Sweets & Snacks Expo 2022 provides look at fun eating trends

The Sweets & Snacks Expo, held May 23-26 in Chicago, offered a glimpse into the types of treats consumers are ingesting these days.
Candymakers like Hershey, Jelly Belly, Mars, and Tootsie Roll showed off new products that offered twists on fan favorites. Smaller companies at the show brought out edgier eats.
Trends at the 2022 show included more s’mores-flavored confections and greater varieties of spicy chips and snacks. Plant-based products included carrot bacon jerky, non-dairy chocolate, and vegan gummies. Two candy brands introduced drinks: Jelly Belly Sparkling Water and Warheads sour soda.
The 2022 show attracted about 700 exhibitors and 16,000 attendees. Other major exhibitors included General Mills, Hostess Brands, Kellogg, Mondelez, and PepsiCo. The Sweets & Snacks Expo boasted 4.5 acres of candy and snack innovation at the McCormick Place Convention Center.
Next year’s show is the last planned for Chicago. Future shows will alternate between Indianapolis and Las Vegas.

Related article:

Sweets And Snacks Get Boost From Economic, Societal Trends (Investor’s Business Daily; June 17, 2022)

Photos: Sweets & Snacks Expo 2022 in Chicago (Patrick Seitz)

Ready or not, the conference industry is returning post-Covid

After being shut down for about two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the in-person conference industry appears to be coming back.
After a two-year absence, the National Association of Broadcasters held its NAB Show in Las Vegas April 23-27. The 2022 show attracted more than 900 exhibitors and 52,468 attendees. The NAB Show is the world’s largest annual convention for broadcasters and the broader media, entertainment, and technology industries.
The biennial MODEX manufacturing and supply chain conference drew 857 exhibitors and 37,047 visitors to Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center March 28-31. It was the largest MODEX show ever, with 20% more visitors than the last pre-pandemic show – MODEX 2018.
The MODEX show is sponsored by MHI, an international trade association that represents the material handling, logistics and supply chain industry. MODEX is held every other year, alternating each year with the ProMat trade show.
Many other U.S. conferences are scheduled for physical shows soon. They include the Robotics Summit & Expo in Boston on May 10-11; the Sweets & Snacks Expo in Chicago from May 23-26, L.A TV Week in Los Angeles from June 6-8; the Automate conference in Detroit from June 6-9; and Sensors Converge in San Jose, Calif., from June 27-29. Those are just a few that I’ve been pinged about.
Some tech companies I follow are hesitant to go back to in-person shows just yet.
Apple is holding its annual Worldwide Developers Conference as an online event for the third straight year.
Google’s annual developer conference, Google I/O, will take place online May 11 and 12. Google I/O was canceled in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and returned as an online event in 2021.
However, other tech companies are going forward with in-person events that also will be livestreamed for people who can’t or don’t want to travel to a physical show.
Dell is holding its Dell Technologies World conference in Las Vegas May 2-5. Intel has scheduled its Intel Vision conference for May 10-11 at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas.

Related reading:

After two years of Covid, live events are finally happening again (Tech-media-tainment; Feb. 13, 2022)

Photo: Officials cut a ceremonial ribbon to open the NAB 2022 trade show in Las Vegas. (NAB)

Conference organizers take steps to restart in-person shows after pandemic

After more than a year of shutdowns related to the Covid-19 pandemic, the conference industry is trying to restart in-person events.
Last month, the Sweets & Snacks Expo held an in-person show after skipping last year because of the coronavirus crisis. This year’s show was staged in Indianapolis June 23 to 25. Organizers say the show had over 450 exhibitors and about 8,000 attendees.
However, the previous in-person show, held in Chicago in May 2019, drew more than 800 exhibitors and over 15,000 candy and snack professionals.
Other industry trade shows are counting on things to return to some semblance of normalcy this fall.
The National Association of Broadcasters is kicking off its NAB Show Oct. 9-13 in Las Vegas. The NAB canceled last year’s show due to the pandemic.
The 2021 NAB Show was originally scheduled for April 11-14, but organizers decided in September 2020 to move the event to this October.
Online video conference VidCon plans to hold its next in-person show Oct. 21-24 in Anaheim, Calif., after a one-year hiatus. This year’s lead sponsor is TikTok, which replace longtime sponsor YouTube.
Other trade shows have given up on 2021 altogether because of the still raging pandemic.
Organizers of the IFA Berlin consumer electronics show canceled this year’s conference because of the Covid-19 pandemic. IFA 2021 had been scheduled for Sept. 3-7 in Germany. Last year’s IFA was a hybrid in-person and online event.
Also, video game publisher Blizzard Entertainment canceled its BlizzCon fan convention for the second year in a row because of Covid. The annual event is usually held in November in Anaheim, Calif.

