Hey Funhouse Fam! 🍬
If there's one event on the entire calendar that gets our Candyologist team absolutely buzzing, it's this one. The Sweets & Snacks Expo is the single biggest candy and snack trade show in North America…and this year, for the first time ever, it's heading to Las Vegas!
We're going to be there May 19–21, we have our own booth on the floor, and we are SO ready.
If you’re around, come check us out! Click here to see the deets!
But we get this question every year: What actually IS the Candy Show? Because most of our Funhouse Fam has never heard of it, and honestly, that's part of what makes it so special. So let your resident Candyologists break it down for you!
The Candy Show 2026 — Here's the Deal
The Sweets & Snacks Expo 2026 is an annual trade show hosted by the National Confectioners Association. The organization that has represented the North American candy industry since 1884. Every May, it brings together over 1,000 candy and snack brands, more than 15,000 industry professionals, and — and we genuinely cannot stress this enough…three entire acres of candy and snack products under one roof.
Three. Acres. Of. Candy.
We're talking major brands like Haribo, Ferrero, Mondelez, and Mars, showcasing their latest creations alongside scrappy startups poised to change the candy world. New flavours, new formats, new collabs; if it's happening in the candy world in the next twelve months, it starts here!
For example, last year we got to try the new, now-released Nutella Peanut Butter AND Nerds Juicy Gummy Clusters before they were available to the public or in stores.
Talk about rich candy flex, right?
The 2026 show runs May 19–21 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, and, being the first Vegas edition, it's the most anticipated show in years!
Wait, But Can the Public Go?
This is the #1 question we get, and we completely understand the heartbreak when we answer it. The Sweets & Snacks Expo is a trade-only event. Meaning it's exclusively for qualified industry professionals.
According to the official Sweets & Snacks Expo FAQ, attendance is strictly restricted to companies in the confectionery and snack industries. No public tickets, no day passes, no sneaking in with a friend who works in "food distribution."
Only manufacturers, retailers, distributors, buyers, brokers, and media get through those doors. And getting in requires actual proof — business documentation, company credentials, the whole thing.
Here's the silver lining: that's exactly why you have us!
Your favourite Candyologists attend, so you don't have to miss out on a single thing. We walk every aisle, try every sample, hunt down every interesting new product, and then we bring it all back to you!
The candy show is our Christmas morning. And we share every single gift!!
What Actually Goes Down On The Floor (From Someone Who's Been Many Times)
Okay, so you want the real picture? Not the press release version, the actual experience of being there?
Walking into the Expo for the first time is a full sensory experience, and we are not exaggerating.
The smell alone hits you before you even get your badge scanned: chocolate, fruit candy, savoury snacks, and about fifteen flavours you can't identify yet, all mixing together in the best possible way. Think of it as Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, but it’s not just chocolate; it’s literally everything in the realm of treats you can think of.
Then the floor opens up, and you realize just how many booths there are. Hundreds and hundreds of them, stretching further than you can see.
The big brand booths are wild. Mondelez once built what was essentially a themed entertainment venue inside their space; photo ops, scavenger hunts, the works. Mars and Haribo don't show up to the candy show to be subtle.
But honestly? Some of our favourite moments have come from the smallest booths, where a founder is standing behind a folding table with one product that is genuinely unlike anything we've ever tasted.
The pace is relentless…three days, thousands of products, hundreds of conversations. By the end of day one, your taste buds are working overtime, and your notebook is full.
By the end of day three, you've tried things you didn't know existed and have opinions about flavour trends you've never thought about before. It's exhausting. It's incredible. We would not trade it for anything!
The Sections We Never, Ever Skip
Startup Street — Where the Future Lives
This is our absolute favourite part of the entire Expo, and it is criminally underrated!
Startup Street is the section dedicated to candy and snack brands that have been in business for under three years — the newcomers, the underdogs, the ones who are too new to have a massive booth but have a product good enough to earn a spot on this floor.
We have found things on Startup Street that went on to become some of our best-selling products. We have also found things that had absolutely no business existing (in a fun way).
