2026 Amos International Candy Festival Celebrates Sweet Innovation for Happiness & Health

SHENZHEN, China, Sept. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2026 Amos International Candy Festival brought together distributors, creators, industry leaders and partners from nearly 50 countries for three days of celebration, innovation and exchange in Shenzhen, a global innovation hub known as "China's Silicon Valley" and host city of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in November.

For more than 20 years, Amos Food Group has explored new possibilities in confectionery with two defining roles: a Global Sweet Innovator in joy and health, continuously reimagining what sweetness can be, and a Sweet Messenger to the World, using sweetness to connect people, cultures and communities. The festival brought these identities to life through consumer experiences, industry dialogue, product innovation, global collaboration and social impact.

Amos International Candy Carnival: Turning Innovation into Experience

The festival opened with the Amos International Candy Carnival, which transformed Shenzhen Talent Park into a playful candy world, featuring interactive experiences from AMOS and Biobor, performances, character parades and creative installations. Mr. Amos Ma, Founder and CEO of Amos Food Group, officially announced the opening of the Festival. A spectacular drone show illuminated the skyline with candy-inspired imagery and the message "Amos Treats the World to Sweets in Shenzhen" . The carnival invited consumers and citizens to experience confectionery through taste, play, creativity and shared moments. It also reflected a broader ambition to develop the Amos International Candy Festival into a recurring city-level cultural IP, bringing together candy, creativity and global communities.

World Candy Forum: Exploring the Future of Happiness and Health

The World Candy Forum brought together international voices and insights across science, market intelligence, confectionery, nutrition and retail to explore the future of the industry around two enduring consumer needs: Happiness and Health.

Insights from NielsenIQ and Innova Market Insights highlighted evolving global market and consumer trends. Notable speakers included Audra Vogler, Vice President of NCSA; Olivier De Salmiech, APAC Nutrition Vice President at Kerry; Tony Jacobs, Chairman and CEO of Bazooka Candy Brands; and Nobel Laureate Professor Aaron Ciechanover. Together with other global leaders from retail, IP and academia, their diverse perspectives explored how Happiness and Health can shape the next chapter of the global confectionery industry.

The forum also introduced the "Double H Global Sweet Value Co-Creation" initiative, calling for deeper product innovation, stronger quality standards, industry collaboration and sustainable growth—extending Amos's role as a Sweet Innovator from product creation to value co-creation across the global confectionery ecosystem.

Global Distributor Conference: Innovation Meets Growth

At the Global Distributor Conference, Amos Ma introduced Amos Food Group's long-term sustainable innovation mechanism and ecosystem, outlining five core innovation methodologies: Six-Senses Innovation, Scenario Innovation, Cross-border Innovation, AI Innovation, and Functional Nutrition Innovation. Elaine Wu, Executive Vice President of Amos Food Group, unveiled new global products across AMOS creative candy and Biobor nutritional gummies. Among the new AMOS launches were To-yah Doodle Egg, combining candy with creative play, and ZestPuck, designed around adventurous flavor experiences, alongside many other new items. Meanwhile, Biobor introduced its latest nutritional innovations and its brand positioning, "Sweet Nutrition for Families Worldwide."

Renowned media personality Yang Lan joined Amos Ma and other industry leaders for a panel on innovation, globalization and long-term brand building. The conference also highlighted the company's global brand-building vision. Through "Amos Treats the World to Sweets" , Amos is connecting with consumers worldwide through retail, creators, music, sports and cultural experiences—bringing its role as a Sweet Messenger to the World to life.

From Sweet Connections to Positive Impact

The Sweet Messenger mission also extends to social responsibility. During the festival, Amos announced a partnership with the Yao Foundation, led by former NBA superstar Yao Ming, to launch the "Sweet Ambassadors" Youth Basketball Development Program, supporting sports and development opportunities for young people in underserved rural communities.

