What happens when you get hundreds of food professionals, culinary experts, bartenders, vendors, and a whole lot of delicious samples into one venue? You get PeddlerCon. Hosted by Phoenix-based wholesale food distributor Peddler’s Son, PeddlerCon 2026 kicked off Tuesday, August 18, at Talking Stick Resort from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The annual event has brought the food industry together since 2021, creating a place to discover products, meet new people, and build business relationships.
For a wholesale food distributor like Peddler’s Son, strong vendor relationships are a big part of what makes the business work. PeddlerCon gives partners an opportunity to experience the products, meet the people behind them, and find new ways to bring those offerings to Arizona’s foodservice industry.
A Wholesale Food Distributor Event Built Around Discovery
PeddlerCon is not your typical networking event. It is part trade show, part tasting adventure, part culinary competition, and part, well…part party.
Guests explored hundreds of food samples from standout vendors. Melissa’s Specialty Produce brought Korean grapes and pink pineapple. Harris Ranch showcased its beef products, while Water’s Edge served up cheese curds that quickly became a crowd favorite. Frites Street showcased its delicious frozen French fries that really come to life when dropped into a deep fryer.
There were also coffee and tea samples from Passport Coffee & Tea. One of ON Advertising’s Senior Account Executives allegedly drank ten cups of tea throughout the event. We’re not saying that was excessive, but we are saying she was very committed to brand research.
For a wholesale food distributor, letting customers taste products firsthand can spark new ideas and purchasing decisions. Every guest received a scanner they could use after trying a product, making it easy to flag items they might want to stock in their operation or explore as part of a future vendor partnership.
From Samples to Partnerships
PeddlerCon is ultimately about what happens when the food industry gets together in one place: ideas are exchanged, relationships grow, and new possibilities emerge. For a wholesale food distributor, creating those connections can open the door to partnerships that benefit vendors, foodservice operators, and customers alike.
The event also put Arizona’s culinary talent in the spotlight with a three-round culinary and mixology competition featuring some of the state’s leading chefs and bartenders. This year’s special Mocktail Round quickly became an audience favorite, adding a creative twist to the competition. Between rounds, music, dancing, and DJs kept the energy high and turned the event into a true celebration of Arizona’s food community.
That spirit of collaboration is what makes PeddlerCon more than an industry event. It is a chance for the people behind Arizona’s food scene to connect, have some fun, and discover what they can create together.
How ON Advertising Helped Bring PeddlerCon to Life
Food marketing requires more than knowing how to make something look appetizing. It requires understanding the people, businesses, products, and relationships behind the industry. That is something ON Advertising brings to every food vendor client we work with.
For Peddler’s Son, our team helped market PeddlerCon, write scripts for presentations, design fliers, banners, and event signage, and help coordinate the event from planning through execution.
Internally, we’d like to thank Senior Account Executive and Event Director Catie Richman, Account Executive Macy Wilbur, and Jr. Graphic Designer James Warren for their hard work helping bring PeddlerCon 2026 to life. Their creativity, attention to detail, and teamwork helped turn months of planning into a successful event.
As a wholesale food distributor, Peddler’s Son understands that its success is closely connected to the success of its vendors and customers. PeddlerCon is their way of saying thank you to the incredible partners who make what they do worthwhile.
A Big Day for Arizona’s Food Industry
PeddlerCon 2026 was more than a successful event. It showcased the people, products, and talent helping shape Arizona’s food scene.
For a wholesale food distributor, creating opportunities for vendors and foodservice professionals to connect can have a lasting impact. Vendors gained exposure, attendees discovered products they could bring into their operations, and potential business relationships had the chance to begin.
Most importantly, PeddlerCon helped highlight why Arizona continues to earn recognition as one of the country’s premier food destinations. Behind every great meal is a network of farmers, producers, vendors, chefs, distributors, and businesses working together.
That is the real recipe behind PeddlerCon: bringing Arizona’s food community together, one product, partnership, and very enthusiastic cup of tea at a time.
ON Advertising: The Secret Ingredient to Your Marketing
At ON Advertising, we know food distributors and vendors need more than great products to stand out. They need great marketing. From building engaging websites and developing strategic marketing plans to creating digital, social, search, display, and paid media campaigns, our team can help food brands reach the right audiences and turn attention into business.
Marketing a wholesale food distributor requires a strategy that speaks to business decision-makers and the people behind the products. Whether you are a wholesale food distributor looking to strengthen your brand or a food vendor ready to introduce your products to more customers, ON Advertising has the creative, strategic, and media expertise to help you make a bigger impact.
If you are already making something worth talking about, we can help make sure people are talking about it.