2024 ANE Foreshadows Pleasure Product Success in New Year

LAS VEGAS—As the 2024 AVN Adult Entertainment Expo (AEE) nears its pinnacle, with the biggest night in porn set for the night of January 27, pleasure product companies saw success at the ‘O’ Awards a night prior. Many winners were crowned across a variety of product categories.  However, the showing of exhibitors on the third day of the Adult Novelty Expo foreshadows stiff competition at the next edition of the coveted ‘O’ Awards at the 2025 Adult Entertainment Expo. Exhibitors from all over the world converged at the show venue on The Strip. This year, 2024, a seemingly more intimate show, the Adult Novelty Expo (ANE) is a B2B event catering to the companies that drive pleasure products and adult novelty retail. On the show's third day, a new atmosphere of opportunity and ambition flooded the Perdena Gardens. Dealmakers are at work. One brand looking to make deals with new product partners at ANE is Kahna Edibles. According to marketing events manager Angelica Sanchez, the company developed a line of hemp products called Kahna Sutra. Kahna Sutra is a product focused on love, energy, and sleep designed from hemp-derived Delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) cannabinoid component, which is now legal across the 50 U.S. states. “So far, this event has been very productive,” said Sanchez. “It is a little smaller, so it keeps people focused. This side is B2B then the fun side. And we are looking for collaborations with the fun side.” Sanchez alluded to the partnering of adult content creators, influencers, and other personalities to market their products through NSFW digital channels. “We are a regulated brand that has been in the licensed market since 2015,” explains Angela Chang, Kahna’s chief marketing officer. “This is our first foray with Kahna Sutra into the adult market.” The love-focused hemp brand, Chang explains, is meant to be a revenue-generation stream for adult retailers who already operate on narrow margins and are seeking new offerings. That is what led Kahna to attend this edition of ANE in a bid to secure new product partnerships. Other newcomers to ANE this year range in product diversity. Yesterday, AVN reported on the drinking card game publisher Do or Drink looking to carve out a niche in the novelty segment.  “We didn’t know what to expect. It is all new to us. I think we fit in,” Dan Price, operations manager for Do or Drink, informed AVN in yesterday’s report on the second day of AEE.  Another newcomer brand is Klean Freak. Based in Salt Lake City, Utah, Klean Freak designs and distributes antibacterial body wipes that are scented, alcohol-free, and biodegradable. “This wipe is designed for the skin,” said Nick Upton, a sales representative for Klean Freak. “We are way better than brands like Dude Wipes – they are a dirty, dirty word to us. We have a much more durable clothe that is biodegradable and individually wrapped. We try and market ourselves as the ‘Bentley of Baby Wipes.’” Jokingly, Upton responded to our questions as to why a wipe brand is presenting at an adult novelty product expo. He explained that Klean Freak has records of cases being used to disinfect sex toys and personal pleasure products – also gym equipment. “We all have six different fragrances derived from essential oils,” he said. “They are not too overpowering, but they give you a nice clean feeling after being used.”  More traditional products presented at ANE include an array of sex doll manufacturers from the Chinese high-tech and specialty manufacturing hub located in the megacity of Shenzhen and elsewhere. One represented brand included Dongguan Dingfoo Plastic Products Co., Ltd., an OEM/ODM sex toy manufacturer and research and development corporation. Another is the Shenzhen Zhonghongtian Technology Co., Ltd., which manufactures the Alwup brand. “We sell sex toys for women and male masturbators,” explains a sales rep named Frank, who explained that he is representing his firm and looking to make more connections with other professionals. Giel Beijen, marketing manager for sex machine manufacturer Hismith, told AVN that this is his company’s very first ANE experience. “We have been selling sex machines for about years now. It started with two horny engineering students, and now we are a market leader in sex machines.” Hismith designs and manufactures these toys' thrusting mechanisms and attachments and primarily operates in the European market. In fact, ANE is their first American B2B expo.  “We’ve been doing a lot of shows in the Europe region because that is where we are from, Netherlands in my case, and our consumer base is over there. Now that we’ve been growing so much, we also intend to expand into the states and North American market.” Other brands represented include Motorbunny, which won honors at the ‘O’ Awards that took place Friday night. Motorbunny has offered consumer experiences on the AEE floor the whole weekend. In addition, major companies represented include the firm XR Brands, which also won big at the ‘O’ Awards, and sex-tech manufacturer Lovense. The 2024 edition of the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo is due to conclude on Saturday. Tonight the winners of the 41st annual AVN Awards will be announced, recognizing excellence in production, film, and content creation across virtually every category.