Treko through outdoor events (2021 to present)

Outdoor events and trade shows play a crucial role in Treko’s marketing strategy. They provide us with the opportunity to connect with our customers and give a human dimension to our brand. After a period dedicated to Research and Development (R&D) and due to COVID-19 restrictions, we did not participate in any events from 2019 until the fall of 2021.

This compilation traces our journey through all the outdoor events since 2021. You will discover that there is a whole range of captivating stories experienced during these occasions, sometimes positive, sometimes less joyful...

Stay tuned to this page, as we will be updating it every time we do a new event. It is sort of a virtual souvenir album .

It is very important to emphasize that this is our opinion from our experience at these events. For a company from a completely different field, their opinion might differ.

Events of 2021

Agroa Christmas Market (December 4-5, 2021)

We don't know if this was one of the very first public events since the lockdown, but the demand was surprisingly high at this Christmas fair. There was a very good influx of people and we ended up making sales that exceeded our expectations.

Events of 2022

Montreal Adventure Show (March 26-27, 2022)

This show was scheduled for 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was postponed for two years. Overall, it was a good first major event. In our 10x10 booth, we realized that we were pretty much stuck… We came out of it with a lot of motivation and a lot of learnings that we would apply in the future.

Click here to learn more about our experience at the Montreal Outdoor Show.

Expé Festival (June 17-18-19, 2022)

This was the very first edition of this festival. Despite the bad weather and strong winds, we had a lot of fun meeting outdoor enthusiasts in this emerging event. The conferences were interesting and informative.

Tribal Fest (July 29-30-31, 2022)

The long-awaited return of Tribal Fest, after the pandemic period, was marked by our presence. The atmosphere was most pleasant, with a picturesque view of the St-Maurice River and a diversity of exhibitors. It brought back a bit of nostalgia, because Treko really started in Shawinigan in 2018 during Startup Weekend.

Events of 2023

Montreal Adventure Show (March 25-26, 2023)

This was our second time at the Montreal Outdoor and Adventure Show, and this edition was even more special with the presence of our special guest, explorer Caroline Côté , at this unforgettable event. How did we manage to get her to come to our booth? Part of the reason is the relationship we developed during her incredible expedition to Antarctica in December 2022 , where she used our products.

Another exciting new feature was the introduction of prototypes of potential new products . These prototypes generated such excitement that our inventory sold out in one day! Here is what we offered specifically:

• Prototype of Chili (which would later become Chili Without Limits, our 6th product)
• Zucchini soup
• Split Pea and Root Vegetable Stew

Opening Show of the Quebec Camping and Caravanning Federation (May 18-19-20, 2023)

At some point, we were bound to encounter challenges when hosting an outdoor event, and that’s exactly what happened with this one. We assumed that RV owners would always need emergency supplies to store in their vehicles. However, that anticipation proved incorrect, as sales fell far short of expectations. It turned out that our target audience may not really be RV owners…

Photo credit: FQCC

Expé Festival (June 16-17-18, 2023)

Back for a second edition, this time we had the immense privilege of hosting a workshop on the preparation of Treko products. This workshop allowed us to demonstrate that freeze-dried meals could be used in 4 different ways, as written in this blog post .

Photo credit: Festival Expé

Tribal Fest (July 28-29-30, 2023)

After the first day on Friday, we swore we would never again attend outdoor events! Why? The weather . Just a few hours into the festival, huge gusts of wind blew across the St-Maurice River. The wind was so powerful that the tent we had borrowed blew away, taking our entire booth with it.

A discouraged Émile even considered withdrawing from the event… but ultimately decided to stay anyway. The rest of the weekend was marked by beautiful weather. Surprisingly, the bad weather magically returned just after our booth was dismantled on Sunday…

Agroa Christmas Market (December 9-10, 2023)

Perhaps it was the economic context that was less favorable, but demand was less present at the 2023 edition of the Agroa Christmas fair. One wonders whether it is really at Christmas fairs that we should put our energies to make ourselves known…

Events of 2024

Sherbrooke Camping, Hunting and Fishing Show (March 15-16-17, 2024)

We thought that hunters and fishermen would be interested in freeze-dried meals since they are super light and easy to prepare. All hopes were high that this show would be a great success. Well, the clientele was not there. Indeed, many hunters already have their favorite food for their hunting and fishing trips so they clearly did not want to change their habits...

This was a painful learning experience that we received this weekend as we adjusted for the following weekend in Montreal because...

Montreal Adventure Show (March 23-24, 2024)

The expression "se reverer sur un 10 cent" took on its full meaning between the Sherbrooke and Montreal shows! How? At the Sherbrooke show, there was a sweeper sales booth that offered an exclusive combo during the event. That's when Émile had the idea of ​​creating Treko-style "bundles" for the Montreal show.

It turned out that this idea was a good one as we had some of our best results during events.

In addition to exclusive bundles, we had prototypes of potential products for sale (as in 2023). This time, we had a prototype of apple crumble. This product was also a great success across the board.

In the end, we left Montreal with a sense of accomplishment.

Expé Festival (June 14-15-16, 2024)

We were at the 3rd edition of the Expé Festival as an exhibitor and host. As always, it was very pleasant to see our many collaborators like Mount Trail and Alex Godard.

We wanted to do something different this year. In fact, we presented 4 products from our research and development. This allowed us to get very important feedback from our customers!

Photo summary of the Expé Festival 2024

Back in 2025?

Nobody knows the future and with the many fairs we have done for 3 years, we have reached a point of reflection regarding this type of promotion. We keep the door open to all the possibilities that will be offered to us.