MORE GOODIES TO SWEETEN ALL CANDY EXPO

RICHARD TURCSIK

CHICAGO -- This year's All Candy Expo will include more booths, a new International Pavilion and more convenient scheduling of the educational seminars.

The All Candy Expo, which will be held June 22 to 25 at the Chicago Navy Pier here, will be much bigger than last year's show, said Susan Smith, a spokeswoman for the National Confectioners Association, McLean, Va., the show's sponsor.

"We have sold out 800 booths, up from 500 last year," she said.

New this year is an International Pavilion, where some 40 to 50 candy manufacturers from 12 different countries will display their products.

"We added the International Pavilion because the buyers told us they wanted to see a broader array of products at the show. The pavilion is a way to meet their needs, and another way for us to make the show buyer-friendly," Smith said.

Smith said the NCA has also worked to make its seminars an "integrated" educational experience, with the opening brunch becoming one of the seminars.

"The seminars will be short and to the point so that the buyers can get out there and enjoy the show floor," Smith said. The opening brunch session will be a "State of the Industry Report and Consumer Trends" panel discussion with Sal Ferrara, president and chief operating officer of Ferrara Pan Candy Co., Forest Park, Ill.; Larry Graham, president of the NCA; Jagdish Sheth of the Goizueta Business School at Emory University; and Robert Blattberg of the Center for Retail Management at the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School at Northwestern University.

Other educational sessions will cover seasonal selling practices and front-end merchandising or instant consumable confectionery products.

The show is being divided into a Candy Buyer Expo, which centers on candy buyers and the finished product, and an Equipment, Ingredient & Supply Expo, for the manufacturers to attend. Educational seminars have been scheduled for both tracks.