Articles Tagged with ''Sweets & Snacks Expo''

It’s always sweet to see Chicago’s McCormick Place transform into a wonderland of candy and snacks for the annual Sweets & Snacks Expo.

Though this marks only the second year pladis has exhibited at Sweets & Snacks Expo, it continues to aggressively build on its debut last year with a broad range of “new ventures,” says Brian Blanchard, managing director of pladis americas.

Test data collected by Impulse Marketing Co. in several test stores revealed that increased item diversity in the checkout aisles increased total sales by 8.4 percent and traditional candy items sales by 2.5 percent.

This year's Best in Show award went to Hostess for Bakery Petites Double Chocolate Cake Delights, made with real chocolate and without high fructose corn syrup and artificial colors and flavors.

This is Associate Editor Alyse Thompson's second Sweets & Snacks Expo, but it already feels like old hat. Getting around was a breeze, and she enjoyed catching up with manufacturers, suppliers, sales people and marketers she's gotten to know over the last couple years.

At Candy Industry’s 73rd Kettle Awards, with nearly 250 guests in attendance, Mitchell Goetze, ceo of Goetze’s Candy Co., received the industry’s most prestigious award, the gleaming copper kettle. 

It was a “Big Move,” says Andres Pfluger, president and ceo of Russell Stover Chocolates. “We really worked on the recipe to ensure a sugar-free product that didn’t compromise on quality,” he added.

Wrigley was among several companies introducing sweet and spicy candy at the Sweets & Snacks Expo.