Related article:

Post-Covid reopening delayed by delta variant (July 16, 2021)

Photo: A worker at the Sweets & Snacks Expo hands out of a sample of Haribo gummy candies at the 2021 show in Indianapolis. (Sweets & Snacks Expo)

How the conference industry sees the reopening of the economy post-Covid

The conference industry took a major hit when the Covid-19 pandemic shut down in-person business gatherings beginning in early 2020. Now a year-plus later, the industry is struggling to get back to normal.
Some conferences are still planning virtual shows for this year while others are gambling on a comeback for in-person meetings.
Physical shows are problematic because of the slow rollout of Covid-19 vaccines as well as corporate restrictions on business travel still in place. State and city government restrictions on gatherings also are a roadblock.

National Restaurant Association Show canceled

Organizers of the National Restaurant Association Show were forced to cancel the event for the second straight year because of limits on gatherings of more than 50 people in the state of Illinois. The in-person event had been scheduled for May 22-25 at McCormick Place in Chicago. (See article by Restaurant Business and Feb. 26 press release.)

Sweets & Snacks Expo holding physical show

Indianapolis apparently has less restrictive requirements for business events amid the Covid-19 pandemic than Chicago. Two conferences I’ve attended in the past are planning in-person events in Indianapolis this summer and fall.
The Sweets & Snacks Expo has scheduled its latest show for June 23-25 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. The event, sponsored by the National Confectioners Association, is for confectionery and snack retailers, manufacturers and suppliers. The show is moving from Chicago for the first time in its history this year. The 2020 show was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

CEDIA Expo planning in-person show

CEDIA Expo will hold this year’s conference Sept. 1-3 at the Indiana Convention Center. CEDIA Expo is for installers of high-end residential technology, including home theaters and smart home devices. Organizers canceled last year’s show in Denver because of Covid-19 concerns. It offered a virtual show instead.

E3 switches to virtual show

On April 6, the Entertainment Software Association unveiled plans for an all-virtual E3 2021 to be held June 12-15. Last year’s annual video game industry conference in Los Angeles was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic and was not replaced with a virtual show.
Nintendo, Microsoft Xbox, Capcom, Konami, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive Software and Warner Bros. Games are among the companies that have committed to participate in E3 2021. (See press release.)

GDC schedules online show

Meanwhile, the Game Developers Conference will again take place online this year. The week-long education- and business-focused event is set to run July 19-23. GDC was online in 2020 as well. (See article by the Hollywood Reporter.)

Google, Microsoft, Apple events staying virtual

The annual Google I/O conference for developers will be held online this year. It will run May 18-20. The 2020 show set for Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, Calif., was canceled because of public health concerns.
Microsoft's annual developers conference, Build, will be a virtual event again this year because of the pandemic. Microsoft Build will run May 25-27.
Apple is holding its annual Worldwide Developers Conference as an online conference for the second straight year. It is set for June 7-11.

Hybrid tech events scheduled

Organizers of MWC Barcelona, formerly known as Mobile World Congress, are pressing ahead with an in-person event in Spain on June 28 through July 1. MWC Barcelona will be a hybrid event with an online component for those who are unable to attend in person. (See article by Fierce Wireless.)
Semi, the global industry association representing the electronics manufacturing and design supply chain, is planning a hybrid event for its Semicon Southeast Asia conference, scheduled for Aug. 23-27. An on-site conference will be held in Singapore at a venue to be announced soon, Semi said in a March 23 press release.

