Recapping SupplySide West 2011

By Judie Bizzozero, Senior Editor

In a record-setting 15th anniversary event, more than 9,700 food, beverage, supplement and cosmeceutical executives from 64 countries met Oct. 10 to 14 at The Sands Exposition Center and The Venetian Resort Casino for SupplySide West 2011. This years exhibit hall featured 1,340 boothsa 9% increase over the record set in 2010.

SupplySideWest 2011 marked two milestones for VIRGOthe 15th anniversary of SupplySide West and the 20th anniversary of VIRGOs Food Product Design magazine franchise," said Bob Weeks, publisher, Food Product Design. These two vibrant and growing entities are an absolute reflection of the strength of our industry. We thank everyone in our industry for their long-standing and continuing support of our efforts."

Professionals from Clif Bar, Dairy Queen & Orange Julius, Danone Research, Hansen Beverage Company, Kraft Foods, Nestlé, NOW Foods, Sara Lee  and many more leading manufacturers attended.

It was a great show. We had over 29 scheduled meetings over the two days and many more that took place spontaneously on the floor. We saw many senior executives from our customers and it is often so hard to get face time with them," says Moira Watson, vice president, marketing and communications, Watson Inc., West Haven, CT. The show offers us a wonderful opportunity to meet with so many customers in a two-day period. It would never be possible otherwise."

 Great experience, good show, great networking opportunities. I certainly believe Hershey will continue to participate in this show," says Kim McLucas, commodities operations, The Hershey Company, Hershey, PA.

Taste of SupplySide

The food ingredients filling the aisles of SupplySide West this year reflected key categories, including digestive health, immunity, energy, healthy aging, heart health and weight management.

Beverages, as always, remain strong players in functional foods, and figured prominently in the Taste of SupplySide program, which allows attendees to sample prototypes incorporating specific ingredients. This years program included almost 60 booths. Biothera took on immune health with a beverage, candy and snacks formulated with Wellmune WGP, and Ixoreal Biomed introduced a beverage and snacks formulated with KSM-66® to support immune health and brain function.

In the heart-health category, ADM formulated a beverage with isolated soy protein, and BASF formulated a juice-based beverage containing antioxidants and carotenoids. Viterra/21st Century Grain Processing formulated granola with high-fiber oat bran, BI Nutraceuticals offered reduced-fat brownies enriched with omega-3s, and HP Ingredients incorporated citrus bergamot juice concentrate into a RTD beverage. Energy-boosting prototypes abounded, including Daniscos coconut water with BetaPower purified anhydrous betaine, Synergy Flavors offered RTD protein sports drinks in strawberry, vanilla caramel and banana flavors, and ConAgra offered an energy bar with Ultragrain and Sustagrain. Addressing the weight-management trend was Glanbia, with a reduced-sugar granola bar, Tate & Lyle, with sparkling water made with monk fruit extract. In the digestive category, Ocean Nutrition Canada formulated beverages with prebiotics, and Caravan Ingredients offered fruit-punch flavored Nutrivan probiotic stick packs. Penford Food Ingredients formulated fiber-enriched beverages and dairy products, as well as a gluten-free fiber-enriched scone.

Workshops

The two-day, pre-conference workshop, Functional Food Product Development: Market, Regulations, Bioactive Compounds and Their Utilization," presented by Smart Short Courses, focused on the use of bioactives in functional foods and beverages, including market and regulatory aspects, and how to develop novel products.

Other pre-conference workshops addressed two hot topics: superfruits and palm fruit bioactives. The Superfruit Update: Science, Consumers and the State of The Category" half-day workshop dug into various aspects of the superfruit category, including analysis of existing and emerging fruits, the validity of ORAC scores, and an analysis of the existing and potential markets for these ingredients. Another discussion touched on various ways that superfruits can perform brain housekeeping" to remove cellular clutter, improve synaptic response, foster better brain plasticity" and more. The second workshop, 2nd Annual Palm Fruit Bioactives Workshop: Advancing Market Potentials of Palm Bioactives through Scientific Discoveries," developed and sponsored by Malaysian Palm Oil Council, was an all-day event that provided an in-depth look at the market potential for palm fruit bioactives. A full slate of speakers addressed topics ranging from market tends to formulation opportunities, covering not only well-known ingredients such as palm oil and tocotrienols, but lesser known bioactive compounds such as palm oil phenolics and carotenoids.

Nearly 150 executives stayed around after SupplySide West for a post-conference workshop on EPA and DHA omega-3s, developed with the Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3s. Titled GOED Exchange Update: Regulatory and State-of-the-Market Issues for EPA and DHA Omega-3," the workshop addressed market trends and the supply chain, national and international regulatory issues, and a look at the present and future of clinical research related to omega-3s.

