Think all snacks are bad for you? Think again, as snacking can be a part of a healthy diet. I just returned from the Snack and Sweets Expo in Indianapolis, and I discovered tons of healthy snacks and sweets that you need to know about.
The Sweets & Snacks Expo is the premier business-to-business event for the confectionery and snack industries. This event features the biggest, brightest, latest, and greatest the candy and snack industries have to offer. Each year, thousands of professionals come together for the largest confectionery and snack event in North America.
While this event is only open to those in the sweets and snacks trade, as an influencer, I get to attend this awesome event. I get to learn about what is hot in the snacking world and make connections for future work. I love that I get to taste my way through the event and tell you about my favorite snacks.
While attending the three-day event, I was on a mission to find healthy snacks. While the majority of the brands at the event were unhealthy snacks loaded with sugar, fat, and artificial food dyes, I was amazed that there were a good number of brands showcasing healthy snacks. I was also amazed at the brands that were working on eliminating artificial food dyes from their product.
My Top Ten Favorite Healthy Snacks
The Specialty Market was the place to check out the majority of the healthy snacks, but I was able to find some scattered around the expo. The snacks that I was focused on sampling for myself had to be gluten-free and dairy-free due to my food allergies. For the rest of my family, I was focused on finding snacks that they love, so my list may include ones that they sampled.
1. Diamond Almonds
Diamond Almonds was showcasing several new flavors of almonds, and they also had some of their classic nuts to sample. The new almond flavors included sweet and spicy varieties. I really enjoyed their blueberry almonds and their classic mixed nut samples. They had a Plinko game, and I won a free can of their classic mix nut sampler. Grab Blue Diamond Almonds, Mixed Nuts here.
2. Wonderful Pistachios
Wonderful Pistachios was there sampling their no-shells pistachios in a variety of flavors. Flavors included roasted and salted, chili roasted, and honey roasted. They had a new dill pickle flavor pistachio that was delicious. Grab a variety box of Wonderful Pistachios here.
3. Quantum Bars
I was excited to see Quantum bars at the Snacks and Sweets Expo. These caffeinated bars are my favorite workout snack. They are made with wholesome ingredients and contain 100 mg of natural caffeine. They are also loaded with vegan protein and gluten-free. Explore all of Quantum Energy Squares' Flavors here.
4. Fable Fish Wild Alaska Salmon Jerky
If you love salmon or jerky, you are going to love this Wild Alaska Salmon Jerky from Fable Fish. This jerky was featured in the startup section of the expo, and it was so good. The owner of the company grew up on fishing boats and saw how salmon was underutilized.
The flavor and texture of the salmon jerky were so delicious. I loved it so much that I stopped by their booth several times for samples. So much that they gave me a full-size package of the salmon jerky. The flavors include sea salt, teriyaki, and sweet chili.
5. Vermont Smoke & Cure Meat Sticks
The Snack Sticks by Vermont Smoke & Cure were a snack that my teen son enjoyed. This teen loves meat sticks, so I brought home plenty of samples for him. The Uncured Oven Roasted Turkey was his favorite meat stick. These jerky sticks are made from animals raised without antibiotics or hormones for a pure and hearty flavor. They are handcrafted and slow-cooked in small batches in their onsite smokehouse. My son loves them for grab-and-go snacks. Grab Vermont Smoke & Cure Meat Sticks here.
6. FitJoy Grain-Free Peanut Butter Pretzels
FitJoy makes delicious grain-free pretzels in many delicious flavors. They have been my favorite gluten-free pretzels for many years. I love that these vegan pretzels are allergy-friendly. This year, they introduced a grain-free peanut butter pretzel, and they were so yummy. The nugget pretzels are loaded with peanut butter and tasted good in the plant-based ice cream that was a couple of booths near this brand.
These grain-free peanut butter pretzels were a limited-time offering in 2020 and will be available later this summer. Since the brand has not launched the peanut butter pretzels to the market yet, I was not able to score a take-home sample. Grab the other flavors of FitJoy Grain-free pretzels here.
7. Free2Be Allergy-Friendly Chocolate
Free2Be Allergy-Friendly Chocolates are amazing! They are the most delicious allergy-friendly, nut-free chocolates. These chocolates are also dairy-free, gluten-free, and soy-free. Their signature flavors include Chocolate Sunbutter Minis, Dark Chocolate Sunbutter Minis, Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel Minis, and Mint Dark Chocolate Minis. Grab Free2Be Allergy-Friendly Chocolate here.
8. Top Fox Snackin Seeds
Top Fox makes the most delicious roasted sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds. These snacking seeds are available in a variety of delicious flavors. All of the seeds are top 9 allergy-free and gluten-free. My favorite flavor of Top Fox is the Himalayan Salt Pumpkin Seeds. I love sprinkling the seeds over my bowl of savory oatmeal. Grab Top Fox Snackin Seeds here.
9. Blue Stripes Whole Cacao Fruit
I discovered Blue Stripes Cacao Products earlier this year, and I was so happy to see this amazing product at the expo. Blue Stripes is an upcycled cacao brand that uses the whole cacao pod to make their delicious snacks. They had samples to try of their dried cacao fruit, and it was so good. The dried cacao fruit tastes like gummy bears but contains no sugar. Read my article on Blue Stripes to discover all their cacao products, which also include chocolate bars.
10. KC Sunshine Allergy-Friendly Cookies
KC Sunshine’s gluten-free cookies were amazing, dairy-free, nut-free, Vegan Friendly & Plant plant-based cookies. These delicious cookies are the perfect soft-baked cookies, and they are available in many different flavors. My favorite flavor was the Luscious Lemon cookie. These cookies have the taste and texture of traditional cookies, and you have to try them. Grab KC Sunshine Allergy-Friendly Cookies here.
So many healthy samples
I was so happy that this snack and sweets event had so many healthy snack offerings. Snacking is a good thing when you have healthy options that are also allergy-friendly. This girl was in snack heaven and loved being able to try so many snacks.
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