By Katie Nilsson
CHICAGO (WREX) -? The 15th annual Sweets and Snacks Expo just wrapped up in Chicago and what better assignment for our very pregnant 13 News Anchor Katie Nilsson?
Chicago's Sweets and Snacks Expo is the largest confectionary, cookie, and snack show in the country.? It takes up almost?three acres inside McCormick Place.? You'll find every kind of sweet and salty treat available.? One of the newer trends this year, are healthy snacks, like dried fruits and veggies.? Jessi Brennan is the Marketing and Events Coordinator for Crunchies Food Company. It freeze dries fruits and veggies, which she says makes the healthy treat taste like candy. "They truly are all natural as much as you can get, but with the freeze drying, we get to keep them super healthy they retain at least 90% of all the good stuff for your nutrients, enzymes and antacids."
More than 550 companies signed up to be part of the show this year.? Everything from the big ones like Mars, to the little guys or in this case, gals "2 Chicks with Chocolate".? It's a small company based in New Jersey.? The "chick in charge", Elyissia Wassung got her inspiration from her mom who was in a car accident many years ago.? "After the accident she couldn't work, she lost her job so instead of making lemonade with the lemons she was given, she started making chocolate out of a crock pot so to sell it at 9 years old she would pin me around the block with a shopping cart and I would sell it door to door."
Elyissia and other snack companies hope to meet buyers at the show.? National Confectioners Association Senior Vice President Susan Smith says businesses are looking for others who will sell their products to consumers. "All the different retail outlets and so together they determine the products that will be on the store shelves and consumers will get to taste in the fall."
What better place for a gal, almost six months pregnant and her trusty co-worker and Birthday Girl Rebecca Klopf to be sent on assignment.? We found plenty of stuff to tempt the taste buds.? One was a cupcake booth.? It was filled with what looked like regular cupcakes, smelled like regular cupcakes, but company owner Tara Martin says they weren't regular cupcakes. "You can eat three of our cupcakes versus one regular cupcake."? That's because they're Vixens Mixins Skinny Cakes.? You buy the batter online and bake them at home.? You honestly couldn't tell they were low calorie.
We brought home plenty of treasures to share with the newsroom and I even managed to find these "It's a Boy!" gum sticks.? With our goodie bags full, and after a long day of eating entirely too much sugary goodness, it was time for Rebecca and I to return to reality.
According to the National Confectioners Association, the top trends for 2011 are snacks that give people a good value, are healthy and have surprising flavor combinations.
