A giant, fierce-looking M&M guarded the event's entrance at Chicago's McCormick Place West—and signaled to guests that they were indisputably in the right place, the Sweets & Snacks Expo.
Just beyond the entrance, a bright yellow car—decked with a rather large chick—advertised Peeps. The punchy "Peepster" Volkswagen was part of Peeps' "Magical Moments Tour," which saw the branded car touring through the mid-Atlantic region to distribute marshmallow-y treats and coupons during the holidays.
Banners and signage took on a candy-centric spin and featured dangling pieces of prop chocolate. To help guests navigate the 570 booths, the show also had its own app, sponsored by the Hershey Company.
The Hershey Company also had a significant presence on the trade show floor with a modern, curved booth punctuated by a giant Hershey's Kiss hanging overhead.
It wasn't too early for gingerbread houses at the expo, where guests included some 15,000 buyers already ordering their holiday inventory. Organizers said that the show's attendees represented $150 billion of worldwide buying power in the confectionery, snack, and cookie categories.
Gary Poppins Popcorn had a whimsical booth that looked like a giant box of its signature crunchy snack. Product reps doled out mini bags of caramel and cheddar popcorn; the company also makes the product in more unusual flavors such as pumpkin-spice and French-vanilla-coffee.
A not-uncommon site at the expo: tables filled with bowl upon bowl of sweets arranged by color. The candies from Yum Junkie had fun names such as "Sassy Spheres," "Squiggly Pops," and "Tesla's Tiny Twist Pops."
The booth for Awake Caffeinated Chocolate was decked with cartoon night owls.
Lucky Country Licorice was displayed in a rainbow-like arrangement of giant bins. Each clear vessel held the snack in a different flavor, including pineapple, green apple, and the new cherry flavor.
Who better than costumed Greek gods and goddesses to hand out samples of Rickland Orchards' Greek yogurt bars? The celestial staffers gave each guest several samples of the snack, which comes in flavors such as Orchard Peach and Toasted Coconut.
Guests lined up to test their skills with the Marshmallow Fun Company's Bow & Mallow toy, which let them shoot marshmallows at a target bull's-eye. If guests hit the right spot, they were rewarded with marshmallows.
The Hershey's Kiss wasn't the only oversize candy to hang from the ceiling of McCormick Place. A larger-than-life Smarties package also crowned the trade show floor.
A smiling, clog-sporting jelly bean was on hand to pose with guests. His home base was the giant Jelly Belly booth, which had a wall printed with jelly beans, a built-in step-and-repeat where guests could pose and snap pics with the jolly mascot.
Byrd's Famous Cookies were displayed on a vintage wooden hutch in old-fashioned cookie jars. To add to the gentile, Southern-style vibe, staffers manning the booth wore bow ties.
Local candy shop Candyality donated pieces from its "Life is Sweet" museum for a display in the hallway outside the show floor. The display contained everything from dresses made out of Reese's Peanut Butter Cup wrappers to shoes made out Tootsie Roll pop wrappers and candies.
