2027 Local Food Trade Show

Wednesday, January 27th, 2027

Snow Date: Wednesday, February 3rd, 2027

10am to 3pm

Russell’s Garden Center

397 Boston Post Rd, Wayland MA 01778

1-on-1 Consultations: Wed, Jan 6th, 2027, 9am-11am

Meet with up to four industry experts for 30 minutes, with expertise in Marketing, Sales, Finance, Legal, Food Safety, Working with Distributors, and/or Waste and Energy Reduction. Thanks to the generosity and expertise shared by area industry experts, you have the dedicated time for your business’s next steps or challenges.

This networking/educational event is VIRTUAL.

Exhibitors:

Do you have your wholesale license (as required for your product and state) and you are ready to dive into wholesale markets? Are you already doing wholesale and looking to expand? The Local Food Trade Show brings together buyers from across scale — from farm stands to major grocery and distributors — across industries — CSAs and catering, restaurants and retail, institutions and innovations — and across New England.

Requirements: If your product is a packaged food in Massachusetts, you are required to have a state wholesale license. If your product has meat in it at all, you are required to have a USDA “bug”. If you are selling unprocessed farm produce in MA, you are not required to have a wholesale or other license. Other New England states have different requirements. You need to have the license/permit required for your product and state.

In addition, you will have success if you are ready for wholesale more holistically: Do you know what is your maximum production run? How soon after that could you do it again? Do you know what your product costs you, from first ingredient and processing, packaging and delivery? Will you make more money when you sell more product?

To support these and other questions, we provide four virtual workshops before the trade show, available for free to all exhibitors. Participation in these workshops is not mandatory, but if you sign up for the workshop we do ask that you attend. For the workshops where you are matched with a consultant or buyer, we ask that you make every effort to attend, and notify us if you can not make it.

Workshops for Exhibitors

Process:

First, you register. Please fill out the registration form and make your deposit. We will review your application to make sure you qualify. Once reviewed, we will set up a time for an on-boarding call. This call is mandatory. It is quicker for exhibitors with experience and who have don the Local Food Trade Show before, and will take longer for new exhibitors.

After the on-boarding call, if you plan to sample at the trade show we will need either your Wayland Food Permit for the season (e.g., if you do farmers markets in Wayland), or proof that you have applied to the Town of Wayland for a Temporary Food Service Permit for the event. The Town of Wayland’s Board of Health reviews those applications. They require:

• Your Food Safety Training (e.g., ServSafe) certificate

• Your Allergen Awareness Training certificate

• Health Permit for the kitchen/facility where you produce your product

  • If your product is produced by a co-manufacturer, you will need a letter from them confirming the relationship

• Proof of Workers Compensation Insurance OR an affidavit explaining why you do not need it (e.g., sole proprietorship with no employees)

• $75 application fee paid to the Town of Wayland

Please note: There is no open burn cooking (e.g., propane, butane, or sterno) allowed in the greenhouses. Spots with electricity are limited in number. No cooking on premises; only sampling. These are the rules of the location.

We will also collect from you your logo and a few photos of your product for promotional purposes. If you opt in to having a half-page program ad, we will need that as well.

Costs:

Early Bird Special through Sunday, November 15th!

$25 off each Exhibitor Booth Fee

Members: Early Bird Special: $125, Full Price: $150

Non-Members: Early Bird Special: $150, Full Price: $175

Electricity Hookups (optional): $25

Boxed Lunch, per lunch (optional): *$25

Members of SBN and the Wholesale Readiness Program of FCCDC/WMFPC qualify for the membership discount, contingent on confirmation.

* We anticipate the lunches to cost $25 based on previous years. If this changes, we will notify you and you can change your order at that time.

Dates:

Registration Open: From October 6th to January 8th, or until booths sell out

Early Bird Special for Exhibitors: From October 6th to November 15th

Full Price for Exhibitors: From November 16th to January 8th, or until booths sell out

• Note: All exhibitors that register in January will need to be prepared to rush their on-boarding and TFSP application

Deadline for Final Payment: January 13th — Any exhibitors not paid before the 13th will not be able to attend the trade show

Workshops:

• One-on-One Consultations: Wed, January 6th, 9-11am

• Preview Matchmaking: Wed, January 13th, 9-11am

• Perfect Your Presentation: Fri, January 15th, 9:30-11am

• Wholesale 101: Pre-Contract Checklist: Wed, January 20th, 12-1:30pm

Day-of-Logistics:

You will receive an email about a week before the festival with all of the logistics information, and maps/layout of load in, etc. Here is the day-of schedule:

2027 AGENDA: Wednesday, January 27th (snow date 2/3)

• 8:00-9:00 am: Exhibitor Check-In, Load-In, Set-Up

  • You will bring your set up in through the Potting Shed

  • There, you will receive your name tag(s), location, program, etc.

  • You will move your vehicle to the designated Exhibitor Parking area

• 9:00-10:00 am: Exhibitor Networking

• 10:00 am: Attendee Check-In

• 10:00 am: Trading Floor Opens

• 11:00 am: Opening Remarks

• 12:00 noon: Lunch Arrives

• 3:00 pm: Trading Floor Closes

• 3:00-4:00 pm: Exhibitor Load-out

If you still have questions or concerns, please contact us: kerry@sbnmass.org.