Imagine walking into a giant room where representatives from your favorite food brands are hanging out with samples of their latest products. Now double the size of the room and add another floor for upstart brands, a series of educational panels and a few happy hour celebrations. You’ve just entered the Natural Products Expo.
Twice a year thousands come together for a B2B showcase of natural products including food, beverage, body care and more. I attended the most recent ‘Expo East’ about a month ago in Baltimore, Maryland with my colleague, Luke Garro. In addition to his knowledge of the natural products space, Luke actually runs his own organic farm in western Massachusetts. Needless to say, it’s fun to walk the Expo floor with Luke, because he’s so passionate about the industry.
During the three-day experience we had a chance to catch up with existing clients and meet a ton of new people. We also took in a few educational seminars and sampled dozens of new products. Personally, I attempt to live a relatively healthy lifestyle, but this experience left me feeling inspired to learn more about how I can improve.
Here’s a list of my favorite discoveries and experiences from the Expo:
Most Refreshing Beverage: Motto
Matcha refers to finely milled or fine powder green tea known in Japanese culture for its high level of antioxidants. Launched by two friends in 2012, Boston-based Motto is apparently the world’s first bottled matcha drink.
New Hampshire Pride: Badger Balm
GY&K is headquartered in ‘Live Free or Die’ New Hampshire, so it’s always great to find other Granite State companies making an impact on a national level. Badger Balm organic body care is family owned and based in Gilsum, NH. They practice eco-conscious sourcing and offer a huge variety of products.
Mass(achusetts) Appeal: Quinn Popcorn
In addition to offering amazing flavors like Vermont Maple and Sea Salt, Quinn Popcorn also happens to be made from organic, non-GMO ingredients and comes in an eco-friendly microwave bag. Last but not least, they’re also based in the northeast (Woburn, MA), so we’re definitely rooting for their continued success.
Hot Ingredient Combo: The Epic Seed (Greek Yogurt + Chia)
Recently a friend schooled me on the benefits of Chia, a seed that’s rich in Omega-3 and said to lower blood pressure, reduce food cravings and help keep you hydrated. Add this ancient ‘powerfood’ to the wildly popular Greek yogurt and you have The Epic Seed. The creative non-traditional packaging reflects the brand’s roots in Venice, CA.
Crowdsourced Favorite: Good Societea Bar
Positioned as the ‘first nutritious snack bar for foodies,’ this product was launched with the support of a Kickstarter campaign where consumers pre-funded the product to the tune of $11,700. They also had a very clever display that showed how they differentiate their product from the competition in terms of ingredients.
Uniquely Awesome: Epic’s Bison, Bacon and Cranberry Bar
I can honestly say this product was unlike anything I had ever tasted, and I genuinely enjoyed it. Ironically, the founders are former vegetarians who created the product when they started to reintroduce meat back into their diets and discovered a lack of conveniently packaged grass-fed and organic animal protein in the market.
Tech Connect: Brad’s Raw Foods
I get excited when I see my favorite brands effectively leveraging technology to engage consumers. Brad’s photo booth and tandem iPad application enabled quick and easy photo sharing through Twitter. Props, Brad.
New Product Craving: Cedar’s Sweet Potato Hommus
I love these two things separately but I wondered how they would taste together. Good news, sweet potato hommus is big a winner.
Snack Attack: Glutino Honey Mustard Pretzels
You can literally eat your way through this event, but the veterans know that doing so results in ‘trade show belly.’ Since this wasn’t my first rodeo, I was careful not to over indulge. However, I couldn’t stop myself from going back for seconds when I tried Glutino’s new Honey Mustard Pretzels.
Ice Cream Innovation: D.F. Mavens*
Speaking of ‘trade show belly,’ there’s nothing like starting your day with samples of a dozen different ice cream flavors. That’s what happened when I finally had a chance to sample all of the new flavors from D.F. Mavens non-dairy ice cream, a GY&K Antler client. It’s actually hard to tell that this is not traditional ice cream. The flavors were all great. D.F. Mavens’ founder Malcolm Stogo, one of the world’s leading ice cream experts, also told me about how he personally invented cookies and cream ice cream many years ago. Now that’s a long lasting innovation.
Product with Purpose: Woodstock*
For the second year in a row, Woodstock Foods is teaming up with American Farmland Trust to help preserve farmland and educate consumers on the importance of ‘sustaining the land that sustains us.’ Our crew at GY&K Antler has been working with Woodstock on this campaign, so it was exciting to see it coming to life at the Expo.
Creative Collabo: MegaFood* and Uncle Matt’s Organic
MegaFood, a whole food supplement company also headquartered in New Hampshire, recently announced that the oranges used in Extinguish, their new anti-inflammation product, come from Uncle Matt’s Organic. Uncle Matt’s is one of the leading organic orange growers in Florida, making this brand collaboration a great way to reinforce quality and transparency. To celebrate the Extinguish launch, and have some fun at the same time, the MegaFood booth offered cocktails made with ingredients from both companies.
Creature Comfort: Little Duck Organics
We’ve been friends with the crew from Little Duck Organics for years, and it’s always exciting to see the latest innovation they have in works. For instance, they were the first company to offer the option of texting for customer service rather than the conventional contact methods. They understand the importance of truly engaging with consumers at every level, including their retail buyers. Another great example was last year’s Expo West where Little Duck set up a mini-lounge with vintage Nintendo games in their booth. This year they constructed an actual front porch where people could take a break from the trade show hustle and simply relax.
Intriguing Science – 23andMe
During a seminar on the natural supplements industry, Todd Runestad of Functional Ingredients Magazine, spoke about 23andMe. This company will analyze your DNA for $99 (by sending you a ‘spit kit’ in the mail) and then provide a detailed report with health recommendations, information about your ancestry and more. This can obviously impact our decisions about diet and lifestyle, but how much do we really want to know? I’m 90% sure I’m going to take the test but I’m certainly a bit nervous about what I might find out.
Would you take the 23andMe test?
Brady Sadler is the EVP, Growth & Innovation at GY&K. Connect with him @BradySadler
*GY&K Antler client partner
