Trends from Expo East

by Foodbevy
October 3, 2022

Expo East has come and gone. Whether you attended or not (I didn’t attend), the show is a great indicator for the state of the CPG Industry. What did we learn from this year’s show? I enlisted help from my friends at the show to share their perspectives. It was all about connecting with virtual friends in real life, shifting from DTC to retail, and trending products (plant-based, functional beverage, alternatives). Let’s dive into each.

 

Connecting with Virtual Friends In Real Life

– Erica Rankin, Bro Dough

Heading home from Expo East and I’m reflecting on the past three days walking the floor. As a Canadian, I find the US shows to be so big – so much to see, so many products to try. The two types of products I saw a lot of at the show were gummy vitamins (of all sorts) and canned sparkling waters (infused with various things).

Overall, it was so great to finally connect with many of my virtual friends in real life. Nothing beats a hug or handshake. The amount of knowledge I’m coming home with also made the trip worth it. I’m really looking forward to walking Expo West next March.

Plant-Based Meats, Beverage and Alternative Dairy

– Myles Powell, Founder of 8 Myles

You could feel it. The energy in the 2.3 million square foot space of the Philadelphia Convention Center. Expo East had arrived. From the moment I stepped onto the floor, I could immediately tell which categories were running the show. Plant-Based Meats, Beverage and Alternative Dairy. I wondered how these brands could compete in such competitive landscapes. Marketing played a big factor for sure. Some standouts included industry titans such as Oatly, but also successful emerging brands such as Jack & Annies and No Bull Burger.  I think there has been a bit more focus on taste, especially considering consumers are looking to cut out the noise of attributes and buy foods that actually taste great. 

Snack brands were also a big part of the show. And the creativity was off of the charts! My favorite brand was a company called Wilde, which makes chips made from chicken. Absolutely incredible. Overall, Expo East was full of life and promise, even amidst global supply chain problems and recession warnings. It will be interesting to see which trends are still around this time next year. 

Shift From DTC To Retail

– Kevin Gawronski, Gawronski Food and Beverage

We attended Expo East as a “Business Service”, and if you don’t know, we provide paid, organic & influencer media services for Food & Beverage brands. Our intentions in flying out to Philadelphia (myself and two teammates), were to meet several current clients & platform partners in-person, as well as prospect potential new business.

While prospecting and approaching booths, we were sure to be very respectful of the brand’s time, and be mindful of interrupting conversations with buyers. We had a targeted list of “brands we thought would be a good fit”, “brands we’ve spoken to before”, and so on.

Because we mostly calculated the booths we approached, the overall reception to our conversations was mostly positive and interested in our services. For most brands, it made sense to start with discussing Instacart, as I felt there were much more Frozen, and Beverage brands in attendance. With that being said, the main interest was  Instacart advertising.

This will seem obvious, but the overwhelming shift from DTC to retail led to the interest in Instacart conversations. A handful asked about organic, influencer, or reactivating DTC for the holiday season.

For us, it was perfect. I had never been to an Expo, I know West is typically larger in attendance, but this seemed much smaller and more intimate. We would ask brands how the conversations were going, and we got really mixed feedback. The first day, the energy seemed solid, the second day in our opinion was very different, and we did not attend day 3.

 

Real Meat, Functional Soda, and Erythritol

– Matt Cotton, Rooted Food Sales

Expo East was incredible. I was there last year, which was a pretty sad scene and this year had some POP to it. Trends that I noticed included:

Real meat done well – There were still plant-based brands galore but I noticed (and sampled 🙂 from many brands serving real meat. This included ethically raised, game meat sausages (😋) and brands with great sustainable stories and missions.

Functional soda – The 2 big players (Ollipop and Poppi) sat this one out but MAN were there a lot of functional soda booths. 

Erythritol – It felt like the vast majority of the time I went to read labels erythritol was the primary sweetener.

Already pumped for Expo West!!

 

Zero Proof Spirits and Moctails

– Monica Watrous, Food Business News and Food Entrepreneur

Zero-proof spirits and mocktails were abundant at the show, featuring some truly elevated recipes and sophisticated packaging. Mocktail Club sampled its premium canned non-alc drinks inspired by various global hotspots, from Havana to Bombay. De Soi non-alcoholic apertifs are infused with herbs and mushrooms. Three Spirit Drinks, designed by plant scientists and bartenders, are botanical elixirs formulated with functional ingredients. Ritual Zero Proof puts an elevated twist on tequila, whiskey gin and rum, all without alcohol and calories.

Wrap Up

Expo East this year was much bigger than last, but still not back to its pre-pandemic glory. Many brands you expected to be there were missing, and nothing very exciting really stood out. On Linkedin, many founders announced that they weren’t attending this year because they couldn’t identify a clear ROI. Others decided that walking the show and setting up meetings was a better use of their time.

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