Buyers at the 2008 All Candy Expo used scanners to track their interests in new items in the trade show's New Product Showcase, and their top picks embodied the seven hottest trends in new confectionery and snack items as identified by the show's sponsor, the National Confectioners Association.

"Thousands of new and innovative products are introduced each year at the All Candy Expo," said Larry Graham, president of Vienna, Va.-based NCA.
"Emerging trends and hot, new products are the number one reason people attend each year, and by calculating the scans in the Showcase we were able to pinpoint customer's interest in new items."

More than seven thousand products and companies were scanned this year at the show. The majority of new products in the Showcase fell into at least one of the seven emerging trends that NCA identified earlier this year: Authentic & Artisan, Helpful Helpings, Chocolate Evolution, Traditional Twists, Sensory Experiences, Play Time and Packaging Innovations.

The top five scans at the trade event, held in May, were "The absolutely fabulous chocolate covered pretzel" by Indulge Gourmet (Chocolate Evolution and Packaging Innovations); Hillside Candy's Go Naturally Organic Hard Candy (Helpful Helpings); Tootsie Roll Industries' Tootsie Pop Drops and Junior Mint Mini's (Traditional Twists); Lollistraw from Squire Boone Village (Sensory Experiences); Fassin America's new kids' candies Sour Cosmix, and crEATables, and Sour Snagx.