off. We assembled the booth in under 30 minutes, looked at each other with disbelief, and celebrated by heading to the first-time exhibitor happy hour to meet fellow food entrepreneurs over snacks and drinks.
Testing our 10×10 booth on the factory patio before the show.
Booth set-up at the show, perfect fit!
Day One: We Forgot What Sitting Down Felt Like
Day one we spent eight+ straight hours talking dumplings and answering every imaginable dumpling question. We wouldn’t have survived without out the NY based helped from Rafael, who cooked dumplings non-stop all day.
As first-time exhibitors, the show was incredibly exciting and also just plain overwhelming. Everywhere you looked there were beautiful products, passionate founders, buyers rushing from booth to booth, and enough samples to feed a small city.
Our stars of the day? Korean BBQ Beef Dumplings & Lemongrass Pork Dumplings!
We also met quite a few gluten-free attendees who were genuinely thrilled to discover they could finally enjoy dumplings again.
One of our favorite moments was hearing people come back at the end of the day just to tell us we were one of their favorite booths.
Day Two: Reinforcements Arrive
Day two is known as the busiest day of the show, so that’s when backup arrived. Co-owner Annie Campbell and Facilities & Fulfillment Manager Angelle Castro joined Maddy and Alyssa, giving us a full squad to tackle conversations, cook dumplings, and—finally—take turns exploring the show ourselves.
We also had the chance to reconnect with some incredible partners, including our distributors, Chefs’ Warehouse and Myers Produce, while meeting potential new distributors and retailers who can help bring Mei Mei Dumplings to even more locations.
Even better, we got to say hello in person to some of the stores already carrying our dumplings, including Pierogi Boys Marketplace in Brooklyn, Happier Grocery in Manhattan, and Woodstock Farmers’ Market in Waterbury, Vermont. Those moments reminded us that while the food industry can feel enormous, it's also surprisingly small.
We had notable run ins with Chef Marcus Samuelsson, who tried one of our dumplings and liked it (swoon!), and Nadia Liu-Spellman, founder of Dumpling Daughter, a fellow Massachusetts dumpling maker spreading the dumpling love.
However, by the end of the day, reality set in. After two days of talking almost nonstop... After standing for what felt like 47 hours... After serving hundreds of dumplings... Co-owner Alyssa made what history will remember as a strategic power nap underneath our booth table. Highly recommended.
Day Three: The Final Push
By the final day, everyone had settled into a rhythm. The crowds eased up just enough that we could finally explore more of the show ourselves, connect with fellow exhibitors, and make a few last rounds before packing everything back into the CR-V.
When all was said and done, we had connected with more than 200 buyers, distributors, retailers, chefs, and foodservice professionals from across the country—and even beyond. Yes, someone actually asked if we export to New Zealand - not yet!
What's Next?
Our biggest goal coming out of the show is making it even easier to find Mei Mei dumplings by expanding our retail and foodservice footprint throughout New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and beyond, .
We're incredibly grateful to everyone who stopped by our booth, sampled a dumpling, asked thoughtful questions, shared encouraging words, or simply came back for another bite.
For our very first Fancy Food Show, we couldn't have asked for a better experience. We’ll see you at the 2027 Fancy Food Show and until then stay tuned for our top 10 Fancy Food Show do’s & don’ts!