NEW YORK — After more than 25 years with the Specialty Food Association (SFA), including the last six as president, Bill Lynch will step down when his current term concludes in March 2027.
During his tenure, Lynch helped guide the organization through one of the most turbulent periods in the exhibition industry’s history. He led the recovery of the Fancy Food Shows following the pandemic, introduced Winter FancyFaire, oversaw the acquisition of the Good Food Foundation, and helped grow SFA membership by 24%, while increasing annual revenue by 50% and total assets by 52%.
Related. The Recipe for the Summer Fancy Food Show’s Staying Power
The SFA Board has launched a national search for Lynch’s successor, engaging executive search firm ForceBrands to identify the association’s next president.
As he prepares for his final chapter at SFA, Lynch shared his perspectives with Trade Show Executive on how the trade show industry has evolved over the past quarter century, from changing exhibitor expectations and smarter matchmaking to AI, COVID, and why human connection remains the industry’s greatest competitive advantage.
When you look back over 25 years, what are the three biggest changes you’ve seen in the trade show business?
BILL: Three stand out. First, specialty food went from a niche corner of the industry to one of the biggest drivers of the whole market. What used to be a small set of gourmet items is now where a lot of the innovation in food happens first. Second, the buyer relationship changed. Buyers used to come mainly to find products. Now they come to find brands, stories, and partners they can build with over years. Third, data and technology reshaped almost everything behind the scenes, from how we connect buyers with makers to how exhibitors measure what a show is actually worth to them.
If someone attended the Fancy Food Show in 2000 versus today, what would they notice first?
BILL: The scale and the diversity. In 2000, the floor felt like a specialty food show for a specific audience. Today it is a global marketplace, with makers from around 60 countries, a huge range of emerging and mission-driven brands, and a level of design, storytelling, and professionalism that did not exist back then. Someone walking in would feel right away that this is where the future of food shows up first.
Twenty-five years ago, exhibitors defined success differently than they do today. How has that changed?
BILL: Twenty-five years ago, success was measured on the floor, in orders written and cards collected during the show itself. Today, exhibitors think in terms of pipeline. They measure qualified buyer conversations, retail relationships that develop over months, media and buzz, and the long-term value of being seen in the right room. The show became less about the transaction in the moment and more about the trajectory it sets in motion.
What have exhibitors become much better at?
BILL: Telling their story and using the show strategically. Exhibitors show up far more prepared than they used to. They know who they want to meet, they present their brand with real clarity, and they follow up in a disciplined way. The best of them treat the show as one important moment in a year-round plan rather than a stand-alone event.
How has Specialty Food kept exhibitors coming back year after year?
BILL: By protecting the quality of who walks the floor. Exhibitors come back because the buyers are real and the connections lead somewhere. We stayed disciplined about curation and about the caliber of the audience, and we kept listening and evolving so the show reflected where the industry was heading. When exhibitors trust that the right people are in the room, they keep investing.
Has matchmaking become more important than simply attracting attendance?
BILL: Yes, and it is one of the most important shifts in our business. A big crowd is not the goal. The right connections are. Exhibitors do not want ten thousand conversations, they want the fifty that matter. Investing in matchmaking, curated buyer programs, and helping the right people find each other creates far more value than chasing raw attendance numbers ever could.
What parts of the show have remained timeless?
BILL: The human moment. Tasting a product for the first time, meeting the maker behind it, feeling the energy of a packed floor on opening morning. Technology changes how people prepare and follow up, but the discovery itself, the handshake and the shared table, has not changed in seventy years. That is the heart of what we do.
What was the hardest decision you had to make during the pandemic?
BILL: Canceling shows. We had never done it, and thousands of businesses count on that floor for a meaningful part of their year. Making the call to protect people’s health, while knowing the financial and emotional weight it put on our members and on our own organization, was the hardest thing I have had to do in this role.
Looking back, what lessons from COVID permanently changed how you run shows?
BILL: COVID taught us to build for uncertainty. We plan with contingencies now in a way we never did before, we hold more financial resilience, and we communicate with members earlier and more honestly when things are in flux. It also reminded us how much people value being together. When we could not gather, everyone felt the absence, and that clarified what the show is really for.
What changes stayed because they actually improved the event?
