Vitafoods Europe, SupplySide East trade shows postponed due to coronavirus

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Media group Informa has postponed two major upcoming events for the dietary supplements industry: the SupplySide East trade show originally scheduled to take place April 21-22 in Secaucus, NJ, and the Vitafoods Europe tradeshow, originally scheduled for May 12-14 in Switzerland. The postponements, made due to concerns over the global spread of the COVID-19 virus (“coronavirus”), come one week after Informa postponed another major industry event: the Natural Products Expo West trade show, which was supposed to take place in Anaheim, CA, last week.

The following are the newly scheduled dates for the two shows, which are set to take place at the same, originally scheduled venues:

• SupplySide East: June 23-24, 2020 (Location: Meadowlands Expo Center; Secaucus, NJ)

• Vitafoods Europe: September 1-3, 2020 (Location: Palexpo; Geneva, Switzerland)

Natural Products Expo West organizers said that a new date for the show would be announced in mid-April.

In other industry news, the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA; Silver Spring, MD) last week postponed its upcoming Hemp-CBD Supplement Congress originally set to take place April 14-15 in Portland, OR. The association said it will be announcing a new date soon.

To learn more about how the coronavirus is affecting the natural products industry, click here.

By announcing the postponement of Vitafoods Europe early on, show organizers said, “By acting now, we hope to remove the uncertainty affecting exhibitors and visitors and allow them to make more concrete business decisions.”

The organizers of the Natural Products Expo West show had less time to make such a decision as global concerns over coronavirus ramped up in real-time. Show organizers ultimately made the decision to cancel the week of the show following cancelled attendance from many exhibitors and attendees.

In announcing the postponement of the SupplySide East show, Jon Benninger, vice president and market leader for SupplySide, said: “With the uncertainty caused by the evolving coronavirus situation, this postponement is the best course of action for our industry, exhibitors and attendees. This is an unprecedented time for our industry, and our focus will continue to be on what is best for our industry partners.”

Informa’s announcement added: “The new dates will provide exhibitors more time before incurring shipping and other costs, and all participants will face less pressure to make travel commitments now, when the situation is still so fluid.”