The Sweets & Snacks Expo is an annual trade event produced by the National Confectioners Association (NCA) for the confectionery, snack, and frozen treat industries. The 2026 edition ran May 19-21 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, marking the event's debut in Las Vegas; the Supplier Showcase pre-show ran May 18. Programming spans the exhibit floor, the Most Innovative New Product Awards (MINPA), 40+ education sessions, and category-focused networking. The 2027 edition returns to the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis on May 18-20.
The audience is organized around what the organizer describes as five core groups: buyers, brands, brokers, suppliers, and influencers. Past editions have drawn retail judges and category buyers from Walmart, Target, Whole Foods Market, Albertsons, IT'SUGAR, and Candy Funhouse. Exhibitors have ranged from independent confectionery makers to multinational brands.
The 2026 edition was covered by The Shelby Report, Mass Market Retailers, Convenience Central, and the NCA's own communications. NCA reported approximately 17,500 attendees and 1,000 exhibitors at the 2026 edition, with John Downs, NCA President and CEO, and Anne-Marie Roerink of 210 Analytics among featured speakers on category research and the annual State of Treating briefing.
The Supplier Showcase, which runs as a pre-show event ahead of the main floor opening, is a dedicated forum for ingredient suppliers, packaging providers, equipment manufacturers, and service firms to meet confectionery and snack brand operators before retail-buyer foot traffic arrives. The MINPA program serves as both a product-launch vehicle and a category-research signal, with retail judges from major chains scoring entries across taste, packaging, and innovation criteria.
See full speaker listhttps://sweetsandsnacks.com/plan/show-schedule/
Anchor exhibitors at past editions have included major confectionery and snack manufacturers acknowledged on the organizer's site, including:
Candy, snack, and frozen treat brands attend to meet category buyers from mass, grocery, club, convenience, and specialty retailers in a concentrated three-day window, enter MINPA to gain category visibility, and take meetings with brokers and distributors.
Suppliers, ingredient providers, packaging firms, and service providers sponsor and exhibit through the Supplier Showcase and main floor to reach the operators behind confectionery and snack brands, with sponsorship tiers combining floor presence, education slots, and pre-show visibility.
For the most current information on dates, speakers, sponsors, and registration, visit the official site.
Visit organizer site →This is a third-party summary published by Beanstalk Events. For official information, dates, and registration, please visit the organizer’s site linked above.