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SNACKING NEWS 4 SNACKING NEWS April 2019 WWW.SNACKINGNEWS.COM PUBLISHER Kimberly Oser SENIOR ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Jules Denton-Card jules_d@oser.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Lorrie Baumann EDITOR Robin Mather editor@oser.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Anthony Socci anthony_s@oser.com ASSOCIATE EDITORS Jeanie Catron Greg Gonzales ART DIRECTOR Yasmine Brown GRAPHIC DESIGNER Jonathan Schieffer CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGERS Caitlyn McGrath Susan Stein DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS Tara Neal tara_n@oser.com CIRCULATION MANAGER Jamie Green subscriptions@oser.com EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT Heather Albrecht heather_a@oser.com PUBLISHING OFFICE 1877 N. Kolb Road Tucson, AZ 85715 520.721.1300 Fax 520.721.6300 SUBSCRIBER SERVICES Snacking News P.O. Box 30520 Tucson, AZ 85751 520.721.1300 OSER COMMUNICATIONS GROUP FOUNDER Lee M. Oser Periodicals postage paid at Tucson, AZ, and additional mailing office. Snacking News is published bi-monthly by Oser Communications Group, 1877 North Kolb Road, Tucson, AZ 85715; 520.721.1300. Publisher as- sumes no responsibility for unsolicited material or prices quoted in newspaper. Contributors are responsible for proper release of proprietary classified information. ©2019 by Oser Communications Group. All rights re- served. Reproduction, in whole or in part, without written permission of the publisher, is expressly pro- hibited. Back issues, when available, cost $7 each within the past 12 months, $12 each prior to the past 12 months. Back orders must be paid in advance either by check or charged to American Express, Visa, or Master Card. Snacking News is distributed without charge in North America to qualified professionals in the retail and distribution channels of the chain drug, convenience, grocery, and specialty foods trade; paid subscriptions cost $65 annually to the U.S. and Canada. All foreign subscriptions cost $150 annually to cover air delivery. All payments must be made in U.S. funds and drawn on a U.S. bank. For subscriber services, including subscription information, call 520.721.1300. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Snacking News, 1877 North Kolb Road, Tucson, AZ 85715. There are so many inter- esting things happening in the world of snacks that it's hard to keep up with them all. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's new label- ing laws for what used to be called genet- ically modified, but will henceforth be called bioengineered, ingredients and foods have some ramifications for retail- ers, and our story lays out what some of those ramifications are. The legality of CBD-enhanced products remains up in the air, even as CBD – cannabidiol, derived from hemp or mari- juana – is showing up in all kinds of snacks and beverages. Sources we inter- viewed for our story said they're waiting for the federal Food and Drug Administra- tion to clarify its position on the substance, which proponents credit with a variety of benefits. Such clarification may be forth- coming. In early March, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb told Congress that he was putting together a working group to write new CBD regulations, and said the FDA would hold its first public hearings this month. He even outlined some possibili- ties for what the regulations might look like. Soon afterward, however, Gottlieb an- nounced that he would step down this month. His successor may follow through on Gottlieb's ideas – or may not. Perhaps the worst case would be if Gottlieb's suc- cessor decides that the FDA will decide not to care about CBD. Until all that is cleared up, it remains il- legal to add CBD to food and beverages. For me, the CBD question reflects an- other, larger trend in the snack industry – Nimble disruptors, often small start-ups, can often respond to consumer interests and demands more quickly than legacy brands are able to do. These companies actively listen to their customers, doing so via email, and through Instagram, Facebook and other social media outlets. Several of the leaders of the companies I interviewed for our story on kids' snacks said they read and respond to every customer email and every customer comment on social media, and what they read guides them in building free-from brands that answer a variety of market needs: gluten- and grain-free, kosher cer- tified, and so on. We'll see a lot of these disruptors at Sweets & Snacks Expo, coming May 21- 23 at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illi- nois. As the editor of this magazine, S&SE is my favorite show – every exhibitor has a story to tell, and every attendee's interest is laser-focused on the snack market. This year's Sweets & Snacks Expo will be the third I've attended, and the year- over-year growth of the show – both in the number of exhibitors and the number of at- tendees -- has seemed exponential to me. I continue to be amazed by the innovative thinking in snack companies' new-product launches. Educational sessions will exam- ine trends from many angles, and that's al- ways intriguing. It's a fun time to be an observer of the snack industry, and I expect this year to be every bit as exciting as the past two years. Follow Snacking News on Twitter: @SnackingNews. n FROM THE EDITOR

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