Ted Curtin, Chief Innovation Officer, ProdigyWorks
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This session reveals why innovation is so hard, what keeps companies from realizing breakthrough innovation and what leaders can do to foster a more creative and innovative culture within their organizations.
Jared Koerten, Head of Packaged Food at Euromonitor International
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This session will provide extensive insight into the global landscape for product claims in snacks, including a vantage point into prominent marketing claims for snacks across clean, ethical and dietary labels.
This session explores new occasions and moments, both everyday and seasonal, that are driving treating and snacking.
Michael Sansolo, Author & Columnist, Morning News Beat
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This session will detail the many challenges and decisions companies must make in management, finances, technology, merchandising and more to successfully enter the omni-channel world with examination of how this impacts product suppliers.
Kelli Heinz, Vice President of Marketing & Industry Affairs, Bell Flavors & Fragrances
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This session explores recent flavor trends in the candy and snacks categories. We’ll look at how each generation reacts to flavor innovations and how manufacturers are marketing innovations to appeal to their respective demographic segments. We’ll also show how Covid-19 has impacted flavor choices with consumers this past year.
Marcia Mogelonsky, Director of Insight, Mintel Food and Drink
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Consumers are refocusing their attention on health and wellness, and confectionery’s role in supporting their emotional well-being has never been stronger thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. This session, grounded in the latest research by Mintel, examines ways in which confectionery manufacturers should consider consumers’ needs and desires when marketing their products.
Charles Guilbeau, Vice President of Consumer Understanding, Ferrero North America
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This session explores how to stay on top of quickly shifting consumer behaviors while preparing for a post-COVID world. Attendees will learn how to leverage Ferrero’s data-driven insights from the people who pioneered these strategies and will walk away with an understanding of the industry’s post-pandemic future.
Laura Bergan, Director, Barry Callebaut Brand
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What are consumers looking for on the shelf? What experiences are affecting consumer purchase behavior with chocolate treats? Take a look at the future of chocolate alongside Barry Callebaut’s marketing team, which will present a preview of how chocolate will be reaching new consumer groups in the near future and how taste and sensory delight will stay front and center for all consumers.
Michael Sansolo, Author & Columnist, Morning News Beat
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Back again for another season, this highly-engaging Shark Tank-style pitch session offers two companies the opportunity to present their product innovations to a panel of retail category decision makers.
Trish Mielke, Senior Manager of Holistic Captaincy, The Hershey Company
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This session will outline how retailers and their trusted CPG partners can ensure the fundamentals of the path to purchase are in place across in-store and digital platforms with a goal to delight and satisfy each and every shopper.
Larry Levin, Executive Vice President, Market and Shopper Intelligence, IRI
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Holiday confectionery sales traditionally rely on brick-and-mortar sales, but as shoppers adopt new shopping habits, online opportunities are a “must-have” for manufacturers and retailers. This session explores the boundless online opportunities ahead for our industry’s manufacturers and retailers.
Darren Seifer, Food and Beverage Industry Analyst, The NPD Group
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Using the NPD Group’s proprietary modeling techniques, this session will analyze America’s generations, their penchant for candy and snacks and the underlying motivations that drive their consumption.
Melissa Tisoncik, R&D Director, Blommer Chocolate
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This session will review new ingredient technologies, including methods for adding functional benefits to a product, reducing ingredients in a product and replacing mainstream ingredients.
Larry Deutsch, CEO & Co-Founder, dvk marketing; Doug Van Andel, Chief Creative Officer & Co-Founder, dvk marketing
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How can the confectionery industry make shopping for candy as fun as consuming it? This session will share actionable insights as attendees explore creative merchandising and brand activation in the candy category, as well as relevant examples outside the category that can be leveraged and applied.
Peter Picard, Vice President of Strategic Planning & Research, Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide; Sonja Evans, Associate Director - Business Intelligence, Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide
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This session will present key research-based findings and recommendations for how marketers can change the course of communications and show how the essential role of snacks and sweets differs by life stage; how marketers can successfully adapt communications to people in new situations; and where and when marketers can engage these audiences to support purchase.
Rachel Tipograph, Founder & CEO, MikMak
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This session will help confectionery brands tackle the changes in shopper behavior caused by this mass exodus to e-commerce and start to think about how to develop a strategy that's relevant for today's consumers.
Jehan Hamedi, CEO, VIZIT
Christina Garnett, Senior Insights Strategist, VIZIT
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This session will reveal four actionable tips to improve images along the path to purchase, resulting in a strong e-commerce path to purchase for any product.