Both types are 100% worth knowing about. Last year, we found a chip brand that stopped us dead in our tracks mid-aisle — and yes, it made our Top 10 Expo Finds of 2025 list.
The brands on Startup Street have to be interesting because they can't out-spend the big players. That constraint breeds genuine creativity.
Candyologist Rule #1: Never, ever skip Startup Street.
The Most Innovative New Product Awards (MINPA)
Every year, the Expo hands out the Most Innovative New Product Awards across twelve candy and snack categories, judged by a panel of senior buyers from major North American retailers, including Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Albertsons, IT'SUGAR, and our very own Candyologist from Candy Funhouse!
The 2026 judging panel is the strongest it's ever been.
Why do we care so much? Because MINPA winners are almost always in major retailers within the following twelve months. These aren't just cool products; they're products that actual buyers with actual purchasing authority have looked at and said: "Yes, this is where the category is going, I want to sell this."
We've been covering the MINPA winners since 2023, 2024, and beyond. The track record speaks for itself.
The NCA Candy Trend Sessions
The National Confectioners Association drops their annual candy trend data at the show, not just the buzzwords, but the actual consumer research behind what's growing, what's declining, and what's about to break through.
For 2026, the three headline trends are Newstalgia Reshaping The Classics, More In Every Bite, and Made For The Moment.
We attend every session and use the insights to inform what we write to you about and what we stock for the rest of the year.
This year we have our very own Candyologist hosting a session on Creating Shareable Brand Moments! Click here to find out more!
The Honest Truth About the Expo and Canada
Here's something we've learned after years of attending: being a Canadian retailer at an American trade show requires a completely different mindset than just being a buyer at the show.
Most of what launches at the Sweets & Snacks Expo is built for US distribution first. Canada is, and we say this with love and frustration, an afterthought for a lot of brands.
A product can be everywhere in American stores and completely unavailable to Canadian candy fans for years. Sometimes forever.
That’s why at Candy Funhouse, we pride ourselves on bringing you all the exclusive products that aren’t readily available across Canada!
So when we walk the floor, our first question at every interesting booth isn't just "how does this taste?" it's "is this going to be available in Canada?" Every confirmed NO is a potential new product landing at candyfunhouse.ca. Every "not in our current plans" is a conversation we push on, because your wishlist matters to us.
And we want our sweet Canadian community to have the BEST treats available!
This year, we're also there with our own booth showcasing Candy Fun Street, which puts us in a different kind of conversation at the show. Not just as buyers moving through the floor, but as part of the industry that decides what gets made and where it goes. That's a new kind of leverage for Canadian candy fans, and we're here for it!
Frequently Asked Questions About the Sweets & Snacks Expo
Q: When and where is the Sweets & Snacks Expo 2026?
A: May 19–21, 2026, at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. There's also a pre-show Supplier Showcase on May 18.
Q: Can regular candy fans attend the Sweets & Snacks Expo?
A: No — the show is trade-only and not open to the public. Only qualified industry professionals with verified credentials can attend.
Q: What kinds of products are at the Sweets & Snacks Expo?
A: Everything in the candy and snack world — chocolate bars, gummies, sour candy, hard candy, novelty snacks, chips, protein bars, international candy brands, and innovations you won't see anywhere else yet.
Q: How do I find out what new candy was discovered at the show?
A: Stay right here! We publish a full post-show breakdown every year covering the best new products, what's coming to Candy Funhouse, and the trends to watch. Sign up for our emails to get it before anyone else.
Q: Will the new products from the Expo be available in Canada?
A: Some yes, some no — and finding out which is which is one of our main missions on the floor. We'll keep you updated when we’re at the show!
We'll See You On The Other Side
The 2026 Sweets & Snacks Expo is going to be the most exciting one yet! A new city, a new venue, and a candy industry that is genuinely in one of its most innovative periods in years.
We're going in with our lists, our notebooks, and our very willing taste buds.
What do YOU want us to find? Drop it in the comments — we read every single one, and your wishlist is coming to Vegas with us. 🎰🍬
Explore everything we carry right now →
Read our 2025 Sweets & Snacks Expo Top 10 →
See the Top 5 Booths from 2025 →