PHOENIXHeld May 2 to 4 at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, N.J., SupplySide East 2011 drew more than 3,000 dietary supplement, food, beverage and cosmeceutical professionals. The sold-out exhibit hall featured 237 companies occupying 300 booths.

Executives from Bausch & Lomb, Bayer Consumer Health, Campbell Soup Co., Carlson Laboratories, Colgate Palmolive, Country Life, Elizabeth Arden, Estée Lauder, Garden State Nutritionals, Hershey Co., J.M. Smucker Company, Johnson & Johnson, Lang Naturals, L'OREAL, Mission Foods Corp., NBTY, Revlon, Solgar Vitamin & Herb, The Vitamin Shoppe and many more leading companies attended.

Im [at SupplySide East] looking for health and nutrition ingredient trends that we can incorporate into our baking products. Were looking for ingredients several years ahead of uswe try to incorporate ingredients and technologies that we can look into right now so when the consumer is ready, we can transform specialty, supplement-like ingredients into mainstream products."

-          Weizhu Yu, Vice President of R&D, Bimbo Bakeries USA

 The exhibit hall, open May 3 and 4, featured hundreds of ingredient suppliers and manufacturing service providers. Attendees met more than 40 new companies that didnt exhibit at the previous event. Exhibitors offered thousands of ingredients including vitamins, sweeteners, branded ingredients, flavors, fragrances, probiotics, minerals, botanicals and many more innovative products. 

[At SupplySide East], Im looking to find new vendors for our existing ingredients and also some new ingredients. Im also looking for analytical laboratories to help with processing ingredients."

-          David Francis, Scientist, PepsiCo Global R&D

Ingredient science, regulatory issues and market trends were examined in the three-day education program featuring 30 sessions; the two nutrition tracks were sponsored by EPAX AS. Speakers from ABC, The University of Guelph, NAFFS, International Food Network (IFN), CuliNex, UCLA, Datamonitor and many other leading organizations presented.

Business conversations and connections continued during daily networking events. After the education sessions ended on May 2, attendees met in the Meadowlands Exposition Centers lobby for Happy Hour, sponsored by Anmar International. The Opening Reception, sponsored by Natural Health Science Inc., was held in the atrium at the Embassy Suites and the Appreciation Reception, co-sponsored by Premium Ingredients International and Suzhou Vitajoy Bio-Tech Co Ltd., offered beverages and snacks on the show floor May 4.

SupplySide East attendees also previewed SupplySide Community, the recently-launched community-based website where thought leaders discuss, debate and define the issues affecting their businesses. SupplySide Community, http://community.supplysideshow.com, enables the SupplySide audience a continuous environment to connect all year long and provides a venue for like-minded professionals to interact around hot, industry topics moderated by expert community managers.

More than 35 leading companies sponsored the event, including major sponsors AGG - Anderson Global Group LLC, Embria Health Science, EPAX AS, Lesaffre Human Care, Natural Health Science Inc., Pharmachem Laboratories and Proprietary Nutritionals.

 We are ecstatic with the turnout this year at SupplySide East; the exhibit hall was simply packed. The momentum from this great event will help fuel the excitement and success for our move to New York City next year and our expansion of SupplySide East into SupplySide MarketPlace."

-        Peggy Jackson, Executive Vice President, Health & Nutrition Network, VIRGO

SupplySide East is moving to Javits Center in New York City, May 8 to 10, 2012, and VIRGO is re-branding the event as SupplySide MarketPlace, reflecting a new, expanded vision for the event. SupplySide MarketPlace will include expanded educational and training programs, partnerships with leading associations and institutions, and an array of co-located events and programs.

For more information on SupplySide MarketPlace or SupplySide West 2011, Oct. 10 to 14 in Las Vegas (exhibit hall days are Oct. 12 and 13), visit http://www.supplysideshow.com/2011/east/ or call (800) 454-5760.