International Pizza Expo, a pizzeria business-to-business trade show owned by Emerald Expositions, will launch a new two-day trade show at the Atlantic City Convention Center that will focus on pizzerias and Italian restaurants.

“This is in no way a replacement to Pizza Expo for East Coast pizzeria operators and their staffs, but more of an opportunity to let them be a part of this regional two-day experience,” said Bill Oakley, group show director – Food Group. “Most of our eastern U.S. attendees have two days of travel in order to attend the Expo, making it difficult to attend the entire four-day show, which would keep them from their pizzeria for an entire week.

The 2017 Pizza & Pasta Northeast show will incorporate a blend of food demonstrations, contests and educational sessions to augment an exhibit hall showcasing top suppliers for both of these strong foodservice segments.

The show will be held Oct. 17-18, 2017, at the Atlantic City Convention Center. Atlantic City was chosen for several reasons, according to show officials. including its central location on the East Coast, access to the largest concentration of pizzerias and Italian restaurants in the U.S., a top-notch convention center and affordable first-class hotel and dining options.

The 2017 Pizza & Pasta Northeast show will deliver a one-stop shop exhibit hall where Italian and pizza-concept restaurant owners can meet face-to-face with leading national and regional industry suppliers. Attendees will also have access to food demonstrations that will focus on new and traditional, Italian ingredients, flavors and products — allowing attendees to stay on top of consumers’ growing desire for pizza and pasta menu items. The education program will spotlight current menu trends, as well as top-level business and marketing education sessions.

Show organizers are looking to integrate a strong pasta component as part of the experience for both Italian restaurateurs and pizzeria owners and operators.

“No trade show would be the same without a few top-notch, world-class competitions,” said Pete Lachapelle, vice president and publisher of Pizza Expo and Pizza Today magazine.

He added, “We’ll be on a quest to find the perfect combination of pasta, sauce and other ingredients that sets a signature pasta dish apart from the rest of the competition.

Lachapelle said, “Our newest cook-off will pit 20 of the world’s best pasta perfectionists against each other to find who’s the ‘Best of the Northeast.’ And as most everyone knows, pizza in this country was born in the Northeast, so we’re proud to announce our partnership with Antimo Caputo and Orlando Foods to hold the annual U.S. ‘Caputo Cup’ competition at our Northeast show. At the third annual U.S. competition, contestants will be invited to compete in two categories: Traditional Neapolitan and New York Style.”

The New England region combined with Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. is home to more than 28,000 Italian restaurants and pizzerias, making this region number one in the U.S. in terms of the total number of pizzerias and Italian restaurants. This means one-third of the country’s operators, generating 30 percent of the industry’s revenue, are located in one tightly condensed geographic area.

“This event is a natural progression and one that we hope will allow more restaurateurs and pizzeria operators the opportunity to experience some of the things they have been missing for years now at International Pizza Expo. Adding some new twists to this new event should make it a very compelling event to attend,” Oakley said.

International Pizza Expo returns March 27-30 to the Las Vegas Convention Center.