SupplySide West Grows in Booths, Attendance and Education Programming

PHOENIX--Virgo Publishing announced the exhibit space for SupplySide West 2006, scheduled for Oct. 18 to 20 at The Venetian & The Sands, Las Vegas, is up more than 20 percent compared to the 2005 event, with companies continuing to reserve booths. Attendee pre-registrations are more than four times higher than 2005 pre-registration figures. And a third education track has been added to the three-day education program, enabling the addition of more sessions focused on healthy food and beverage topics.

"SupplySide West is the worlds largest event for manufacturers and suppliers of healthy products," said Peggy Jackson, director of publishing. "And this year, the strong participation of food and beverage companies has added to the already exceptional growth."

SupplySide West 2007 features a three-track education program, adding 10 more sessions than the program offered in previous years. The expansion allows Virgo Publishing to include more sessions focused on food and beverage topics, a move designed to take advantage of the company's acquisition of Food Product Design magazine. The company also created a Food Science Advisory Board to help with the program that includes representatives from Kraft, Coca-Cola, Nestlé, OhioStateUniversity and SR Strategy. "There is intense interest in healthy, functional and natural ingredients among the world's leading food and beverage companies," said Jon Benninger, Virgo Publishing's director of business development. "While many of these companies have been attending SupplySide events for years, the participation from the food sector looks to be larger than ever." This year's expanded education program, sponsored by Cognis Nutrition & Health, features speakers from the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), The Beverage Institute for Health and Wellness (Coca-Cola), Canaccord Adams, The Cooper Institute, Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Health Food Manufacturers Association (HFMA), Mintel, Nestlé, The Natural Marketing Institute, Natural Products Association (formerly NNFA), National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS), Pharmavite, University of Illinois College of Pharmacy, SPINS and many more.
SupplySide West also features more than 50 vendor-sponsored seminars covering a wide range of innovative ingredients, services and technologies. For the first time at SupplySide West, some of these VendorWorks sessions will be held in the VendorWorks auditorium in the exhibit hall. Additional research can be found at the "Science at SupplySide" poster display which remains up throughout the show.
The SupplySide West Keynote Presentation, co-sponsored by BASF and Natural Products INSIDER, will be delivered by NFL great and Monday Night Football analyst Joe Theismann. Author of the book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Football Like a Pro, Theismann will share his game plan for success and then meet SupplySide West attendees at the BASF booth immediately after the presentation.
There are also a host of networking opportunities at SupplySide West, beginning with the SupplySide West Golf Classic, sponsored by Pharmachem Laboratories. The always-popular event takes place Oct. 18 at the Paiute Golf Resort and includes a $25,000 hole-in-one contest. The networking continues the evening of Oct. 18 with the International Welcome Reception co-sponsored by KGK Synergize and OptiPure/Soft Gel Technologies. When the exhibit hall closes on Oct. 19, all SupplySide West participants are invited to attend the Opening Reception co-sponsored by DSM, SourceOne Global Partners and Natural Products INSIDER. Later that night, Albion Advanced Nutrition is throwing a blow-out 50th Anniversary Party with champagne, appetizers and $2,500 in raffle drawings. And finally, the show always ends on a high note with the Appreciation Party in the exhibit hall, sponsored by Kyowa Hakko, NSF International and Vesta Ingredients.
More information--including a complete agenda and exhibitor list--and registration details can be found at www.supplysideshow.com/west or by calling (800) 454-5760.