Food scientists read a spec sheet before they read a tagline. Your booth needs to be both.
Fixed-price IFT FIRST exhibits — design, fabrication, graphics, freight, installation and dismantle in one number that doesn’t move. Pre-built, lit and photo-approved before it ships, so the booth introducing a new ingredient or platform to food science’s biggest floor has already passed its own inspection.
Filters the booths below — every one shows its Chicago price.
IFT FIRST draws food scientists, researchers, ingredient manufacturers and formulation teams comparing suppliers on data, not decoration. The work below is what we build for brands whose product lives in the formulation — structures designed around the sample table and the technical conversation, with every project moving through one team from first rendering to dismantle.
Microsoft
Modular island engineered to repeat across a multi-show research calendar.
WillowTree
Enclosed rooms for formulation talks, off an open sampling front.
Teramind
1,800 sq ft island with demo zones built for a technical walkthrough.
Radware
Hands-on learning stations inside a four-sided island footprint.
SpyCloud
Interactive stations arranged for one-to-one sourcing conversations.
Fulcrum GT
Full-height LED as structure — built to hold attention on a research-dense floor.
Appdome
Demo theatre built to hold high-volume technical traffic.
IMAX
Large-format island built around a controlled viewing experience.
McCormick Place is the largest convention center in North America, and IFT FIRST fills it with poster sessions, technical programming and a research-literate crowd that reads ingredient decks the way other industries read a résumé. The most expensive IFT mistake isn’t a bad booth; it’s a booth designed for a general trade-show audience on a floor full of specialists.
A campus-scale building with its own rhythms — targeted move-in windows, union labor governed by the show’s general contractor, and freight that waits, on the clock, if it misses its slot. We plan the booth to McCormick Place’s actual schedule, not a generic Chicago hall.
IFT FIRST attendees arrive from posters and technical sessions with a formulation problem to solve — the booths that win are built for close-up scrutiny and a real sampling or demo moment, not a broad brand impression.
A July show means the advance-order cutoff lands in May, right as spring and early-summer shows compete for the same fabrication capacity. The real deadline for a locked design is mid-May. Miss it and you’re not late, you’re competing for production slots against every other summer exhibitor.
Booth space, electrical, drayage, rigging and cleaning are billed to every exhibitor directly by the show — no exhibit house can absorb them and none should claim to. What we do is calculate them for your exact booth before you commit, and file every order at advance rather than floor rates.
Trade show invoices grow the same way everywhere: labor hours over estimate, revisions rebilled as change orders, graphics reprints, supervision time nobody flagged. Our model is the opposite — the number you approve is the number you pay, contractually. Design revisions are unlimited until you approve. The quote and the final invoice are the same document.
Design, fabrication, graphics, furniture, lighting, freight, installation, dismantle and project management in a single fixed price.
Your booth stands fully assembled and lit at our 65,000 sq ft facility, and you approve photographs of the actual build — not a render.
Space, electrical, drayage and rigging calculated for your exact booth before you commit — so the total is a number, not a range.
COI, EAC, electrical, rigging, freight windows — filed at advance rates, mapped to every exhibitor-manual deadline. Nothing lands on your desk three days before it’s due.
We quote higher and cost less. That’s the whole argument, and it’s why every booth below is published with its price rather than hidden behind a “request a quote” form.
Every booth below is priced for Chicago and available as a custom build for your brand — rented, not bought. Use the finder at the top of the page to narrow by size and budget.
12 booths · Chicago, Illinois pricing
The advance-order cutoff lands roughly eight weeks before the show — the exact date is in the facts strip at the top of this page, and it updates automatically each edition. For a July show that cutoff sits in mid-May, when spring’s show season is still running at full volume.
Put these to every exhibit house you’re comparing — including us. They separate the vendors that stand behind a number from the ones whose estimate is an opening position. Our answers are printed here so you can hold us to them.
“They never just build the booth and disappear — I always know I have someone on call and ready to jump in when the unexpected inevitably happens. That level of responsiveness makes a huge difference in high-pressure event environments.”
“I’ve worked with Pure Exhibits for almost a year now, and have had such a great experience! They are our go-to for trade shows, and create memorable booths that represent our brand well. The team is incredibly responsive and reliable.”
“It’s always a pleasure to work with Utsav. The process is simple, straightforward, and high quality. I have worked with them for 3 years now and will continue!”
“Their team is incredibly flexible throughout the design process and truly collaborative in bringing ideas to life. I highly recommend Pure Exhibits to anyone looking for a reliable, thoughtful, and experienced exhibit partner.”
Tell us your footprint, your booth number if you have it, and what the booth needs to do. You’ll have design concepts and one fixed price back within 24 hours — including what the show will bill you directly.
Or call us directly — (800) 379-8451
