You know I love my snacks and sweets. I had the opportunity to attend the National Confectioners Association (NCA) Sweets & Snacks Expo again. This was my eighth year attending. I was excited that the show returned to Chicago this year. I was also able to check out the National Restaurant Show.
Since 2014, the percentage of healthy snacks and candies with organic ingredients has grown exponentially. There are still many traditional candies, but snacks are big and the healthy trends were very visible. In terms of trends, lower/no sugar added is still big, keto is still prevalent but less in your face and all natural/sustainable is becoming dominant. I was excited to see a lot of pretzels and popcorn and yummy chocolate with naturally low sugar (and no weird stuff). [Check out my Instagram recap of faves here and see my story highlights under Sweets/Snacks ’22.]
The show is three days. I went for most of Day 2 and a few hours on Day 3. Last year, the show was in Indy and was about 400 vendors. This year, the show returned to Chicago and had over 900 vendors. There was a new “Start Up Street” highlighting small brands less than 3 years old and an expanded “Specialty Market” focusing on transparency, “free from,” organic, premium, fair trade, gourmet, etc. This is my jam! I also love to get some nostalgic treats and see what the big companies are doing. In addition to traditional candy, many of the big players have lower sugar options and partner with healthy brands.
Day 1
I started at Start Up Street and caught up with some of my friends! I met Regina from Nemi Snacks in real life after working together for a few years online! She introduced me to Keyo another Hatchery start up. They make delish corn puffs inspired by a Polish recipe. The lemon is delish! I can’t wait to try them all. I also met the folks from Keech. They make all natural, no sugar added chocolate with no sugar alcohols and non-GMO ingredients. It’s sweetened with allulose. I’m excited to try it. I also chatted with Small Wins – their low sugar gummies are coming soon!
I chatted with more brands on Start Up Street. The folks from Nick’s gave me one of each of their new refrigerated Keto bar line to try. I grabbed a couple of flavors of Chili Chews sweet and sours gummies. I caught up with Clara from Unite and the folks from Nora Seaweed Snacks. The latter has a really awesome new cracker coming out with sunflower seeds in addition to seaweed and tempura. I can’t wait for those!
I moved into the Specialty Market area and caught up with some familiar brands and some new ones. I stopped by to check out ChocXO and grabbed the whole line up! I also got to test an amazing product that’s coming out this fall but I was sworn to secrecy! I’ll keep you posted. It’s worth the wait. I visited with my friends from PROBAR. They gave me some one oz. bags of their Thins which I love and the whole line up of new Peak Chewy Snack Bars. I’m excited to try all three. I checked out Nude’s “mind blowing mints.” It’s basically a liquid breath freshener inside a digestible capsule that’s supposed to freshen your gut. The first part works very well. It comes in a cool, portable pack that I dig! I checked out some other stuff and ended this section with Voke Energy chews. I’ve tried these before and they tweaked the formula. [I visited them on Day 2 because I was dragging and I like the new taste!]
Next I went to meet with Haribo. It’s the 100th anniversary of the Goldbear and they’re celebrating with some special edition gummies. I got a bunch to try and took some fun pics and videos. I also stopped by to check out all the new innovations at Ferrara and got a fun kit to try them all! These bring back good memories (and have some fun “twists.”).
I checked out more of the specialty brands and visited a bunch of my faves. The folks at Jojo’s have an amazing collab with Oathaus granola butter. They gave me the chocolate granola butter bites and seasonal pumpkin spice. I grabbed some new Strawberry Lemonade SkinnyDipped almonds to try and some of my fave Rind fruit chips after chatting with the team. I tried a very tasty new chicken chip from Flock. It’s made with chicken skin. If that’s your thing, get some! They’re awesome!
I chatted with more friends and tried another new product before finishing the day. I chatted with Frooze Balls and found out that they’re now available at Walmart stores nationwide. I chatted with the folks from Chum Fruit Bites and grabbed one of each for my niece. She loves them! I grabbed some Bobo’s oat bites (perfect snack) and got a sample of their new PB & J Stuff’d Bar. Last up, I met the folks from Rallies. It’s a Nestle incubator project making three varieties of nut butter “bombs.” I’m excited to try all three!
One the way out, I grabbed some treats from the big brands and headed home!
Day 1 Haul:
Day 2
I went for a few hours on the last day. I grabbed some samples from some of my faves and people I chatted with on Day 1 – as most vendors give away a lot on the last day.
I stopped by to see Yum Earth and grabbed some Giggles (like Skittles). They have me both of their Choco Yums to try (like better for you M&Ms!) I chatted with Werner Jerky and grabbed some of my fave Sweet and Spicy jerky and Sweet and Hot Crunch Mix. And, I thanked them for hooking up our Hood to Coast team last summer. I chatted with my friends from Dewey’s Bakery and they gave me all three cookie thin minis to try! One new find is Pecan Nation Pecans. They come in six awesome flavors and the “Sneaky Heat” and Cinnamon are so delish.
I stopped by to chat with Tony’s Chocolonely and checked out their new flavors. I chatted with Core Foods and grabbed some of my fave peanut butter oat snacks and bars. I got to try some of the new flavors of oat snacks that are coming out soon. So delish! I can’t wait. I grabbed some meat sticks from my friends at Vermont Smoke and Cure. Finally, I headed back over to Start Up Street to chat with my friends from Unite Food. They introduced me to The Functional Chocolate Co. I got the whole line to try so stay tuned for more on these. They also introduced me to The 72 Chocolate Collection and said I had to try the Baobab Bites. I grabbed some to try.
I said goodbye to my friends and then headed out. It was really fun to catch up with so many people that I know in the natural space and to try some new sweet treats, too!
Day 2 Haul:
Stay tuned for some great giveaways in the weeks to come! I promise I will share the majority of this haul.
What do you want to try most? What is your favorite candy or snack?
Please note: I was provided with samples at no cost in exchange for an honest review/mention. I was not otherwise compensated for this post. I received a free entry to the Sweets and Snacks show as a member of the “media.” All opinions are my own.