Ontario’s agriculture trade show schedule is getting more crowded with the launch of a new poultry show.
ROI Event Management, which runs the Canadian Dairy Xpo (CDX), announced a new Canadian Poultry Xpo during the CDX in early April in Stratford.
ROI Event Management hopes that the success of the Canadian Dairy Xpo, which draws more than 15,000 dairy farmers from across the country, will be repeated with the Canadian Poultry Xpo.
“Once you have a proven and successful model you can stamp it out. There is a lot of crossover and similarities between the two industries, in terms of supply management and structure,” said Jordon Underhill, owner of ROI Event Management. Indeed, surveys at CDX found that 18 per cent of dairy farmers already are poultry producers.
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The Canadian Dairy Xpo was created in an entirely different environment than the new Canadian Poultry Xpo.
There was no dairy-only trade show in the country of this scale and it filled a gap in the market.
The Canadian Poultry Xpo will compete with the National Poultry Show held at the same time as the CDX at the Western Fair Agriplex in London.
The National Poultry Show is run by the Western Fair with the support of the Poultry Industry Council. It has run for more than 60 years.
“This model doesn’t really have anything to do with what anyone else is doing,” said Underhill. “We felt there was a need in the marketplace similar to dairy.” He said there were regional dairy events already in the marketplace, but they have continued.
“We know what works for dairy and we just felt there was a need for a national showcase of our industry to the rest of the world.”
Underhill says that the access to innovation drives farmers to CDX and he expects his new poultry show to follow that trend.
The National Poultry Show features a trade show that now fills the Agriplex and includes seminars and various events by poultry industry players around the periphery of the show.
“PIC is proud to partner on this event that delivers an engaging forum where the entire poultry industry gets together to share ideas that will continue to lead exciting innovations for this sector,” said Keith Robbins, executive director of the Poultry Industry Council in a release after the show.
The first Canadian Poultry Xpo will take place Nov. 4-5, 2020 in Stratford. The National Poultry Show runs in early April in London.
Updated May 1, 2019
