Exclusive Holiday Finds, KeHE® On Trend® Awards, and Valuable Networking Led the Way in KeHE’s Largest Ever Show
We are headed into the “dog days of summer,” but KeHE Distributors® wrapped its 2024 Holiday Show in Chicago and virtually on the KeHE CONNECT® platform in June. The annual event brings together the industry’s most innovative products, cutting-edge brands, and top retailers so attendees have an exclusive view of the latest trends and can stock their shelves before the start of the holiday buying season.
This Holiday Show was KeHE’s largest ever trade show in number of attendees and sales, featuring over 900 supplier booths and thousands of engaged and ready-to-buy industry leaders. With a great number of attendees looking forward to discovering and purchasing new items, the KeHE Holiday Show creates a stage for brands to share their latest and greatest products with a captivated and enthusiastic audience.
Exclusive Holiday Finds
KeHE’s Holiday Show debuted its reimagined On Trend Pavilion, featuring hundreds of brands hand-picked by the KeHE team to highlight small, trending, and up-and-coming products that are perfect for the holidays. The KeHE Fresh Marketplace™ also displayed more than 60 new items to be sampled on the show floor, allowing suppliers the space to collect orders and sell items during the show.
The show floor also featured the new Non-Alcoholic Pavilion with over 20 products displayed in a best-in-class plan-o-gram, catering to the sober curious trend which is especially pertinent for the holiday months. The holiday season is also the time of year when consumers typically come back to brick-and-mortar stores. That means that shopping events with demos like the ones conducted at the Holiday Show are more important than ever because consumers are seeking that engagement during the holiday season.
KeHE Macro Trends and New Items
Based on KeHE’s forecasted 2024 Macro Trends, the Holiday Show featured a series of handpicked products that would be most enjoyed by consumers during the upcoming season. Based on KeHE’s innovation scorecard and listed in the Holiday Show & Trends Guide, the category management team chose the following sixteen brands as On Trend Award Winners.
- Coffee and Tea: Happy Magnificent Medium Roast Ground Coffee
- Condiments, Sauces, and Seasonings: Ketchup Smooth Heat
- KeHE DIVERSE Trade® Champion: Lola’s Fine Hot Sauce
- Fresh: Loaf Classic Wheat + Fiber Protein
- From the Refrigerator/Freezer: Actual Veggies Purple Sweet Potato
- HBC & Essentials: Radius Toothpaste Elderberry Mint
- Health & Wellness: Wonderbelly Gas Bloat Relief Mango Smoothie
- International Cuisine: Watcharee’s Noodle Thai Coconut Curry Bowl
- Non-Alcoholic Beverage & Cocktail Mixers: Kensho Non-Alcoholic Mocktail Variety Pack
- Pantry Staples: 18 Chestnuts Soup Butternut Squash Pear
- Pets & Home: GoodHands All Purpose Cleaner Apple Rose
- Snacks: Hippeas Churro Chickpea Puffs
- Sips: Juni Adaptogens Raspberry Sparkling Tea
- Sweet Treats & Desserts: TidBits Candy Orange Creamsicle Gummies
- Vegan or Plant-Based: MyBacon Original Recipe
- Best of Show: Mingle Mocktails Sparkling Raspberry Rose
Giving Back
KeHE Cares® was on-site in Chicago, allowing attendees and participants to take part in meaningful causes. The KeHE Cares foundation raised and donated a grand total of $27K between Hungers End, Morningstar Mission, and 3 Grains of Rice. In addition, the Serving Goodness event, powered by Hanson Faso, brought together show attendees to tie 100 blankets, which will be donated to those experiencing homelessness in the Chicagoland area. These blankets will be distributed by Morningstar Mission, a long-time KeHE Cares partner dedicated to relieving the spiritual and physical hunger of the poor. After the show, KeHE worked with the Chicago Food Depository to donate 32,635 pounds of leftover products to those with food insecurity in the Chicagoland area.
Holiday Show Takeaways
With overwhelmingly positive feedback from suppliers, retailers, and attendees, the show exceeded its sales goal. KeHE’s holiday and seasonal shows offer opportunities for all who attend to build meaningful connections and access to exclusive trending holiday products. KeHE looks forward to its upcoming 2025 Summer Show, which will take place in Phoenix, AZ in person February 4-5 and virtually on the KeHE CONNECT platform February 3-14. To learn more about KeHE’s national trade shows, visit https://www.kehe.com/events/.