Sweets and Snacks 2018

The sweetest show of the year just passed, and as always, it was great fun and so informative.  Thousands of vendors show up in Chicago, displaying their potential wares for the NCA's Sweets and Snacks Expo.

 I've been attending the past few years, and you can see my previous year round ups by searching Sweets and Snacks Expo  (or just clicking right there!)

I love going to the show to find out what's new, to revisit old favorites, and of course, there is some schwag to be had.  I still have a larvae lollipop from a  couple of years ago, waiting for just the right moment of desperate to open it and eat it.

As I did last year, I made a little video slideshow of my time at the expo with my phone, so if you want to take a gander, please do.



Looking at the trends I noticed last year, I'd say that the popcorn and jerky trend is continuing. What seems to be even stronger is the move to natural foods. I noticed a ton of snacks made with natural foods, or natural ingredients being showcased. Organic is big, but I think a lot of companies can't quite justify that move. But using "Real foods" (and promoting that heavily) seems to be very prominent this year.

The presentation of everything is always pretty beautiful, but one of the real attention getters was not particularly beautiful at all.  That was the Lollipoops.  (This year's Larvae?)  It's a lollipop shaped like poop!    I have to say, they tasted pretty good!  Fortunately, none of them were brown.

It's a variation on a theme-- kind of a gross out idea. Toxic Waste and the Ugly Dolls seem to thrive in a similar environment.    (Although both of those are pretty sour, and these are not)

But the idea of it grabbed me, and I'm guessing that they will do pretty well for kids under ten (and maybe adults over 60!)

I also felt like "oldies but goodies" were making a comeback.  Prominent at the show were Pop Rocks, Mike and Ike's, Circus Peanuts, Goldenberg Peanut Chews, a variety of saltwater taffies, and others-- brands and candies that haven't changed particularly and rely on a bit of nostalgia to remember .  I love seeing those old candies and trying to introduce my child to the tastes and memories that those signify for me.

Let me know if you went to the show, and what your favorite candies are in the comments!


Here are a few more things I wanted to comment on.

I thought this was interesting-- jerky that is packaged like chewing tobacco.

Hard-boiled eggs as a snack.  Very interesting idea!

I've always wondered why there wasn't kosher jerky.  Looks like they are heading in that direction!

Sweets and Snacks Expo 2016

Just some of the brands represented at
Sweets and Snacks Expo.

Last week I made my annual trek to the Sweets and Snacks Expo.  It's not as far as it seems, as they hold it in Chicago every year, and so maybe it's about 10 miles door to door.

POP QUIZ
Since I discovered that it was happening in Chicago,  I like to go to the Sweets and Snacks Expo every year because:

a) This is where I find out about great new snacks and sweets to write about
b) I like to marvel at the creativity of food entrepreneurs, especially smaller companies.
c) I'm hoping to win fabulous prizes, and maybe find somebody to become a candy blog ambassador.
d) The bag of loot I am allowed to bring home which makes my wife, my child, and his friends think I am a demigod.
e) The innovative jerky, man. It's all about the jerky.
f) ALL OF THE ABOVE.

I did all of the above this past weekend.  Whether or not I found a sponsor will remain to be seen, but I ate my fair share of jerky, candy, salty treats, and stuff that my dentist would approve of (because her kid is entering graduate school)

The phenomenal amounts of trendiness and innovation that are on display each year are amazing to me.

This show is not open to the public, only to vendors and journalists, and going to shows like this is one of the reasons I love writing my blog!  I get to find out all in one place what new and tasty treats will be all over supermarkets, convenience stores, and vending machines next year. Some of these will take the world by storm, and others not so much.  Still it's fascinating to see.

Here's some of the small bounty that I discovered this year.  And these and hopefully many of the other brands I interacted with will be on my blog over the next year,


COSTUMED CHARACTERS
Each year, they have new costumed characters for people to interact with.

Here I am interacting with two old friends.  Mr Peanut and the Bit O Honey Bee.
Both of these are favorite snacks, so I, of course, took the opportunity to hang with them while I could.

 

NOVELTY CANDIES

I always like to see how brands are appealing to kids.  Sometimes it's crazy characters, sometimes its unique selling forms (like the Toxic Waste Slime Licker) and sometimes its both. Check out the Volcano popping candy, which is a new take on PopRocks.  A new generation of kids will be making up stories about what happens if you eat this and drink soda at the same time. Also, I liked the make your own lollipop kit, which involves beading, decorating, and eating.  You CAN play with your food!

I also want to take a moment to shout out Yowie candies, which did something that I've been wondering why nobody has ever done before- produced legal Kinder-style eggs with toys inside.  Kinder eggs are not legal in the states because the toy inside doesn't pass stringent child safety inspections.  Yowie made their egg large enough to incorporate a toy that can't be swallowed, and in addition made them about extinct animal species.  The toy is great, the chocolate is good, and the concept is terrific.  (Not only that, but they are sold in Walmart!)

