The excitement at Expo West was palpable this year as brands new and old pitched their products to tens of thousands of people in Anaheim. While I couldn’t attend myself this year, I solicited the help of some good friends to find the best trends at this year’s show.

Ginger was a big flavor trend

There were a lot of claims about gut health, and ginger was naturally a top flavor for many of those products…

• Ginger-Ginseng Elixir from Bare Maple
• Ginger Lemon bar from Wise Bar
• All flavors of Recoup hydration

I also got to try some delicious new chocolate from Nigeria (Luji) with local flavors of Ginger, Plantain, and Suya.

Kate Fosson, Brand Pollinators

THROWBACK FLAVORS

I didn’t see a ton of innovative flavors this year, but I did see new formats using the classic flavors from my youth, like…

• RANCH sacha inchi seeds,
• NACHO CHEESE squash crackers,
• COOKIES & CREAM gluten-free energy waffles
• CHOCOLATE CHIP tahini cookies

(This could be a good way for healthy/natural brands to attract a broader audience, especially consumers that shop almost exclusively based on taste + price.)

Kate Fosson, Brand Pollinators

Global Tastes and Flavors

Global tastes and flavors were all over the show. Even more specific, Asian taste and flavors. Dumplings, Bao, sushi, sauces etc. It’s always present but this felt bigger. Along with the established brands, their seems to be more and more up and coming brands showcasing high quality products and fantastic innovation.

Ryan Rogers, Retail Optics

CPG Couples

As I walked through the Expo West floor, I couldn’t resist witnessing the magic of couples staffing the booths. Couples, for some reason, consciously decided to embark on this adventure together. This beautiful partnership, beyond the kids and household, is admirable. To somehow manage to find the balance of the ups and downs of the CPG journey together is so unique. I saw Greg from Belgian Boys taking out the trash while Anuk served samples. Chris from Big Picture Goods was building a huge table while Daniella took care of marketing perfection. (You got the theme😅).

If you ask me about the secret of this journey, I can share one thing that seems to be repetitive among these beautiful couples: “She is running the show, I’m here to support,” said Scott from MaraMix while hugging Mara. Complementing each other throughout this crazy ride is worth a thousand times more than making the exit next year. Because the truth is whether their creation will succeed or fade, it will be a part of their story forever.

Tal Garden, Fun Sesames

Bring Your Family

If I could choose one moment that stood out for me at Expo West, it would be this one right here: family. While I was traveling and hardly connecting with my own, at Booth #4899A, the Patels were lovingly serving up delicious roti with chickpea chana masala, all together with Mom. “They get to know your professional side,” Soma, the little sister of Founder Shridhar Patel, said thoughtfully regarding working with her family at Arya Foods. “Mom would say, ‘I didn’t know that side of you!'”

Annie Woo, Sweetstory Media

Bring Your Family (2)

My parents traveled 17 hours from China to visit me and see an American trade show for the first time. My mom was not expecting to see her photo in our flyers, but she was Yishi’s inspiration. 

Lin Jiang, Yishi

Regenerative ag takes to the mainstream

The Fresh Ideas tent is always packed with the best, IMHO. Organic and tasty meet in the middle – and there’s a line of people 50+ deep to get in all through Day 1 at Expo. Standing out of above organic were the ROC (Regenerative Organic Certified) companies who are actually reducing our global emissions while delivering delicious foods. There were many to choose from but Nexty Award finalists Big Picture Foods – founded by Daniela and Chris Jensen stole the show for me with their line of peppers, capers, and olives (the green were buttery perfection). The pair work directly with farmers in Greece and Tukey to ferment, pack, and import their products which are higher in nutritional value, taste incredible, and benefit farmers and the soil they cultivate. Hat tip: Patagonia Provisions awesome regen pasta was super delicious as was their Kernza lager!

David Delcourt, Grown As* Foods

Gen Z Takeover

For each year’s Expo West I look forward to both the state of the industry and NCN presentations. I truly love hearing about the latest data and trends in our natural/organic world. For this year, there was a fantastic and insightful set of data presented on Gen Z. There were several moments of surprise, and among the most was that Gen Z under-indexes in online spend vs. other generations. As Gen Z is soon to take over as the largest purchasing power group, it will be fascinating to see how their behavior evolves.

Keith Kohler, The Financing Man