Five Things We Liked at the Natural Products Expo West

That natural and organic foods is where it’s at right now should not come as a surprise, not even to those with only a passing interest in food. But even regular attendees of Expo West were surprised how the event gets bigger and bigger every year. According to the conference organizers, this year’s edition had over 77,000 attendees walking the aisles, checking out the 3,000 or so exhibitors. 600 of these (20%), mainly start-ups, were exhibiting for the first time, not deterred by the rising costs of attending.

Here are five things we liked:

1) Anything but potato

Snacking is big business, whether it is indulgent, junky or better for you. One trend we see is chip (crisps) snack companies abandoning potatoes for a variety of new ingredients, from seaweed to dried fruits and vegetables.

2) Big Food is watching you

The Expo traditionally is the home of small companies and emerging brands, but increasingly, larger companies are also making their presence felt. Companies are not just walking the floor scouting for ideas and acquisitions, but they are launching new products such as Mondelez’s Good Thins, a savory cracker whose ingredients go beyond wheat to include sweet potato flour and chickpeas. And these products are also winning awards, such as Coca-Cola backed Suja, whose Crush Raspberry Pressed Probiotic Water won the Best of the West Press Award.

3) More snack bars, really?

The snack bar market goes from strength to strength, with the US market up USD 300 million in 2015. Unsurprisingly, new entrants continue to be drawn into this oversaturated market—every third booth seemed to have a snack bar offering including smaller size, less sugar, different shapes and even raw bars. Meanwhile, market leaders are coming out with appealing new products such as Clif Bar’s nut butter filled bars.

4) Eat (or drink) your friendly bacteria

Those friendly bacteria have outgrown the dairy aisle and have multiplied into chocolate bars, beverages, nut butters, etc. Farmhouse Culture’s ‘gut shots’, made from the juice left over from making kraut, packed more punch than a double espresso!

5) Nothing really goes to waste

For today’s companies, nothing goes to waste, as is the case with Sir Kensington’s Fabanaise, an egg-free mayo made from the protein-rich waste products of cooking chickpeas, or The Forager project, who use the whole vegetable to make their chips.

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