Related articles:

CES bargain: This year’s show is half off (Jan. 27, 2021)

Conference industry not coming back soon as Covid-19 pandemic lingers (Jan. 23, 2021)

E3 2021: Will there be a video game conference this year? (Jan. 20, 2021)

CES 2021 final thoughts: Virtual show comes up short (Jan. 18, 2021)

Conference industry not coming back soon as Covid-19 pandemic lingers

Stuck at home for the past year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, I’m itching to get out and meet people and learn new things at industry conferences. But with a resurgence of the deadly coronavirus and the botched U.S. government rollout of vaccines, the conference industry is likely to stay virtual beyond midyear.
On Jan. 19, the National Retail Federation canceled its planned in-person NRF 2021: Retail’s Big Show, which had been planned for the first week of June at the Javits Center in New York City. That’s because the city is using the Javits Center as a vaccine distribution venue and expects the distribution process to continue through the summer, the NRF said in a press release. The NRF will hold the conference online instead.
Virtual conferences are in vogue right now. I recently attended the all-digital CES 2021 this month and the virtual Web Summit in December.
CES plans to return to an in-person show in Las Vegas in January 2022. Web Summit has scheduled an in-person show for Lisbon, Portugal, for this November.
But when will other conferences start holding in-person gatherings?
The South by Southwest entertainment and cultural event, also known as SXSW, is holding a virtual event March 16–20 after canceling last year’s show because of Covid.
Meanwhile, organizers of MWC Barcelona, formerly known as Mobile World Congress, are pressing ahead with an in-person event in Spain on June 28 through July 1. The event was originally scheduled for the first week of March but GSMA pushed it back because of “external circumstances related to Covid-19.”
Other conferences are going forward with in-person events this summer as well. They include the National Restaurant Association Show, set for May 22-25 at McCormick Place in Chicago and the Sweets & Snacks Expo, scheduled for June 23-25 in Indianapolis.

Photo: “Creative rendition of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles” by NIAID.

Trump Hair Cotton Candy and other unusual items at the Sweets & Snacks Expo

The annual Sweets & Snacks Expo in Chicago this week had its share of unusual products. Here are a few of them.

Chocolate Storybrook of West Des Moines, Iowa, has made Trump Hair Cotton Candy. The butterscotch-flavored candy was inspired by the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump.

Treat Street has made Lolli-Poops Lollipops, which are fruity lollipops shaped like the poop emoji character. Treat Street is a brand owned by My Favorite Company of Los Angeles.

Jelly Belly Candy Company of Fairfield, Calif., showed off the latest weird flavors in its Bean Boozled line of jelly beans. The candy challenges users to eat such jelly bean flavors as stinky socks, lawn clippings, canned dog food, booger and barf.

Bebeto of Turkey has made Crayola Gummies, which hopefully won’t encourage kids to eat crayons. What’s next? Tide Pod gummies?

HotLix of Grover Beach, Calif., showed off its latest line of edible insects, including crickets and earthworms. The company’s crispy crickets come flavored with bacon and cheese, salt and vinegar, and sour cream and onion.

Thanks, but I’ll stick with chocolate.

Hershey, Hostess Brands make a splash at Sweets & Snacks Expo

Keeping up with changing consumer tastes can be a daunting challenge for food companies. That was evident this week at the Sweets & Snacks Expo in Chicago.
Candy giant Hershey and sweet baked goods maker Hostess Brands were among the many companies at the show discussing how they are evolving their product lineups for today’s picky consumers.

Hershey a snacking powerhouse

Hershey is diversifying its product lineup and becoming more focused on snacks as opposed to just sweets.
“Hershey’s vision is to be an innovative snacking powerhouse,” Laura Renaud, Hershey corporate spokesperson said.
Hershey CEO Michele Buck oversaw the acquisitions of jerky maker Krave Pure Foods in 2015 and Amplify Snack Brands, maker of SkinnyPop popcorn, in January.
Hershey also has blurred the lines between candy and snacks with such products as Hershey’s and Reese’s Popped Snack Mix and Dipped Pretzels.
Its products are being found increasingly in the same grocery store aisle as nuts, chips and other snacks instead of just the candy aisle, Renaud said.
Hershey also is focused on filling consumer needs for energy boosts throughout the day with protein snacks, she said.
It is repositioning its Payday candy bar as a snacking product because it is salty and sweet and packed with peanuts for protein.
“They’re really great for energy, that afternoon pick-me-up,” Renaud said. “People traditionally don’t think of a candy bar that way.”
At this year’s Sweets & Snacks Expo, Hershey’s touted products launched earlier in the year. They include Hershey’s Gold and Reese’s Outrageous.
Launched with the Winter Olympics, Hershey’s Gold is a proprietary blend of caramelized creme with peanuts and pretzels.
Reese’s Outrageous features caramel and crunchy Reese’s Pieces candy surrounded by creamy peanut butter and covered in smooth milk chocolate.

