Episode 189: What Buyers Want From You At A Trade Show: An Interview with Joyce Attar of World Foods PDX

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Are you heading to the Good Food Awards and Mercantile in Portland this coming April? In this week’s episode 189 of the Food Biz Wiz Podcast, I chat with Joyce Attar. Joyce is the Director of Operations at World Foods Portland and is a member of the Good Food Foundation.

You won’t want to miss our conversation, where she shares key information for trade shows… including the Good Food Mercantile! After listening in, you’ll know:

👀 Where you can find a list of retailers that are values-aligned

👀 What BUYERS do to prepare for trade shows

👀 Why knowing your end customer and store audience is critical

👀 What piece of information not to miss in your buyer followup email

📨 Be sure to send us a DM on Instagram at @itsalliball or connect with Alli on LinkedIn and let us know which habit or behavior you’re kicking after this episode.

🔗Join us in the Food Biz Wiz Facebook group as well to join our conversations on CPG topics and podcast episodes.

MEET JOYCE ATTAR OF WORLD FOODS PORTLAND:

Joyce Attar is the Director of Operations and member of the family that owns and operates Barbur World Foods, World Foods, and Ya Hala in Portland Oregon.

Born and raised in Portland, Joyce comes from a family of entrepreneurs who immigrated from Lebanon and opened a small market with a vision to create access to hard-to-find international foods. Today, that business has grown into a dynamic restaurant and two-location grocery chain that carries a wide selection of local and international products as well as a unique deli that proudly highlights their Lebanese culture. In 2014, Joyce joined the business, where she works alongside her family to expand the company and grow the brand.

Joyce's passion for business led her to pursue a Bachelor's degree in Management and Entrepreneurship from the University of Portland. She later earned her MBA from Willamette University, where she honed her skills in strategic planning, operations, and marketing.

In addition to her work in the family business, Joyce is an avid traveler and foodie who loves to explore food culture around the world. She is a member of the Good Food Foundation, an organization that celebrates artisanal food producers, and serves on the Associate Board of SMART Reading, a non-profit that promotes literacy among children in Oregon.

Find World Foods Portland at their site here or on Instagram here!

FIND MORE ABOUT THE GOOD FOOD FOUNDATION:

The Good Food Foundation connected us with Joyce Attar and we are so happy to share the interview above. The Good Food Foundation exists to celebrate, connect, empower and leverage the passionate and engaged, yet often overlooked, players in the food system who are driving towards tasty, authentic and responsible food in order to humanize and reform our American food culture.

Through five key programs – Awards, Guild, Alliance, Mercantile and Fund– we build widespread support for the growers, ranchers, makers and merchants stubbornly swimming upstream to create and share the kind of food we all want to eat: tasty, authentic and responsible. The Awards will be taking place this coming April in Portland!

You can find out more about the Good Food Foundation at their site here. Find the Good Food Merchant Collaborative here as well for a list of incredible retailers who work with brands to provide consumers with delicious, values aligned brands.

SPONSORED BY: OUR REORDER CHECKLIST!

This episode is sponsored by our mini Reorder Checklist! This checklist is the one I mention in this episode: it’s a list of ways to onboard a new retailer so that you’re more likely to sell off those shelves and receive reorders. You can find our simplified version at the link here OR, if you’re a Retail Ready® student, you can find the long-form version and training directly within our course platform!