MOLDED CANDY

Each year, the molds get more realistic and more intricate.  Santa and the Easter Bunny (not to mention the delectable Diva on the right) never looked more delicious!  And don't worry ladies, there's some chocolate beefcake for you too.  (Fortunately, it does not come in Chocolate beefcake flavor)

FLAVOR SENSATIONS

New flavors keep coming into favor each year.  I'd never seen Babyback ribs chips or licorice dipped in a chocolatey coating (also caramel or vanilla)  Both were pretty delicious!

HEALTHY FOR YOU SNACKS

Each year, I am always seeing more and more forays into "Good For You Snacks"  These are surprisingly tasty.  I don't even like beets, but the Drop'n Mad Beets (which might also win for best title of a product) was good.  (My wife when she reads this will be amazed.  I am about as anti-beet as one can get.  For my blog, anything!)  The dried apricots were direct from Turkey, and really delicious!

The last image I'll leave you with is one of my favorite and hard to find candies-- the licorice centered caramel cream from Goetze.  Imagine my joy when I found a little barrel of this stuff, told the guy it was one of my favorites, and the guy said "Take as many as you need!"  

I nearly started crying!

By next year, my stash will be gone, and I'll be ready to stock up again!

The Sweets and Snacks Expo is put on by the National Confectioner's Association,  the leading association for the $35 billion U.S. confectionery industry. NCA's goal is to advocate for the industry, advance it, and to educate the public to help ensure that it understands and appreciates the unique role that chocolate and candy can play in a happy, balanced lifestyle.

Sweets and Snacks Expo- Some Trends/Insights

I had the great opportunity of attending the Sweets and Snacks Expo yesterday.   The show is a candy lover's dream-- or a diabetic's nightmare.  Fortunately for me, I am more of the former than the latter.

 Basically, all of McCormick Place is turned into row after row after row of candy aisles, with purveyors large and small enticing you to try their wares.

I do want to say that the show is not all candy.  There's a healthy (or rather unhealthy) amount of chips, popcorn, meat snacks and other kinds of delicious products, all waiting for you to sample them.  There are also a lot of business to business vendors (packagers, tin makers, distributors, etc)

Still, after a day in paradise, I was seriously craving some kale.  Or some salad.  Or some something.

Amy and I show our sophisticated sides with our tongue tattoos.
Mine looks like it was graffitied by someone on drugs, which
shows how hip I am.

I walked the floor with a friend of mine from New York, Amy Marks-McGee of TrendIncite.  Amy is  a flavor and fragrance consultant and writer, and a great companion at a show like this.  She was very discerning about what she would try, and was super knowledgeable about the upcoming trends-- basically a great foil to my "Let's try and eat our way through the show" mentality.  If you like, you should check out her blog-- it's well worth the read.

Despite the hours of sampling, I only saw about a third of the show.  I'm hoping to go back solo tomorrow and take in the rest. (the event is 3 days long) I also might need to bring bigger clothes.






Here's just a couple of the trends and interesting new products that I spotted.


BIRTHDAY CAKE IS NOW A FLAVOR

I saw a number of items that listed Birthday cake as a flavor, including Flipz pretzels and some gourmet gum from Project 7. I'd been aware of Birthday Cake as a flavor (I'd seen a couple of Birthday Cake Milk Shakes at Steak'n'Shake. But I hadn't realized it had become a full-fledged flavor.

  In fact, project 7 differentiated between Birthday Cake and Wedding Cake flavors.  (I think Wedding Cake is a little more bitter. )
THAT IS A JOKE, PEOPLE!



IT'S NOW OKAY TO PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD.

I saw a couple of iterations of food that you could play with, including Juicy Drop Gummies, which are gummy candies with a depression inside them, along with a pen that you can squirt a little sour gel into the depression to flavor your own candy.  They don't yet mix and match flavors (you can't buy cherry sour gel with banana candy, but I could easily imagine that being a new thing (similar to the mix and match soda that kid's love to drink at a soda machine)

The other thing I saw was edible moldable candy dough. It's play dough you can actually eat!  It tasted okay, a little like sweet cookie dough.  I don't know if it hardens up if you leave it alone or if you can cure it to become like china.  Hopefully, it's eaten long before you find out (and not discovered by ants.)

STAR WARS WILL LICENSE JUST ABOUT ANYTHING

There were tons of Star Wars candies coming out.  Also big on the licensee arena were the Minions and the Avengers.  I also saw some older brands still trending, like Angry Birds.   I didn't see any Disney themed stuff (well Avengers and Star Wars are I guess technically Disney now, but none of the real Disney stuff)  Of course it could be in the part of the show I didn't see yet.  Or perhaps there's a separate show just for Disney stuff?  I also didn't see any adult television stuff (Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Mad Men, etc)

I also expected to see a whole bunch of Minecraft stuff, but didn't see anything.

I know that stuff exists, so perhaps I just didn't get that far.



YOU CAN GUMMIFY JUST ABOUT ANYTHING

The great gummification continues, with Brains, gingerbread men, and pizza just a few of the latest victims in the Gummy Wars.











I hope to have more insights sometime next week, after I've taken more time to digest (pun intended!)