The NGA Show 2027Exhibitor guide: booth costs, dates and deadlines

For a food brand here, the tier that fits is a 10×20 rental with a sampling counter, which runs $7,500 to $15,000; a 10×10 rental starts at $3,500. Coolers, Shepard's per-pound handling and MGM power move the total most at this show. Space is billed separately by the organizer, whose current published rate for a non-member 10×20 is $10,400.

The expo opens February 1 and the December holidays shorten the build window, so we need design sign-off by late November 2026. That leaves 30 to 45 days of production and an early-January ship date to Shepard's advance warehouse. Shepard's discounted advance rates for the 2026 show closed January 9, 2026; we place 2027 orders before the advance date in Shepard's 2027 manual. Send us your booth number once it is assigned and we draw to that exact space.

Shepard's 2026 package gave each booth an 8-foot back drape, 3-foot side drapes and a cardstock ID sign. Our rental replaces that with a branded backwall, lighting, a sampling counter with storage, shipping, installation by our Las Vegas crew and dismantle, all on one fixed proposal. You can rent the structure and own only a custom counter.

Your staff can unpack product and dress the counter, but Shepard's 2026 rules barred exhibitors and their appointed contractors from operating forklifts, manual or electric pallet jacks and overhead lifts. Power is ordered through MGM Grand Exhibitor Services and water through Edlen. We file the contractor notice with Shepard, then build the structure while your team stocks the counter.

Every sampling booth files the MGM Grand authorization form and carries product liability insurance. Anything you hand out that your company does not make or distribute must be bought from the hotel, and in 2026 the MGM culinary team wanted kitchen prep requests at least 21 days before the first sampling day. We file the form, the insurance certificate and any kitchen request.

Shepard charged $2.64 per pound for material handling in 2026, billed to your company rather than the organizer. At that rate a 600-pound crate of counters and graphics comes to about $1,584 before tax. We weigh and consolidate every crate, keep product shipments on their own paperwork and put the handling estimate on your proposal.

The organizer's 2027 schedule puts the expo floor in the Marquee, Terrace and Boulevard Ballrooms, with Fresh Pitches listed in the Boulevard Ballroom. Your booth number on the 2027 floorplan places you in one of the three. We read that location before drawing sightlines and order MGM power to the exact spot in your space.

We build it to reconfigure. The same counters and product wall can go to PLMA's Private Label Trade Show in Rosemont, IDDBA in Atlanta or the NACS Show, then come back to storage at our Las Vegas hub, where we refresh graphics between shows. Las Vegas follow-ups such as SupplySide Global need no cross-country freight.

We do. We read the exhibitor manual when Shepard posts it, file the MGM sampling authorization, order electrical through MGM Grand Exhibitor Services and book Edlen handwashing kits, water and drains for sampling counters. Shepard labels, material handling forms and outbound carrier check-in run through us, and you get a copy of every confirmation.

The NGA Show 2027 runs Sunday, January 31 to Tuesday, February 2, 2027. Sunday is a conference day with the Tech Innovation, Financial and Leadership & HR forums, an opening keynote from former U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and a reception at the Splash Pool. The expo floor opens at 10 a.m. on February 1 and 2.

At the MGM Grand Conference Center, part of MGM Grand Las Vegas at 3799 S Las Vegas Blvd. The 2027 expo fills the Marquee, Terrace and Boulevard Ballrooms, while Main Stage sessions meet in the Grand Ballroom. The official room block sits at the MGM Grand through Connections Housing, and Harry Reid International Airport is 2 miles away.

The organizer put the 2026 edition at more than 3,500 retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers and service providers, with 350+ exhibitors, 50+ of them on the floor for the first time. Before the move to the MGM Grand, the Caesars Forum years drew nearly 3,300 grocery professionals in 2023 and more than 2,700 in 2022.

No. The organizer runs it as a business-to-business event closed to the general public, with attendance reserved for grocery industry professionals such as retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers. Expo Only passes go to retailers alone, and a supplier without a booth registers on a Non-Exhibiting Supplier pass, $1,495 for NGA members at the standard rate.

Clarion Events produces the show in partnership with the National Grocers Association, and its sales managers sell space through the Become An Exhibitor page. At the organizer's current published rates a 10×10 costs $4,500 for NGA members and $5,200 for non-members. Companies under three years in market with fewer than 30 staff can take the $6,000 Innovation Start-Up Package.