About the HPBExpo
British Fires recently traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana where the 2020 HPBExpo tradeshow took place. The Hearth, Patio, & Barbecue Association (HPBA) host the show annually in a new city each year. They provide professional member services and industry support in government relations, events, market research, education, certifications, consumer education, and industry promotion.
The show is widely visited by retailers, distributors and manufacturers for fireplaces, outdoor fires/furniture and BBQ/Grilles. Even though there was a drop in footfall due to the corona-virus situation we stayed busy on the show stand. Many people were interested in learning more about the New Forest Electric Fire and Bramshaw Electric Stove. Some attendees were quite baffled that the New Forest flame-effect was electric powered, and not gas fueled. This was a compliment in it’s own right.
Art of Fire
A highlight of the exhibition was the Vesta Award ceremony. There are many categories for companies to enter products from, gas to wood products, barbecue components and more. We entered the New Forest Electric Fire into a category called, The Art of Fire. This award recognizes the shows best product whose primary attribute is art than heat; in both indoor and outdoor categories. While we were optimistic the New Forest could win, it was still very pleasing to hear our name read as the winner! Thanks to it’s unmatched LED flame-effect we hoisted the award on stage! It was a great honour to receive a prestigious award in front of many of the shows attendees and fellow exhibitors.
The Art of Fire award speaks to our testament of “No Compromise.” Having spent over two years designing, critiquing, and perfecting every aspect of the product we believe this is just the beginning of something special. As we continue to roll-out more products of equal or greater constitution we expect our trophy case to populate. Continue to watch this space…
