NAPICS

[JAG]

Does anyone plan on attending the NAPICS show in Columbus, Oh. Feb. 2/19-2/20?

I will be attending, and if anybody has questions for the industry pros, or would like info on any products but can't make the show, just forward to me any questions or requests by email and I will try to get answers or contacts for you.

JAG

[rossi3]

I will be.  I'll be in the RDP Foodservice booth.  Have fun!

[Perk]

Thanks Jag,
Let us know what you thought of it, I never been to one of those conventions yet.

[Park.Pizza]

We're going to our first NAPIC show this weekend. I hope the snow holds off.

Getting very excited.

We are going to be there Sunday & Monday. Any suggestions on how to get the most out of it.

Thanks,

Tim

[JAG]

Tim,

First suggestion is DO NOT eat before going. There are so many companies giving out samples of their product it is crazy. The big dog purveyors even have hospitality kitchens set up and serve food cafeteria style all day long. Also, last year they allowed the public to enter early (9 or 9:30)but only to attend the pizza making competition, the gourmet pizzas were Sun. and Traditional was Mon.(check to see if this holds true this year), but you couldn't leave the making area until the show opened, but thats not all bad since during the competition the pizzas are made one at a time, taken to the judges for sampling and then brought out to the public for consumption, and last year there was barely anybody there from the public to sample. Needless to say I got my fill of many different styles of pizza.

Another thing, take your time. Even though it is a large show with many booths to see, many may not tickle your fancy so don't feel like you have to race through the show, you should be able to cover the whole show in one full day, and then go back and revisit any booths of interest.

Be sure to get show times for the U.S. pizza teams dough tossing exhibition, it's pretty impressive, and there is a Q and A session at the end.

Be sure to talk to Big Dave O. and Tom Lehmann at the test kitchen they are always a fountain of information.

Also, I live in Columbus. So if you have any questions regarding the area just send me an email and I'll try to help you out. Enjoy.

JAG

 

[Park.Pizza]

Jag,

Thank you very much for your advice. We definitely will come hungry. As for the pie toss competition, we'll be there also. My wife use to get bent out of shape when I first started to toss dough. But then I got pretty good at it and she now enjoys watching me toss. So maybe I pick up a trick or two for tossing and harass the wife again.

We are going to the show to investigate frozen dough and cheese's. Plus any tips that might help us out opening our pie shop. This show is actually good timing for us.

Thanks again,
Tim

[JAG]

Tim,
I feel your pain regarding the dough tossing. Since I landed one on our dogs back, my wife has been a little leery of my tossed dough, but in my defense I did have great rotation and height.

In our ice cream shop we sell by the slice, and I use a fresh frozen dough for our pies. It is made in Dayton Oh, and supplied to us by SYSCO. It is pretty generic but, has a decent taste. Dress it up with a touch of EVOO and garlic salt and voila, simple, and tasty. We do an 18" and the largest frozen dough I can get is 24oz. It makes for a thinner crust than I prefer but i gotta deal with what I can get.

Big Dave Ostrander and friends are running an all day seminar on opening and operating pizza shops, on Sat. all day. If you get to talk to him at the show Sun. or Mon. be sure to have a note pad and take notes. He has 20+ years of experience and has forgotten more than most of us (well speaking for myself) will probably ever know.

Later
JAG

[Park.Pizza]

Jag,

We made it to the show. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Here's something that we seen which I think will make you laugh. 

We are watching the pizza champions doing their stunts. And as they throw the dough into the crowd, you catch to win a prize. Well this older women toward the back has a dough thrown out to her, and as she catches it. But she is almost thrown over the back of here chair. Her legs are in the air, here chair is almost flipped backwards. She did land back on her feet with no problems. She was laughing. The crowd was laughing. I laughed so hard I was crying.

We went with empty tummys and came out full. We enjoyed the seminars, and we spent a lot of time going through the booths and picking everybody's brain for information. We spent some cash on pizza stuff, and
I even said hello to the booth babes by the soda booths. "Those energy drinks sucks".

My wife and I had a great time in Columbus. We stopped down at Mad MAX for dinner, and then went to the Ugly Tuna for cocktails. They had jello wrestling. Those college chicks will do anything for a drink.

I highly recommend NAPICS to anyone thinking about opening or for those who own there a shop. You will leave with many ideas for success. And a full tummy.

Best wishes
Tim

[JAG]

Tim,

Glad to hear you and your wife enjoyed the show and some of the local entertainment. We both attended the Sun. and I returned Mon. for  another walk through, purchases and some brain picking.  The dough tossing presentation was very impressive. At the show I caught they brought about 8 people on stage for a mass dough tossing 101 class. Very funny.

I know what you mean about those energy drinks, after the first one I had to go back and sample a couple other flavors because I couldn't believe they could taste that bad, but they did!

Did you get to sample any of the chicken wings from that famous wing place out of Buffalo? They took a page out of the other famous wings place that now has an airline, and they had a couple of scantily clad young ladies handing out wings and sauces. The wings weren't bad for being baked and their sauces are very tasty, but I think they are definately on the right track as far as marketing goes, I nearly had to use a small bulldozer to get past all the guys sampling wings at their booth.

Anyway, glad to hear you enjoyed the show. Talk to you later.

JAG

[Park.Pizza]

Jag,

Yes, we did try some wings. They were tasty, but I'm glad that I took some Rolaids with me.  We even got some freebies from Pete's Hot Sauce. Very nice guy.

As we were driving down, we noticed the bill boards advertising the airline. I wonder what the flight attendents will be wearing.

Anyway, back to experimenting in the kitchen. It's been great chatting with you

Tim