HallBriefTrade show account intelligence

89th Annual Convention & Product Showcase 2026

NBWA 2026 expects 1,800 attendees from the beer and beverage distribution business.

Oct 11-14, 2026 · Hyatt Regency Orlando

This show has ended.

Exhibitors expected
165
Visitors expected
1,800
Exhibitors on this year's list
171
Show days
4

NBWA puts the business of beer distribution in the foreground: what goes into a distributor’s portfolio, how it reaches retailers and how the operation earns its margin. Its Annual Convention & Product Showcase brings together distributor decision-makers, beverage suppliers, technology vendors and retail leaders. Product discovery sits alongside discussions of route efficiency, warehouse accuracy, sales execution and leadership.

The industry conversation now reaches well beyond beer. Spirits, canned cocktails, non-alcoholic drinks and functional beverages feature in the program as distributors rethink portfolios built around their existing retail relationships. BIECC’s Innovation Showcase adds live demonstrations of automation, ordering software and analytics. The gathering also has an association dimension, with a distributor member meeting and Making Moves, the BREW and Alliance for Women in Beer program. Supplier hospitalities extend the commercial conversations beyond the showcase floor.

How it compares

  1. WSWA Access LIVEDallas, 2,500
  2. Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo AmericaSan Antonio, 7,000
  3. This show: 89th Annual Convention & Product ShowcaseOrlando, 1,800

WSWA Access LIVE is the closest comparison for brands looking for US distribution. Its center of gravity is wine and spirits, and it brings suppliers, wholesalers and retailers together across the three-tier system. That makes it a strong fit for a spirits importer seeking wholesale partners or a winery building retail relationships. NBWA puts beer-led distributor networks at the center while addressing their expansion into adjacent categories.

Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America serves a different buying problem. Brewery owners and production teams go there for equipment, education and connections within independent beverage production. Its co-location with CiderCon broadens that producer community further. A company selling into a brewhouse has a different audience there from one selling route planning, warehouse automation or distributor sales systems at NBWA.

NBWA combines beverage sourcing with the operating questions of the wholesaler. The same visit can cover a canned cocktail proposition, distributor software and the economics of retail delivery. Its general sessions and association gatherings also put those purchases in the context of portfolio strategy and the changing relationship between beer, wine and spirits networks.

NBWA suits beer and beverage distributors choosing their next portfolio additions and the systems that will move them profitably.

Who exhibits

Deschutes Brewery and Carbliss illustrate a floor spanning established beer and canned cocktails. Fintech and Encompass Technologies sit alongside Hino Trucks and Lantech, reflecting the payment, software, fleet and warehouse requirements behind every delivery. This mix gives the showcase two connected purposes: finding products for the portfolio and finding tools to distribute them. Beverage buyers can assess brand opportunities while operations teams compare suppliers serving the same wholesale business.

  1. Cintas

  2. Weima

  3. Tennant

  4. Rehrig Pacific Company

  5. ProGlove

  6. IntelliShift

  7. Addverb

  8. Velocitor Solutions

  9. KPI Solutions

  10. Maxon Lift

  11. Stellar Snacks

  12. Bar Cups

  13. Good Boy

  14. Steel King Industries

  15. Eternal Water

  16. Sovereign Flavors

  17. Branded Bills

  18. Ryder

  19. Westfalia Technologies

  20. Revalgo

  21. BUM Energy

  22. Great Dane

  23. NOCA Beverages

  24. Bitimec Wash-Bots

171 companies are on the list. A HallBrief brief ranks every one against your goals and finds who to meet at each. Get a brief

89th Annual Convention & Product Showcase 2026

NBWA 2026 brings the BIECC Innovation Showcase back for a second year, with demonstrations covering AI, automation, online ordering and analytics. George W. Bush joins the general-session program. The Great Convergence panel addresses how beer distributors can broaden their beverage portfolios while keeping beer central. Education also tackles hemp beverages, agentic AI, fuel costs and order accuracy. Making Moves returns with a focus on confidence, capability and connections for women across the beer industry.

  • Use BIECC’s rapid-fire demonstrations to compare the approaches of Fintech, Encompass Technologies, VIP and other technology providers, then take technical follow-up questions to their showcase booths.
  • For portfolio expansion, pair The Great Convergence panel with the Convergence 202 seminar: one covers distributor strategy, the other the value a distributor must retain as categories overlap.
  • Warehouse teams should connect the order-accuracy seminar with automation exhibitors, so discussions address errors reaching retailers as well as throughput.

Exhibiting

The showcase combines beverage brands with technology and operating suppliers selling to distributor decision-makers. Booth reservations run through the organizer’s exhibition sales contact. For selected technology providers, the separate BIECC demonstration program leads into follow-up conversations on the product floor.

What your brief includes

The full exhibitor list, and what to do with it.

  1. Halvorsen ProzesstechnikIndustrial machinery / Germany#3
  2. Alpenküche SystemeCommercial kitchens / Austria#4
  3. Brauwerk WielandBeverages / Germany#5
  4. 168 more, ranked for your goals

#3Halvorsen Prozesstechnikof 171

Why it matters
Their hygienic conveyor line fits the plant expansion you described.
Who to meet
Head of Key Accounts, Food Processing
What to ask
Lead times for installations in 2027.

Example from a sample brief. The company is fictional.

How a brief is made

  1. Tell us your goals

    A short interview: what you want from 89th Annual Convention & Product Showcase and which kinds of partners you are after.

  2. We research each company, one by one

    For each company: what it makes, who it sells to, how it fits your goals and who buys there. Then we compare them side by side and rank the ones worth your time.

  3. Walk in with a plan

    A ranked list, a deep dive on each of your top picks, the people to meet and a strategy deck, all before the doors open.

Walk into 89th Annual Convention & Product Showcase knowing who to meet.

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