Hostess success story

Hostess Brands is writing its turnaround story thanks to product innovation in the sweet bakery goods market.
After the original Hostess was liquidated in bankruptcy proceedings in 2013, a private equity firm purchased the company’s snack cake business. It restarted the business with a clean slate five years ago. It went from no sales to $1.2 billion in sales since then.
“It really is a great comeback story,” said Andy Jacobs, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Hostess Brands.
Hostess simplified the company’s manufacturing and distribution structure and began developing new products, he said.
“The category was sleepy,” he said. “We’re going to drive innovation. We are going to shake up the category.”
Take the company’s well-known Twinkie snack cake, which is traditionally a golden sponge cake filled with white creme. Last year, for the first time, the company offered a chocolate sponge cake Twinkie, based on feedback from consumers.
At the Sweets & Snacks Expo, it showed off a chocolate cake Twinkie with peanut butter creme filling.
“If you walk around the show, particularly over to the confection guys, the No. 1 flavor in snacking is chocolate and peanut butter,” he said.
Hostess also makes seasonal Twinkies such as a red peppermint Twinkie for Christmas and this summer a cotton candy-flavored Twinkie.
“The success of the Hostess comeback is rooted in a foundation of extended shelf life,” Jacobs said. “We have this extended shelf life technology that’s a natural enzyme that helps extend the shelf life to 65 days. Because of that we have the opportunity to sell sweet baked goods on Amazon.”
Other iconic Hostess brands include Ho Hos, Ding Dongs and Zingers.
In February, Hostess purchased certain breakfast snack assets from Aryzta, including the Big Texas and Cloverhill brands and a Chicago area bakery facility. The deal will add honeybuns, Danish pastries and cinnamon rolls to its product lineup.

Sweets & Snacks Expo 2018: hot and spicy, sweet and sour, and everything in between

The annual Sweets and Snacks Expo in Chicago provided a comprehensive look at the state of snacking and treating today.
The three-day show wrapped up Thursday at the McCormick Place convention center. Candy and snack makers from 90 countries converged at the expo to entice retailers with their latest tasty creations. The expo drew about 900 exhibitors and some 18,000 attendees.
Flavor and ingredient trends at the show included new uses for coconut and caramel, alternative types chips (beans, quinoa, seaweed, cauliflower, etc.), and the extremes of spicy hot and super sour.
The percentage breakdown of products at the show is about 60-40, with sweets still dominating.
Ruby chocolate had its U.S. coming-out party at the show. Cocoa and chocolate producer Barry Callebaut introduced the new chocolate last September. Made from the ruby cocoa bean, the pink chocolate is the fourth type of chocolate after milk, dark and white.
The product named “best in show” by a panel of experts was Hostess Bakery Petites, “poppable” cake and brownie treats, from Hostess Brands. Poppable is an industry term for a small bite-sized snack that can be popped into your mouth.
You pick up a lot of trade lingo at a conference like Sweets & Snacks. Not many places do you hear conversations about “flavor technology” and “taste science.”
Other award-winning products at the show included:

• Hershey’s Gold candy bar with caramelized creme, peanuts and pretzels
• Justin’s Mini White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
• Warheads Dippin’ Ring, a candy ring with sour candy dipping powder, from Impact Confections
• Crispy Trail Mix Crackers, made with mung beans, cashew nuts, raisins, sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds, from In Season Snacks
• Tangerine Vanilla Cashew-Macadamia Glazed Mix from Sahale Snacks, a unit of J.M. Smucker
• Tic Tac Cool Tropical sugar-free gum from Italian confectioner Ferrero
• Big Chewy Nerds crunchy and chewy candy from Nestle
• ParmCrisps Trios with three types of crisps: cheese, almonds and pumpkin seeds, and apricots and cranberries from That’s How We Roll

