There’s always a buzz in the air at Sweets & Snacks Expo — thousands of buyers, brokers, and brand teams packed into a conference center and fueled by sugary samples. But this year was even buzzier, especially with its new Las Vegas location after years in the Midwest.
Regardless of geography, the show has always been a bellwether for where the category is headed. This year felt like an interesting inflection point on a few fronts.
The product innovation was hard to miss. Protein has crossed over fully into snacking — creatine-fortified formats, high-protein candy alternatives, and better-for-you confections were everywhere. Caffeine showed up in forms that would have seemed unusual even a couple of years ago. The functional ingredient wave that started in beverage has clearly landed in snacks.
The influencer presence was also notable — not just at the celebrity-backed brands you’d expect, but embedded into the booth experience for more traditional players. It spoke to a broader shift in how brands are thinking about reach and relevance, even at a trade show.
One of the highlights of any industry show is the chance to connect with clients in person. With UpClear’s strong roster of snack and confectionary brands, Sweets & Snacks is a show we always look forward to.
We stopped by booths for several long-time clients, including Utz, Perfetti Van Melle, Blue Diamond, and Ferrara. It was good to see how each team is showing up in the market, catch up on what’s top of mind, and gather partner feedback in person.
Alongside the product talk, there was a noticeably different energy this year when it came to technology. People are prioritizing solution upgrades, and they’re ready to invest. That shift showed up clearly in conversations across the floor.
AI was on everyone’s radar, for both CPG and vendor teams. A number of brands mentioned building point solutions internally. In deeper discussion, we learned that in most cases these were leveraging LMM technology to augment manual created and maintained utilities they already had.
For brands managing complex retailer relationships and high trade spend, it’s easy to be enamored with the excitement around AI. The harder question is whether a solution will actually improve the way your teams work day to day — and whether it can grow with the business as complexity increases.
Snacks has been one of the most resilient categories in consumer goods for years, and that doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon. In fact, experts project the market size will grow to $358.58 billion by 2031, at a 4.2% CAGR. This year’s show demonstrated some of what’s driving that outlook, as the functional ingredient trend — protein, caffeine, adaptogens — expands the definition of what a snack can be.
Damask is a Senior Marketing Manager at UpClear, where she supports the sales team in developing new business. She’s based in NYC with roots from Oregon. She brings over a decade of marketing and sales experience from a variety of industries.
At UpClear, our mission is to empower Consumer Goods brands to maximize revenue performance and trade investment returns through intelligent, collaborative software—providing a single source of truth, streamlined automation, and actionable insights.
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