Snack food industry executives and suppliers who attend SNAXPO 2006, which runs from March 19-22 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, will benefit from more than just having a great time at one of the top casino-resort hotels in the world. They literally will hit the jackpot in terms of great ideas and industry information, while having a chance to do plenty of business.

In fact, SNAXPO 2006 is just one of three major industry events occurring this March in Las Vegas. The American Wholesale Marketers Association (AWMA) will hold its Real Deal Expo just prior to SNAXPO, giving Snack Food Association members a great opportunity to meet with distributors and other key players in the industry. The AWMA event will be held March 15-17 at the Las Vegas Hilton.

In addition, 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 on that day will have access to the summit floor and conference program at no additional cost.

SNAXPO 2006, the largest trade show and conference exclusively for the international snack food industry, will be packed with solid educational programming and an unmatched opportunity to reach all of the major snack industry players in an intense and exciting marketplace.

SNAXPO 2006 educational sessions will be presented March 20-21 on the show floor, with sessions covering some of the most current and important issues involved in the industry.

The fuel and energy market is of special concern to manufacturers, as energy supplies tighten and costs increase. The sharp increases in prices that occurred following Hurricane Katrina drove that point home in a graphic way. Thus, a special session dealing with energy was being developed at press time. Scheduled for the afternoon on March 21, experts from Printpack, Inc. and the American Petroleum Institute are expected to address key energy issues facing the industry, from transportation to oil-based product packaging. The session will cover natural gas as well as fuel oils, and offer suggestions for energy efficiency and cost savings. Visit www.sfa.org for further details, as they become available.

Additionally, the drive toward implementing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is moving forward quickly, as some of the industry’s largest companies are requiring the use of tags on pallets and cases — a trend that is expected to expand.

Pat Walsh, director of industry relations at the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), will help attendees understand the implications of these developments, particularly for small and medium-sized food and consumer packaging goods’ manufacturers. Walsh manages FMI’s RFID activities and will discuss the return on investment of RFID by category, as well as retailer requirements for implementation.

Yet another critical issue is acrylamide forming in some foods. Hardly a day goes by without the media carrying a story about it, and SFA has been working hard to set the record straight regarding concerns about health.

Steve Saunders of Frito-Lay, Inc., will discuss the latest developments involving acrylamides and their implications on the snack food industry. It will be an important session that shouldn’t be missed.

In another session, SFA consultant Lisa Katic, president of K Consulting and a registered dietitian, will highlight key food policy issues faced by the food industry and discuss the outlook for the year ahead.

SFA will present its Sixth Annual Latin American educational program, conducted completely in Spanish. The program will kick-off on March 19 with a full day of educational sessions led by Valente B. Alvarez, Ph.D, associate professor and interim director food industries at Ohio State University. Alvarez will identify and discuss the important factors that affect current trends in the U.S. food industry.

Topics will include Latin American food safety, food security, economic trends, snack industry trends in Latin America and the U.S., and North American and other free trade agreements.