SupplySide West Celebrates 20th Year as Leading Ingredient and Solutions Tradeshow with Record Attendance, Engagement
PHOENIX, Oct. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Since 1997, SupplySide West has been the industry's gathering point where science and strategy intersect. And over the last 20 years, the event has offered cutting-edge scientific innovation and strategic educational programming, plus crucial networking opportunities that help participants form mutually beneficial business relationships.
Nearly 15,000 suppliers and buyers were in attendance October 4-8 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas for this year's SupplySide West event, presented by title sponsor KSM-66. Attendees included those from the dietary supplement, functional food, beverage, personal care and sports nutrition marketplaces.
Show highlights include:
- A 9 percent increase in total participation from 2015 with a grand total of nearly 15,000 participants from very diverse geographic regions – 50 states, eight Canadian provinces and 64 countries
- More than 1,200 companies exhibiting on the show floor
- C-level executives, buyers, and other professionals from the following companies were in attendance: Abbott Nutrition, AdvoCare, Amway Nutrilite, Aveda, Bausch & Lomb, Inc., Bayer HealthCare, Bil Jac Foods, Church & Dwight, Clif Bar & Co., Dannon Co., Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, GNC, GlaxoSmithKline, Hain Celestial Group, Herbalife International, Isagenix, Kellogg Co., Mars Petcare, Mead Johnson Nutrition, Medifast Inc., NBTY, Nestle Purina, Niagara Bottling, PepsiCo, Perrigo Nutritionals LLC, Procter & Gamble, Quest Nutrition, Reckitt Benckiser, Shaklee Corp., The Clorox Company, Twinlab Corp., USANA Health Sciences, Vitacost.com, Whole Foods Market, WhiteWave Foods and more.
"Since the first SupplySide West show 20 years ago, our mission has been to support the growth and prosperity of our industry," said Jon Benninger, vice president of the Global Health & Nutrition Network for Informa Exhibitions. "That is a role and responsibility we embrace and take very seriously. We commend our attendees, exhibitors, sponsors and speakers for their efforts to bring safe, science-based, healthy products to market. We will continue to be a dedicated partner and ally in this important work."
SupplySide West participants were similarly enthusiastic about this year's outing. "SupplySide seems to be getting better and better each year with its thoughtful mix of education, key industry leaders, and line-up of ingredient suppliers for foods, supplements and cosmetics," said Kantha Shelke, Ph.D., with Corvus Blue.
Bethany Davis, director of regulatory affairs, FoodState Inc., added: "SupplySide West offers essential education and insights and hosts top-notch suppliers and brands. But maybe even more importantly, it offers opportunities for connections and networking. Everyone attends this conference and with ample opportunities to meet and mingle with industry leaders, it pays for itself and then some."
"The 2016 edition of SupplySide West was outstanding," said Michael Derrington, senior director of sales – dietary supplements, probiotics, protein, at DuPont Nutrition & Health. "The traffic and customer interface was amazing, not only for our company, but it also appeared to be for each company on the show floor. The major advantage of this event is that it allows for companies to meet with nearly every single one of their top partners over a two- to three-day period, where you can qualify new mutually beneficial opportunities that would take months to cover otherwise. I can also experience seeing and communicating with people I have known for many years as an added bonus. SupplySide West 2016 was probably the most productive two to three days we will have in the course of a year."
SupplySide West is also known for a range of dynamic conference programming; this year's event revamped the format to offer three-hour workshops, two-hour panel discussions, a full-day summit on the clean label market opportunity, and an opening presentation on FDA issues. In her featured speaker session, FDA's Cara Welch, Ph.D., senior advisor, Office of Dietary Supplement Programs, addressed concerns with the new dietary ingredient (NDI) draft guidance, GMP (good manufacturing practice) compliance, and ingredients including vinpocetine and cannabidiol (CBD). Participants had the opportunity to dive into specific areas of interest ranging from regulatory topics like claims substantiation, to key ingredients such as probiotics and omega-3s, health issues including weight management, and formulation considerations such as sweetener selection or gluten-free product development. For the 14th year, BASF was the overall education sponsor of the education program.
"The 2016 SupplySide West Education Program proved to be among the best yet," said John Helfrick, director, BASF Human Nutrition, North America. "This was my first visit to a SupplySide West show, and it was fascinating to hear firsthand about the challenges as well as the opportunities colleagues face each day. One thing rings true from these varied conversations: timely and credible education is key to our success. It's the content quality and relevance to critical topics impacting our industry that drive BASF to continuously renew sponsorship of the Education Program."
Attendees could also seek learning and networking opportunities in the expo hall at SupplySide Central. Offering a variety of interactive, quick-paced programming designed to delve into some of the hot topics facing the industry, SupplySide Central featured topics from the Ingredient Launchpad, where exhibitors highlighted their new products, to the 5th Annual CPG Editor's Choice Awards, where SupplySide West recognized the most innovative product launches in supplements and food & beverage. The list of winners is available here.
"In today's dynamic health and nutrition market, getting the insights necessary to drive product development and launch is critical to market success," said Heather Granato, vice president of content for Informa's Global Health & Nutrition Network. "SupplySide West offers thematically based content with information that can be applied immediately, whether in the boardroom, the lab or the manufacturing plant."
A variety of show features and networking opportunities also allowed show participants to make key industry connections. In its second year, the First Time Attendee Reception, sponsored by NattoPharma, brought together first-time show participants with industry "rock stars" to share insights on how to make the most of the show. In the Expo Hall, special pavilions targeted important ingredient sectors—omega-3s, developed with the Global Organization for EPA and DHA Omega-3 (GOED) and sponsored by Catalant, and probiotics, developed with the International Probiotics Association (IPA) and sponsored by Nutrasource. Many industry associations also maximized their exposure with membership meetings and education programming, including the Botanical Congress from the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), and actively supported SupplySide's Compliance Program, an initiative in its fifth year dedicated to ensuring exhibitors are compliant with appropriate regulatory standards.
SupplySide West and Informa Exhibitions capped off its successful show with a $31,870 donation to Vitamin Angels. This year's "SupplySide Cares" program donated $5 from every paid attendee registration to support this impactful non-profit that is dedicated to bringing vitamin supplementation to at-risk populations in need—specifically pregnant women, new mothers, and children under 5.
About SupplySide West: Hosted by Informa Exhibitions, this annual tradeshow and conference was named to Trade Show News Network's list of top 250 tradeshows in the United States. SupplySide West is all about the exploration, discovery, innovation and marketing strategy around the development of finished consumer goods that drive the global business economy. The SupplySide West 2017 show will be held Sept. 26 to 30 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. For more information, visit supplysideshow.com.
Show photos available upon request: [email protected]
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SOURCE SupplySide West
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