The initiative builds on Amos's broader commitment to social responsibility, such as supporting children with disabilities and impairments and extending care to international refugee children through candy donations. The company also received the Sino-European Corporate ESG Best Practice Award in 2025. Together, these efforts give deeper meaning to "Amos Treats the World to Sweets": sweetness is not only something to enjoy, but something to share.

A Sweeter Future, Together

From consumer experiences and industry dialogue to global product launches, brand building and social impact, the festival showed the two roles Amos seeks to play in the world: a Sweet Innovator that keeps reimagining candy, and a Sweet Messenger that connects people through sweetness.

Looking ahead, Amos will continue to innovate across Happiness and Health, strengthen partnerships worldwide, and bring more joyful, meaningful sweet moments to consumers and communities around the world.

About Amos Food Group

Founded in 2004, Amos Food Group is a global confectionery company with integrated manufacturing, R&D and brand-management capabilities, reaching consumers in more than 80 markets worldwide.

Its portfolio is built around Happiness and Health, represented by AMOS innovative candy, including Peelerz, 4D Gummies and TastySounds, as well as Biobor nutritional gummies.

Ranked No. 48 on Candy Industry's 2026 Global Top 100 Candy Companies list, the company continues to bring innovative, joyful and meaningful sweet experiences to consumers worldwide.

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2026 Amos International Candy Festival Celebrates Sweet Innovation for Happiness & Health

2026 Amos International Candy Festival Celebrates Sweet Innovation for Happiness & Health

2026 Amos International Candy Festival Celebrates Sweet Innovation for Happiness & Health

2026 Amos International Candy Festival Celebrates Sweet Innovation for Happiness & Health

2026 Amos International Candy Festival Celebrates Sweet Innovation for Happiness & Health

2026 Amos International Candy Festival Celebrates Sweet Innovation for Happiness & Health

2026 Amos International Candy Festival Celebrates Sweet Innovation for Happiness & Health

Annual conference will explore how AI, multilingualism, Indigenous knowledge, Hip Hop, migration, trauma and emerging technologies are reshaping what literacy means.

TAMPA, Fla., Sept. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- As the Literacy Research Association prepares to gather in Honolulu, we extend our care to communities across Hawaiʻi affected by the recent storms. We also mourn the passing of LRA Past President P. David Pearson and honor his extraordinary legacy of scholarship, mentorship, and leadership in literacy research.

This December, more than 1,000 literacy scholars, educators, and advocates will convene, as they have for over seven decades, for the 76th Annual Conference of the Literacy Research Association. A singular question will serve as the primary focus for this assembly: How does literacy create new possibilities when it travels across people, communities, languages, technologies, cultures, and histories?

Registration is now open for researchers, educators, community leaders, and literacy advocates who want to help shape how literacy research responds to AI, migration, multilingualism, cultural change, and emerging forms of learning. 

Join literacy experts from around the world from December 2–5, 2026 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort, 2005 Kālia Road, Honolulu, HI 96815. 

Hotel accommodations are available through the LRA conference room block. Detailed session schedules and program information are available through the LRA 2026 online conference program via All Academic. Connect with LRA on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Threads, and Facebook and get quick, real-time updates from the conference.

Explore a Transformative Theme: Redefine the Future of Literacy Research

The LRA 2026 theme is "Manifesting Quantum Imaginaries: Re-searching Literacies as a Transcontextual Enterprise." The theme uses quantum imaginaries as a metaphor for exploring how literacy moves, connects, and changes across contexts—not as a claim that quantum science itself is a theory of literacy.

The conference program features Reading Hall of Fame inaugural addresses, and includes keynote speeches, presidential sessions, and workshops for practitioners. These events span contexts such as primary and secondary education (encompassing kindergarten through high school), post-secondary instruction (college-level studies and beyond), informal community learning, emerging technologies, and the swiftly evolving domain of artificial intelligence. 

"Literacies are never confined to a single place," said Patriann Smith, LRA 2026 President-Elect and Conference Chair. "They travel across communities, languages, technologies, and generations. This conference asks what new possibilities emerge when we view literacy through that lens." 

