Source:  Ann Bagel Storck, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 5/11/10

The American Meat Institute, the Food Marketing Institute and the United Fresh Produce Association on Monday announced the co-location of their trade shows — the FMI Exhibit and Education Event, the AMI International Meat Poultry and Seafood Convention and Exposition, and United Fresh — beginning in 2012 at the Dallas Convention Center in Dallas.

The AMI Expo will be held April 30-May 3, 2012, and the FMI Exhibit and Education Event and United Fresh will be held May 1-3, 2012.

The three shows will offer their own exhibit halls, as well as unique education programming for their own attendees. The partners will explore potential joint programming and networking events, the three groups said in a news release.

The move marks a reunion between the FMI Show and United Fresh, but it is the first co-location of either group with the AMI Expo.

"Now, in addition to state-of-the art technology and cutting-edge education, AMI packer processors have a third compelling reason to attend the AMI Convention and Exposition: thousands of their retail customers in one place," AMI President and CEO Patrick Boyle said in a news release. "Attendees will benefit from a wide array of joint educational programming. Exhibitors at all three shows will take advantage of the expanded marketing opportunity and additional traffic on the show floor."

AMI last fall announced plans to move its formerly biennial Worldwide Food Expo to an annual rotation starting in April 2011, when it will be held at Chicago's McCormick Place as it has been in previous years. 

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