BILL: The digital tools around the event stayed, because they genuinely made it better. Planning your visit, finding the right exhibitors, and setting up meetings before you arrive are all easier now. We also kept a stronger year-round connection with members rather than treating the show as the only touchpoint. Those changes improved the experience, so they were worth keeping.
Everyone talks about AI today. Where do you think it genuinely helps trade shows?
BILL: AI helps most where it makes connection smarter and operations smoother. It can match a buyer with the right emerging brand faster than any printed directory ever could, personalize what each attendee sees, and take friction out of logistics, registration, and follow-up. Used well, it gives people more time for the part that matters, which is the conversation in front of them. I will also add that AI has helped startup brands scale faster, and that has created a healthy pipeline of new brands entering the trade show world.
Do you believe face-to-face events become more valuable as digital tools improve?
BILL: Absolutely. The more business moves online, the more valuable the in-person moment becomes. Trust is still built face to face. You cannot taste a product, read someone’s conviction about their brand, or build a real partnership through a screen. Digital tools make the event easier to navigate, and that makes the time on the floor even more valuable.
During your 25 years at SFA, what’s a decision you made that seemed controversial at the time but proved right?
BILL: One that stands out was choosing quality over sheer size. There was pressure at times to grow the numbers for their own sake. We made the harder call to protect the caliber of the audience and the integrity of the experience, even when it meant slower growth on paper. It paid off, because exhibitors stayed loyal to a show they could trust.
Which accomplishment are you most proud of?
BILL: Building the Fancy Food Shows into what they are today, and doing it alongside a team and a culture I am proud of. The show is regarded as best-in-class in our industry, and that reputation was earned over many years of getting the details right. What I am most proud of is not any single show. It is that we built something durable, backed by a team that earned Great Place to Work certification, that will keep serving the industry long after I am gone.
Where do you think organizers need to evolve over the next decade?
BILL: Organizers need to think of themselves as stewards of a year-round community, not producers of an annual event. That means using data to personalize the experience, proving ROI to exhibitors clearly, meeting a younger generation of buyers where they are, and taking sustainability seriously. The organizations that treat the show as one expression of an ongoing relationship will win.
What do you hope people continue doing after you’re gone?
BILL: Put the member and the exhibitor first, and protect the quality of the experience. It is tempting to chase size or take shortcuts. I hope the team keeps making the harder choices that preserve trust, keeps curating with care, and keeps treating the show as a community rather than a transaction. If they hold onto that, the rest takes care of itself.
Since you first joined, how much has attendance grown?
BILL: The Summer Fancy Food Show now draws more than 32,000 vetted industry professionals, a record in our 70-plus year history. The honest answer is that it is hard to compare apples to apples. When I started, we let in just about anyone willing to pay admission, and the price back then was low. So the real story is not just that the crowd got bigger. It is that the quality of who is in the room today is in a different league.
International participation?
BILL: The show now hosts exhibitors from around 60 countries across six continents, and international participation has grown into one of its defining features. When I started, we had a dozen countries at most. That global reach is one of the clearest signs of how far specialty food has come.
Square footage?
BILL: The show floor has expanded to more than 340,000 square feet, nearly 100k more than when I started.
Number of exhibitors?
BILL: We welcomed more than 2,500 exhibitors at the most recent Summer show, which is about double from when I started.
Product launches?
BILL: The show remains the premier place for product discovery, with thousands of new items introduced every year. I could not give you an exact count, since brands do not always share those numbers, but the more meaningful change is on our side. We have built several programs under our product launch strategy that did not exist when I started, and they have turned the show into a real launchpad for new brands.
What’s one industry trend everyone is talking about that you think is actually overrated?
BILL: The idea that AI or digital tools will replace human judgment and relationships. Technology is a powerful assistant, and I am genuinely excited about it. But the notion that it replaces the curator’s eye, the trusted relationship, or the instinct for a great product is overrated. In our business, the human element is not a nice-to-have. It is the whole point.
What are your plans for the future?
BILL: In the near term, I am working closely with the Board to make sure we put the right leader in place and hand over the reins well. Beyond that, I am being intentional about what comes next and designing the next chapter of my career with care. I want to land somewhere I can put my leadership experience to work, whether that is building industry-leading events or developing the kind of high-performing teams that people are genuinely happy to be part of. I am excited for what lies ahead.