Larry Levin, executive vice president, consumer and shopper marketing, for marketing consulting firm IRI identified four products at the show as “rising stars”: Hershey’s Gold, M&M Caramel, Lay’s Poppables, and Kinder Joy.
Popular in Europe, Kinder Joy has only been available in the U.S. since January. It comes in a plastic egg-shaped package that splits in two, with one half containing layers of cocoa and milk cream and the other half containing a toy. Kinder Joy is made by Ferrero.
Just Born Quality Confections of Bethlehem, Pa., was at the Sweets & Snacks Expo showing off its latest candies. They included Mike and Ike Mega Mix Sour and Hot Tamales Fire & Ice.
Mike and Ike Mega Mix Sour features 10 flavors of sour fruit candies. Hot Tamales Fire & Ice pairs the No. 1 cinnamon candy with a cool mint flavored candy.
“It’s about the trend of extremes,” said Koren Ivie, brand manager for Mike and Ike and Hot Tamales brand candies for Just Born.
Both are expected to be popular with young people who like extreme candies, especially ones that are highly sharable, she said.
Quite a few companies at the show played into the healthy food trend.
Lotus Natural Foods of Charlotte, N.C., was promoting its Bear Nibbles fruit rollups at the expo. Its products feature healthy extras added to the fruit.
For instance, the Bear Nibbles apple fruit rollup contains seaweed and the raspberry rollup also has apple, pear and carrot.
Alexandra Braverman, key account manager for Bear Nibbles, said the products have resonated with parents who want healthy snacks that taste great to feed their kids.
“Kids don’t even know they’re eating healthy,” she said.
Product innovation was a key theme of this year’s Sweets and Snacks Expo as food manufacturers try to compete with more commodity-like store-brand products.
Hello Delicious Brands of Northbrook, Ill., presented its latest snacks, including oven-baked pizza chips, fruit-filled snacks and popcorn crackers.
“We’re a snack innovation company,” Melissa Everitt, director of sales for Hello Delicious Brands, said. “We want to bring unique and different snacks to stores, no me-too products.”

Related articles:

Sweets And Snacks Stocks Snap, Crackle And Drop (Investor’s Business Daily; May 24, 2018)

Amazon Widens Its Influence Even More And Takes A Bite Out Of Snacks (Investor’s Business Daily; May 24, 2018)

Artwork: Sweets & Snacks Expo.

Is Elon Musk serious about getting into the candy business?

Earlier this month, business magnate, inventor and engineer Elon Musk got into a tiff with billionaire investor Warren Buffett. It started with a difference of opinion about the business concept of moats and ended with Musk vowing to take on Buffett in the candy industry.
Buffett’s holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns See’s Candies. Based in South San Francisco, Calif., See’s Candies is 47th largest candy company in the world with annual sales of about $430 million, according to Candy Industry magazine.
Buffett said Musk wouldn’t want to come after him in the candy business. But Musk accepted the challenge. He took to Twitter and wrote, “I’m starting a candy company & it’s going to be amazing.”
He added, “I am super super serious.”
Musk then solicited advice from his Twitter followers about what they’d wish for in his candy venture. Some suggested that Musk be like fictional Willy Wonka and give out golden tickets for rides on his SpaceX rocket.
The National Confectioners Association joined in the fun and invited Musk to the annual Sweets and Snacks Expo, which runs May 22 through 24 in Chicago. The trade group even registered him for the event, hoping he’ll show up.
Is Musk just pulling everybody’s leg? Or is he really truly interested in getting into the candy business?
Musk has been involved in a host of businesses including PayPal, SolarCity and Tesla. So we’ll see.

I am super super serious

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 5, 2018

Ok ok, just for sake of argument, what do u wish for in candy? 🍭

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 5, 2018

Hey @elonmusk – Since you’re interested in the candy biz, we’ve registered you for the industry’s most important B2B event: @CandyUSA’s Sweets & Snacks Expo. Hope to see you in Chicago, 5/22-24. Find out why you should be there - https://t.co/9RN225Zbaa. #SSE18 pic.twitter.com/RhmYQYgtLP

— Sweets & Snacks Expo (@SWEETSandSNACKS) May 8, 2018

Related articles:

Musk Is ‘Super Super Serious’ About Attacking Buffett's Candy Moat (Bloomberg; May 5, 2018)

Warren Buffett Vs. Elon Musk: Who’s Better at Selling Candy? (Wall Street Journal; May 5, 2018)

Why Elon Musk and Warren Buffett Are Suddenly Trolling Each Other Over See's Candies (Fortune; May 5, 2018)

Photo: Elon Musk at a SpaceX facility in Texas in September 2012. (Photo by Steve Jurvetson on Flickr.)