U.S. candy and snacks show will return long-term to Indianapolis after successful event
Sweet!
Hoosier hospitality has landed Indianapolis another high-profile event — this one in the world of candy and snacks.
Producers of the Sweets & Snacks Expo were so impressed with the city’s hosting in 2021, that the trade show will be returning again and again.
Indianapolis, along with Las Vegas, will be a rotating host.
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Starting in 2024, the show will take place in Indianapolis for two consecutive years, then Las Vegas for one year, before repeating the sequence. The rotation runs through 2032.
The show, the largest candy and snack trade event in North America, is produced by the National Confectioners Association, which reps the $37 billion U.S. confectionery industry.
Among the fastest-growing trade shows overall pre-pandemic, it’s where national and international manufacturers show off products for retail and wholesale buyers.
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The expo will take place at the Indiana Convention Center when here in Indianapolis.
Many attendees wanted to return to Indianapolis, leaders said, while Las Vegas got a bid due to it being an international destination with facilities and attractions to help the show to grow.
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"Indianapolis and Las Vegas are the right fit to meet the growing demand for our show and enable it to continue providing the innovation, insights and connections that the candy and snacks industries want and need," NCA President & CEO John Downs said. "This decision is all about the show's future, and it was driven by our exhibitor and attendee community, for our exhibitor and attendee community."
Hospitality wins out
Started as the All Candy Expo in Chicago 25 years ago, the show first left that city in 2021 when it relocated to the Indiana Convention Center due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was canceled in 2020.
The show, which typically takes place in May, is expected to generate $21 million in spending in the city of Chicago when it resumes there this year.
The 2021 Sweets & Snacks Expo in Indianapolis was at about 50 percent its normal draw of about 18,000 attendees from more than 90 countries, and more than 800 exhibitors, because of coronavirus-related travel restrictions, Downs said.
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The NCA began considering moving the show to Indianapolis long-term in 2021 when the mayor and Indiana’s governor expressed interest in its return, Downs said.
All of the feedback from attendees was positive regarding the experience last year, he said.
Down said attendees appreciated the ease with which they could get to the convention center from the airport, as well as the hotels and restaurants that are either connected to or within a short walking distance of the facility.
“We had a tremendous experience in 2021 in Indianapolis," he said. "Your hospitality was on full display in June 2021.”
Proving through the pandemic
The candy show was the city’s first large trade show in the pandemic.
Success with sporting events, including the NCAA men's basketball tournament, helped to sell the city, said Visit Indy President and CEO Leonard Hoops.
"By the time we started chatting with NCA, we'd already hosted a bunch of shows in a safe manner. That then led to the entire NCAA March Madness in early 2021,” he said.
Also, Carrie Abbott, founder of Indianapolis-based Newfangled Confections, had begun to lobby for the organization to consider hosting the show in Indianapolis since she joined its board of trustees in 2019.
“So there was serendipity that came together to make this happen. And then it turned out it was a match made in candy heaven,” Hoops said.
“The whole downtown Indianapolis has been built for about 50 years now very specifically to host major conventions and major sporting events. And the city has hosted the Super Bowl, college football championships, and now the super bowl of candy and snacks. It was designed to do this."
The candy association had been considering a new show location as it was unable to grow in Chicago around its traditional May meeting time.
Being in Indianapolis keeps it close to its Midwestern heritage and the manufacturers with large footprints here, while going to Vegas allows it to attract more retailers and other attendees from the western part of the U.S., Downs said.
Abbott, the only Indiana trustee at the candy association, said she wrote Visit Indy during one of her very first board meetings to see if it could accommodate the trade show.
"I'm an optimist, so I'm always going to throw Indianapolis' hat in the ring,' she said.
The move to Indy for two of every three shows presents an opportunity not only for the hospitality industry here but also for local sweets and snacks vendors to exhibit and get their products in front of retailers with less cost and hassle than they would be required if they had to travel, she said.
"Every confections buyer that we want to be in, they come to this," she said.
Contact IndyStar reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cheryl.jackson@indystar.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on Twitter: @cherylvjackson.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Sweet and Snacks Expo to return to Indianapolis for long-term rotation
