Dr. Pepper in a meat stick. Pickle-flavored cotton candy. New candy and snacks on the way
The city of Indianapolis has been pretty sweet this week, being the center of the candy and snacking world with 16,000 folks at the 2024 Sweets & Snacks Expo.
Along with offering photo ops — on a swing made from a giant Oreo and in front of inflatable Lindt chocolate bunnies — hugs from Sour Patch Kid mascots and pedicab rides with free gummy bears from Albanese, the expo has been the place to see the latest treats headed for store shelves. The likes of Dr. Pepper-flavored meat snacks and ranch-flavored cotton candy were introduced as well as seasonal updates to longtime treats like the Nik-L-Nips.
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Sweets & Snacks Expo brings hundreds of vendors to Indiana Convention Center
The expo, which wraps up Thursday, has 975 exhibitors showing goods in more than 250,000 square feet at the Indiana Convention Center.
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It’s the largest number of vendors and biggest area in the show's history, said John Downs, president and CEO of the National Confectioners Association which produces the expo.
The annual Sweets & Snacks Expo had only taken place in Chicago until it came to Indianapolis in 2021. This year marks the start of a rotation that has the show in Indy for two years, then one in Las Vegas, Nevada, before repeating.
It’s closed to the public, but Downs has been spreading sweetness, gifting candy to hospitality workers throughout downtown.
“We’ve been good stewards and ambassadors of the industry by giving candy to everyone. We've been spreading joy and happiness. I’ve been given candy out at the hotel to waiters, waitresses, the bartender, the people at check-in,” he said. “It puts a smile on everybody’s face."
“Hopefully when we leave at the end of this week, people say, “Wow! What a great bunch of people.”
Here’s what we saw on the floor in 2024.
Pickles are a big dill in candy and snacking.
The flavor is being added to gummies, cotton candy and even fudge.
When Gupperz brand launched its gummy liquid-filled candy at the show, a pickle flavor was there alongside strawberry milk, birthday cake and boba tea.
“It’s one of those flavors that is very trending nowadays,” said co-owner Maya Saoud, a co-owner of the Las Vegas-based brand.
The taste has jumped off of restaurant menus into new avenues. Fried pickles are on 46% of U.S. restaurant menus, with 87% of consumers having tried them and 74% liking or loving them, according to Datassential’s Menu Trends database.
My Gourmet Cotton Candy has pickled and ranch flavors of cotton candy.
The flavor is a feature of the new Sour Punch Pickle Roulette candy straw packs along with green apple, lemon-lime and watermelon. All the straws are green, so consumers won't know which flavor they get until they taste them.
Frankford introduced Claussen pickle-flavored jelly beans and gummy pickle spears.
Herr’s new appetizers line of kettle chips includes a Fried Pickles and Ranch flavor, along with Steakhouse Fried Onion, Philly Cheesesteak and BBQ Pulled Pork.
Lumberjack’s Arctic Treats offers freeze dried dill pickle slices.
Van Holten’s has its Pickle Flavored Freeze Pops and Ric & Morty Pickle in Pouch.
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Freeze dried treats are on the rise.
Lots of companies are pushing freeze dried candy, made from existing favorites including Skittles, Lemonhead, Jolly Rancher and Nerds Gummy Clusters candies.
Makers say the flavors are more intense after going through the freeze drying process, and the resulting products melt in the mouth.
The Freeze Dried Candy Store, which has been making such treats for three years, has more than 70 products.
“There’s always something new to try. When they come out, they’re a completely different product,” said partner Zachry Bartlett.
Freeze dried gummy bears and peach rings, Nerds gummy clusters and gummy bears were all around the show.
Other companies showcased freeze dried Bit-O-Honey, ice cream sandwiches, cheese curds and fruit.
Raindrops Candy’s line of freeze dried treats includes cut rock candy.
Josh Bosh introduced its freeze dried ice cream.
Calbee has Harvest Snaps Freeze Dried Grapes.
Andersen’s Crazy Candy includes freeze-dried peppermint puffs.
Waffle cone snacks are expanding.
Those chocolate-filled drumstick tips are getting more flavors with new entrants into the market.
AYC Natural’s Only The Tip brand of waffle cone snacks has added S’Mores milk chocolate and Chocolate Mint Chip flavors.
Alli & Rose has Neapolitan mini cones.
Klondike enters with Klondike Cones Chocolate Bites waffle cones with Belgian chocolate.
Muddy Bites expanded its line with Cookies ‘N Creme and Girl Scout Thin Mints.
Old favorite candy and snacks are getting new looks for holidays.
Increasingly, companies are tweaking recipes or packaging for various seasons.
