WASHINGTON – Looking for an opportunity to share your expertise with the confectionery and snack worlds? You’re in luck: the National Confectioners Association’s Sweets & Snacks Expo is now accepting education curriculum proposals for the 2024 show. Sweets & Snacks Expo is seeking industry experts and thought leaders who can provide unique insights, strategies and trends to the show’s attendees – retailers, manufacturers, distributors, suppliers and brokers in the confectionery and snack industries.
The event will take place May 14-16, 2024 (Supplier Showcase: May 13-14) at the Indianapolis Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Sweets & Snacks Expo provides speakers with a unique opportunity to showcase their thought leadership to an audience of more than 16,000 category leaders and retailers.
Sample Topics for Expo Show Floor Education (May 14 – 16):
- Generational trends and the impact on the confectionery and snacks categories
- Trends in retail: eCommerce, technologies, self-checkout, click and collect, voice-activated purchasing or other relevant topics
- How to incent unplanned purchases online, at self-checkout or click and collect
- Social media marketing trends
- Flavor trends in confectionery and snacks
- Packaging trends in confectionery and snacks
- How to succeed in the last mile
- How to leverage product and merchandising innovations to drive sales
- Tools, tips and proven sales successes to build business in specialty candy stores
- Social media commerce and how it drives sales in confectionery and snacks categories
- Trends in better-for-you products
- The future of candy and snacks in non-traditional channels
- Snacking and/or treating shopper behavior
- Other relevant ideas for the industry
NCA is also accepting education proposals for the Sweets & Snacks Expo Supplier Showcase, a face-to-face marketplace dedicated to helping confectionery and snack suppliers connect with prospective and existing customers that is co-located with the Sweets & Snacks Expo. The Supplier Showcase has grown by 25% each year since its inception in 2021 and welcomes more than 1,600 attendees with specific interest in the latest in supplier resources.
Sample Topics for the Supplier Showcase (May 13 – 14):
- Sustainability
- Packaging trends and innovations
- Artificial Intelligence and its impact on the supplier community
- Ingredient trends
- Data services
- Technologies in the supply chain
- Other topics relevant to the Supplier Showcase audiences
Benefits to speaking at Sweets & Snacks Expo and the Supplier Showcase:
- You will receive two (2) All Access passes to attend the three-day show. (NOTE: all travel expenses are the responsibility of the speaker)
- You and your company will be promoted in the show’s extensive marketing efforts, beginning in January 2024.
All proposals for engagement are due no later than October 27, 2023.
To submit a proposal for the Sweets & Snacks Expo (May 14 –16), visit SweetsAndSnacks.com/Call-For-Speakers.
To submit a proposal for the Supplier Showcase (May 13 – 14), visit SweetsAndSnacks.com/Supplier-Showcase-Speakers.
About Sweets & Snacks Expo
The Sweets & Snacks Expo is the premier event for the confectionery and snack industries. Featuring new product launches, business-building solutions and merchandising innovations, this annual trade show brings together qualified candy and snack retail professionals and company representatives who showcase the latest in candy and snack products. The event is sponsored by the National Confectioners Association. Learn more at SweetsAndSnacks.com.
About the National Confectioners Association (NCA):
The National Confectioners Association is the leading trade organization for the U.S. confectionery industry, which generates $42 billion in retail sales each year. NCA advocates for an environment that enables candy makers to thrive and works to ensure that chocolate, candy, gum and mints are celebrated for their contributions to culture, society, the economy and everyday moments of joy. The industry employs nearly 58,000 workers in more than 1,600 manufacturing facilities across all 50 states and supports an additional 635,000 jobs in related fields. The U.S. confectionery industry has made a commitment to increasing transparency, providing more portion guidance options and educating consumers about the role of confectionery in a happy, balanced lifestyle. Learn more at CandyUSA.com or follow NCA on Facebook, X and Instagram.