SNAXPO 2006 will be held March 19-22 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nev., returning to one of the most popular destinations in the nation.

Packed with solid educational programming, this three-day event will include the world’s largest trade show devoted exclusively to the snack food industry. At SNAXPO 2006, snack food industry suppliers will have an unmatched opportunity to reach all of the major snack industry players in an intense and exciting marketplace.

Headquarters for SNAXPO 2006 will be the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, a billion-dollar resort casino that offers luxurious accommodations, exciting entertainment and outstanding facilities for meetings and our trade show event.

This year, SNAXPO 2006 will be held concurrently with The Food Safety Summit, the nation’s largest show and conference on food safety, quality assurance, and food security on March 22. SNAXPO 2006 attendees will have access to the Food Safety Summit floor and conference program at no additional cost. Last year, nearly 2,000 attendees from the major national food companies took part in this conference.

“We are looking forward to an outstanding conference and trade show once again in 2006,” said SFA Chairman Robert J. Shearer, president & CEO, Shearer’s Foods. “For SFA members, this is an opportunity to learn about major developments that are affecting our industry and individual businesses, to share ideas with each other and to see the latest in products and services being offered by snack food suppliers. For exhibitors, there is no better return on the investment that will allow them to work with existing customers and develop new ones all within such a short period of time, and all in one exciting location.”

Opening Reception: Entertainment by “The Rat Pack”

SNAXPO 2006 will officially kick-off with a  “Las Vegas Style” reception, where attendees can visit with old friends and make new ones while listening to the Rat Pack Tribute Show, a re-creation of those fabulous legendary crooners, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. and Frank Sinatra.

Monday Keynote Address:  Gary Loveman, Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.

Gary Loveman, chairman, chief executive officer and president of Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc., will reveal how his company has developed sophisticated technological and analytical capabilities which, coupled with the company’s service-driven culture and highly targeted marketing, have generated consistent same-store sales gains and a platform for sustained growth. Harrah’s Entertainment has more than 40 properties in 12 states and three countries.

The exhibit hall will open at 11:30 a.m. and attendees will have an opportunity to explore the latest offerings of snack food industry exhibitors until 5 p.m. Two educational sessions will also be held on the exhibit floor beginning at 1:30 and 3 p.m.

On Monday evening, an international reception will be held from 6:30 until 8 p.m.

Tuesday morning begins with the 2006 Information Resources Inc. (IRI) State of the Industry presentation, a report that provides important trends data for the industry.

Attendees will learn how consumer and market demands for new options are reshaping the snacking industry as IRI presents up-to-date snack food sales and consumer insights for the major snack food categories and discusses how current trends are affecting industry performance.

In addition, the U.S. Healthy Snacking Report from Mintel International Group will cover all aspects of the healthy snacks market in the United States, offering exclusive, quantitative and current data combined with market analysis with a primary objective to increase profitability.

The exhibit hall opens at 11:15 a.m. and stays open until 4:30 p.m. Educational sessions will be held on the show floor at 1:30 and 3 p.m.

Learn about the power of “buzz marketing” as presented by Mark Hughes, who helped build the Half.com online marketplace from a small startup to a multimillion-dollar eBay-owned brand name.

The exhibit hall is open from 9:30 a.m. until 3 p.m., and attendees may also visit the Food Safety Summit show.

Presented Monday and Tuesday on the show floor, these sessions include:

“RFID”—Pat Walsh, director of industry relations at the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), will present a basic discussion of RFID/EPC geared toward small and medium-size food/CPG manufacturers.

“Acrylamide: Do we have a problem? An update”—Steve Saunders, Frito-Lay, Inc., will discuss the latest developments involving acrylamide and their implications on the snack food industry.

“Food & Nutrition Policy: A 2006 Outlook”—Lisa Katic, president, K Consulting, Katic will highlight key food policy issues faced by the food industry and discuss the outlook for the year ahead. Katic, a registered nutritionist, is a consultant to SFA.

Other sessions will cover retailer issues and the fuel and energy market.

SFA will present its Sixth Annual Latin American program, completely in Spanish. The program will kick-off on Sunday, March 19 with a full day of educational sessions. Topics will include Latin economic trends, snack industry trends in Latin America and the U.S., NAFTA/CAFTA, food safety and food security, plus much more.