17 Sep Gold Foods USA enjoyed new trends on display at Natural Products Expo East
Natural Products Expo East is an event focused on natural, organic and healthy products. The 33rd annual trade show got together the most important manufacturers of health, natural and organic along with interested visitors at the Baltimore Convention Center.
According to New Hope Network, the forefront of the healthy lifestyle products industry, the show hosted more than 1,500 brands, counting with 244 first-time exhibitors. No matter how large are the brands that met at the Natural Products Expo East, both large and small companies, showed all the visitors and other fellows their innovative products along with further missions centered on health, wellness, community building and sustainability.
“We would like to thank all of the attendees and exhibitors who came out to Expo East this year in spite of the early week weather forecast. While our hearts go out to everyone impacted by Hurricane Florence, the passion and commitment of our industry weren’t dampened by the potential effects in Baltimore. We saw much excitement and enthusiasm in the halls as brands showcased new products supporting health, sustainability and important missions. Every single person who walks through the doors at Expo East each year has the potential to impact change and help bring more health to more people now and in the future,” said Adam Andersen, Senior Vice President, Events, New Hope Network.
Natural Products Expo East trends
All the assistant could see new products at Expo East, which will end up in the shelves of natural products stores in the following months. New Hope Network tracked 10 trends on 2017 including:
- The Plant Revolution: New meat and dairy alternatives.
- Wholegrarian Shopper: New products with pronounceable ingredients and minimal or alternative processing.
- Protein Redefined: New products will emphasize quality and transparency.
- Inherently Functional: The newest products spin adaptogenic herbs and other naturally functional ingredients into snacks and even beauty products.
- Probiotics 2.0: It strains specific health benefits and a better understanding of the role of prebiotics.
- The Verified Brand: Smart brans earn consumer trust by demonstrating that they use safe, fair and eco-friendly practices.
- Nutrition Customized: Creativity gives nutrition products appeal to customer.
- Getting Crafty: Desire for clean ingredients and transparency are fueling a DIY movement among customers.
- Snackification: Brands are tapping into the desire for creative and quick eats. (Gold Foods USA already talk about this point. Just check this article to see more details about it!)
- Sugar Vilified: Yes, the war on sugar continues!
In this year’s show, we could watch all the advances on these trends and we could verify that New Hope Network was right! This year, the content and research team at New Hope Network tracked nine trends:
- Fat is friendly
- Solving seafood
- Plant-based planet
- The quest for rest
- Convenient ‘shrooms
- New ways with hydration
- Waste resourcefulness
- Trustworthiness, tested
- Freshifying the freezer
A year of growth
According to the official press release, “the U.S. natural products industry grew 6.3% to hit $206 billion in annual sales last year, and industry sales have been more than doubling since 2007”. Furthermore, “the combined U.S. sales of natural, organic and functional foods and beverages increased 6.5% to $143 billion in 2017. This growth was about 10 times that of the overall $280 billion total food industry, which saw another stagnant year of about 0.7% growth.”
Education program
Apart from all the trends, Gold Foods USA could also see some conferences as part of the robust education program that the Natural Product Expo East has each year. As New Hope Network pointed out, we all could enjoyed a education program that included “The Big Ideas in Organic, a powerful discussion of the innovations that will drive the next decade of organic industry growth and influence featuring a keynote by Karen Washington, co-owner and farmer at Rise & Root Farm”.
Our participation at the show
Gold Foods USA was at booth 1921, in the “Natural and specialty food” Exhibit Hall E offering bulk grocery, especially organic grains such as quinoa and chia seeds. Since 2014, we deliver the highest quality of organic chia seeds, both black and white, and quinoa, produced by small farms in Bolivia and sold to customers in the US.
We enjoyed and loved our time at Natural Products Expo East and we could not miss the opportunity to know the last trends in the health, natural and organic industry.
We look forward to the coming Natural Products Expo West!