Nik-L-Nip new Bunny Bottles are the familiar wax bottles with pastel liquids – lime, lemon, watermelon and blue raspberry. There’s also a new pack of all cherry-flavored bottles, called Cupid’s Love Potion, for Valentine’s Day.
Oh’asis added peppermint to its coconut patties and put winter scenes on the package to ready the product for the holidays.
Gummy candy maker Haribo has Happy Chicks bird-shaped treats available for Easter.
Frankford's Lunchables Pepperoni Pizza kit in gummy form is available in a heart-shaped box for Valentine’s Day and an egg-shaped box for Easter.
Ring Pops come bagged in Easter packaging with three pops. And there’s a bag of 10 red and blue pops for the Fourth of July.
Brach’s has expanded its mellocreme candy from corn and pumpkins to red, pink and white roses (punch, strawberry cupcake and sugar cookie flavors) for Valentine’s Day and leaf shapes in autumn tastes (caramel apple, pumpkin spice, sweet maple, salted butterscotch and spiced cider).
Dr. Pepper meat snacks land among noteworthy candy and snacks introduced.
Consumers can now get a taste of Dr. Pepper in meat stick form thanks to a Jack Link’s new snack. The new meat stick is “inspired by the flavors of Dr. Pepper,” the brand says. The item was a finalist for the expo’s Most Innovative New Product Awards.
“The meat stick is a really great carrier or flavor. And they have a really great Gen Z following. So it was a perfect combination of Gen Z-oriented brands, big flavor and meat sticks. Bring them all together and it's been super exciting,” said Holly Lavallie, senior vice president of marketing at Jack Link’s. “We're getting a ton of pickup and cultural spaces where we're latching into the Dr. Pepper phenomenon.”
Jack Link’s, which also showcased its Fritos Chili Cheese and Doritos Taco flavored beef jerky and meat sticks, isn’t stopping there. A Dr. Pepper-flavored beef jerky is headed for store shelves.
Cheery Chews Fizzy Floss brings spark to cotton candy with a popping version in mango, strawberry, banana, vanilla and berries flavors.
Toxic Waste’s Slime Licker Sour-filled Milk Chocolate Bars come with centers of either strawberry or blue raspberry puree.
Whitney Jordan Naturals packages dried watermelon slices and orange slices.
Lemonhead Ropes have the flavor of the popular tart candy in gummy form.
Jelly Belly is packaging its Boba Milk Tea jelly beans with a tumbler.
Crackerology’s cracker kits are for gourmet snacking on the go. One includes red wine and rosemary crackers, cheese smear, preserves and a nut topping.
Bad Monkey Popcorn launched a Heat N’ Eat line of pre-popped popcorn in bags that can be heated in the microwave. Flavors are Caramel, Double Beurre Butter and Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn.
Miss Fortunes Cookies are red with humor. Some of the predictions are sassy: "An admirer will soon reveal himself, which is technically a misdemeanor." Packages are labeled for various age groups, with the bleakest — Fortunes Against Humanity — meant for those 18 and older.
The old red Swedish Fish gets an update with new flavors, including sour peach, sour elderberry and sour blackberry at BonBon.
Texas Roadhouse seasonings are used in Stoney Point Inc.’s new beef jerky. Look for Sirloin Seasoning, Steak Sauce and one flavor inspired by Roadhouse’s Rattlesnake Bites app. The restaurant brand also recently teamed with the T. Marzetti Company on steak sauces.
Dip ‘n Joy is an Innovation Awards finalist from Indianapolis-based Endangered Species Chocolate. The kits pair dark chocolate shaped into flat sticks with peanut butter, almond butter and salted caramel for scooping.
Endangered Species new Mini Truffle Bars were also award finalists.
Golden Luna’s Smoky Egg is available in packs of two shelf-stable smoked hard-boiled eggs.
Nassau Candy brought back its Biden v. Trump collection of chocolate and sodas from 2020 and updated the year. The None of the Above soda beat out the Trump and Biden options in sales.
Pop Daddy pretzel sticks come in a slew of non-traditional flavors — Birthday Cake; Dutch Apple Pie; Mexican Street Corn; Thai Honey Curry; Maple and Brown Butter; and Dill Pickle among them.
Local artist Shaunt'e Lewis helped set the scene for the candy show.
The 2024 Sweets & Snack Expo featured the work of local artist Shaunt'e Lewis; not only on banners, but on shirts and pins sold at the show. It’s the first time the show has sold expo merchandise.
Contact IndyStar reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cheryl.jackson@indystar.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on X: @cherylvjackson.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Dr. Pepper meat sticks and freeze-dried candy: Here's a look new treats
