Editor’s Note: Looking for another perspective on food and flavor trends, Prepared Foods asked chef and cookbook author Wilbert Jones for perspectives on this summer’s National Restaurant Show and Sweets & Snacks Expo. In this second of a two-part series, Jones shares his on-the-floor notes about new sweet and snack food applications. 

This summer’s Sweets & Snack Expo in Indianapolis drew more than 16,000 attendees and 1,000 exhibitors, from 25 countries. The trends I noticed involve lots of activity around texture—including freeze-dried candies and crunchy and chewy protein snacks. There also are intriguing new flavors in snacks and chips. 

Chyler’s, showcased Hawaiian Beef Chips. It’s made from beef marinated in shoyu sauce (along with other a blend of spices) followed by slow-roasted cooking. Then it’s cut into wafer-thin crispy beef chips. A 1.5oz serving contains 18g of protein. Product flavors are Original, Spicy and Cracked Pepper. The newest flavor, Original with Roasted Garlic, was one of the Sweets & Snacks’ “Most Innovative” new products in 2024.

Check out a quick taste-and-trend look at Wilbert Jones’ take on the National Restaurant Show.

There’s a new product under General Mill’s Chex Mix brand called Chex Mix Remix Buffalo Sandwich. Compared to the brand’s original Buffalo Chex, this new Remix version has a more complex and intense level of spiciness. There are a host of other new Remix flavors, as well, including Zesty Taco and Cheesy Pizza.

Product Pairings
The creator of Singapore’s #1 Salted Egg Snack is IRVINS. Officials say their unique manufacturing process starts with hand-picked duck eggs that are incubated in salted clay for 30 days—followed by rinse and removal of the yolks. The yolks are cooked and blended into a crumble and mixed with cooked upcycled salmon skins. What’s new are Salted Egg Salmon Skins. There are Original and Hot Boom spicy versions, each with Omega-3s, marine collagen and 9g of protein per serving. 

Nomad Snacks, Carlsbad, Calif., created ready-to-eat popcorn that features food-inspired flavors from around the world. There’s a Ramin Popcorn product, which has Southeast Asian flavors of garlic, ginger, sesame, soy sauce, herbs and spices. Ramin Popcorn also was one of the 2024 Sweets & Snacks “Most Innovative” new products winners. Nomad produced another popcorn offering, a Chimichurri Popcorn that’s made with parsley, garlic, lemon, chili, herbs and spices. 

Wicked Crisps, introduced a Sweet Potato Soufflé veggie snack. It’s made from rice flour and/or potato starch, corn flour, pea and/or potato fiber, dried sweet potato sugar, salt, dried beets, paprika, and turmeric. The soufflé seasoning is made of sugar, brown sugar, maltodextrin, honey solids, gum Arabic, sea salt, and natural flavors, including vanilla. It’s an overall healthy baked snack food. One serving size (21 chips), contains 120 calories, 3g fat, 0g trans fats and it’s  non-GMO, kosher and all natural. Other flavors include Sea Salt Hummus, Red Curry Hummus, Spinach Parmesan, Roasted Garlic & Asiago Broccoli, Cheesy Cheese Pizza Tomato, and Spring Vegetable Medley

Sconza Chocolates, introduced Sconza THINS, roasted California almonds thinly dipped in chocolate. Officials say the process results in a product with about half the sugar in comparison to Sconza’s traditional chocolate-covered almonds. The product line comes in 5oz sealable bags and flavors include Dark Chocolate Coconut, Dark Chocolate Sea Salt, Lemon, and Strawberry.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Company introduced a 5.20oz bag of Caramel Waffle Cone Squares, made of milk chocolate mixed with waffle cone bits. The signature Ghirardelli squares are filled with caramel. 

The 2024 New Products Award for Small Business Innovator was Issei. It notes that its name means “first Japanese immigrants to the US.” Issei introduced Dark Chocolate Strawberry Mochi Gummies.

The Sweets & Snacks Expo 2024 New Products Award for “Best in Show” winner was Nerdy Nuts. Their Avalanche Peanut Butter Treat (14.5oz), was the convenience winner. The product is described as a rice crispy bar in a jar, along with five layers of white chocolate peanut butter, marshmallow fluff, mini-marshmallows, caramel, and gluten free crispy rice.