The post-conference workshop on probiotics, IPA Probiotic Update: Insights and Perspectives from the Physician, Regulator and Market Analyst," developed with the International Probiotics Association,  addressed market trends and opportunities, the observations and concerns of a top physician, and the regulatory issues unique to the category. The workshop was developed in conjunction with IPA, and sponsored by Chr. Hansen, Danisco, Institut Rosell Lallemand, Morinaga, Nutraceutix, and Wakunaga of America.

Education

The three-day, four-track Education Program, sponsored by BASF, offered distinct tracks for food, dietary-supplement and cosmeceutical sessions, and totaled more than 40 sessions.

The Food & Beverage track offered insight into a number of important issues, including building a beverage brand, marketing solutions for an aging demographic, and global market for health-oriented foods and drinks, nutrigenomics, naturally functional foods and beverages, emerging trends, and best approaches to controlling food allergens in the manufacturing setting.

Ewa Hudson, head of global health and wellness research, Euromonitor, discussed the $160 billion global market for health-oriented foods and drinks. Suzy Badaracco discussed emerging trends, including a shift toward whole" foods rather than functional foods; consumer desire  for experimental and exotic" foods. She said gluten-free will downsize, but it has pointed the way toward allergen awareness."

A. Elizabeth Sloan, Ph. D., president, Sloan Trends & Solutions, Inc., provided an extensive overview of what ingredients, products and concerns are top-of mind for todays consumers. Kantha Shelke, Ph.D., principal, Corvus Blue LLC, and Kimberly Lord Stewart, author of Eating Between the Lines, invited attendees to a Functional Ingredients Try-athon," an activity that sampled a number of ingredients in a focused manner within a defined context. Attendees were treated to a lively panel discussion on How and When Does Product Development, Ingredient and Marketing Converge in Building a Beverage Brand?" moderated by marketing expert James S. Tonkin. The panel included David Del Pozo, manager, The Coca-Cola Companys North American product development team, and Michael Hammer with Physic Ventures, representing PepsiCo.

Jane Griffith, GFSI technical director for ASI Food Safety Consultants, Inc., investigated best approaches to avoiding contamination and controlling allergens in food manufacturing facilities.

 What a pleasure we had at this year's SupplySide West Thinking Newtrition together with the thousands of attendees," said Samy Jandali, Vice President, Nutrition & Health, NA, BASF Corp. As the exclusive sponsor of the education program, we were on a listening journey to hear from customers and prospects, as well as leading experts, to discover how we can address the unmet nutritional needs facing our industry. To say it was a successful journey is an understatement."

SupplySide West leads the industry in providing speakers who deliver relevant content that is market-focused," said Ron Schroder, vice president, marketing, Grain Processing Corporation, Muscatine, IA. This years line-up included respected names in the food and beverage industry, such as Steve French, Liz Sloan and Steve Walton. For me, these are must see presentations. All of us in the food and beverage industry are trying to make sure that we are connected with consumers and the market, and SupplySide West is a key trade show that helps us do that."

Special events

On Oct. 12, VIRGO hosted a live Town Hall Meeting on the new dietary ingredient (NDI) draft guidance, which drew an overflow crowd. The Town Hall, sponsored by EAS Consulting Group, opened with a video message from Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). Joy Bauer, MS, RD, CRN, the nutritionist and diet expert for NBCs Today Show, monthly columnist for Womans Day magazine, and exclusive nutritionist for the New York City Ballet, gave the featured presentation on Wednesday.

On Wednesday afternoon, VIRGO presented the SupplySide Scientific Excellence Awards to Maypro Industries for Oligonol®, SEPPIC Inc. for CERAMOSIDES, and Biothera for Wellmune WGP®. Awards were based on science/research methods, scientific breakthrough, innovation and appeal for the manufacturing community.

Also that afternoon, VIRGO hosted a champagne toast along with an anniversary cake to celebrate the 15th anniversary of SupplySide West.

On Thursday, VIRGO celebrated Food Product Designs 20th anniversary with a cake and champagne toast at their booth.

Networking

On Oct. 11, more than 240 golfers played in the Golf Classic, sponsored by Pharmachem Laboratories, held at the Revere Golf Club for the fifth consecutive year.

The Manufacturers Welcome Reception, co-sponsored by Lesaffre Human Care and Draco Natural Products, offered participants the opportunity to network the evening before exhibits opened.

At the Opening Reception, attendees networked at TAO Nightclub while enjoying a hosted bar and appetizers. DSM and Vitamin Angels co-sponsored the event with the goal of raising awareness of Vitamin Angels efforts to end global childhood malnutrition and hunger. Vitamin Angels raised a total of $42,000 over the course of the SupplySide West show, allowing them to reach 168,000 children.

SupplySide West 2012 is slated for Nov. 5 to 9 at The Venetian & Sands Expo in Las Vegas.