Attend a Featured Keynote: Trauma, Language, Literacy and the Global South

A major conference highlight will be the featured keynote address by Suresh Canagarajah. Canagarajah is the Evan Pugh University Professor at Penn State University and internationally renowned scholar of language, literacy, multilingualism, and translingual practice. 

His keynote, "Disturbances that Entangle Anomalous Texts: Trauma Literacy in the Global South," will examine how language and literacy shape the ways individuals and communities understand, negotiate, and transform experiences of trauma. Through the conference's theme, he will explore how literacy can enable healing, resilience, and social transformation across diverse global contexts. He will connect questions of language, identity, colonialism, conflict, and community to the ongoing pursuit of more just and humane futures. 

The LRA 2026 program will also feature a keynote speech by esteemed professor at Teachers College - Columbia University, Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz. 

View a Film: Hip Hop, Literacy and the "Hour of Chaos"

A special conference session, Presidential Session 8, will bring Hip Hop artists, scholars, and activists together for a screening and discussion of a new film. The film, "In the Hour of Chaos: Hip Hop Art & Activism with Public Enemy's Chuck D," features Public Enemy's Chuck D and a corresponding 2026 book.

H. Samy Alim, Samuel Lamontagne, and Tabia Shawel directed the film, which reflects artists, activists, and scholars sharing their thoughts on 50 years of Hip Hop culture. They discuss its ongoing importance in society, culture, and politics. 

The session in Honolulu will gather directors Alim, Lamontagne, Shawel, along with Joan Morgan, Jeff Chang, Casey Philip Wong, and Emile YX? from Black Noise. They will have a film screening, discuss the book, and join a panel. They will talk about Black radical movements, Hip Hop feminisms, how culture spreads worldwide, technology, education, and the future of Hip Hop and literacy studies.

Examine Presidential Sessions: Research, Practice, and Community 

The LRA 2026 Presidential Sessions will feature leading scholars, educators, artists, and community leaders, addressing some of the most consequential questions facing literacy education today. Across four major areas of inquiry, the LRA 2026 Presidential Sessions will examine how literacy research is responding to a rapidly changing social and technological landscape: 

• Transnationalism, immigration, race, and belonging through discussions of transnational, immigration, and Black literacies.
• Community, relationality, and Indigenous knowledge systems, with a focus on multilingual solidarities, Hawaiian literacies, and intergenerational connections.
• Technology, Hip Hop, and educational innovation, examining digital literacies, cultural activism, and adolescent achievement.
• Critical literacy, artificial intelligence, and identity, addressing responsible AI, research-policy-practice partnerships, and community-based approaches to literacy and learning.

"The future of literacy research and of education cannot be shaped by any one discipline, institution, or perspective," Smith said. "It takes researchers, educators, artists, community leaders, and learners coming together to ask different questions and connect ideas across contexts. LRA 2026 is an invitation to do exactly that—and to leave Honolulu with new questions, new partnerships, and new possibilities for flourishing and for the field."

About the Literacy Research Association

The Literacy Research Association (LRA) is a community of scholars, educators, and literacy professionals dedicated to advancing research and disseminating knowledge about literacy, language, communication, and learning. For more than seven decades, LRA has supported research and dialogue that informs literacy scholarship, education, policy, and practice.

Patriann Smith
Email: psmith@literacyresearchassociation.org
Website: https://literacyresearchassociation.org/
Literacy Research Association

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Literacy Research Association Convenes Global Scholars in Honolulu to Shape the Future of Education

Literacy Research Association Convenes Global Scholars in Honolulu to Shape the Future of Education

Literacy Research Association Convenes Global Scholars in Honolulu to Shape the Future of Education

Literacy Research Association Convenes Global Scholars in Honolulu to Shape the Future of Education

Literacy Research Association Convenes Global Scholars in Honolulu to Shape the Future of Education