With over 88,000 attendees and 3,100 exhibitors, Natural Products Expo West draws the most innovative companies in the natural food, beverage, beauty, pet, and supplements spaces.
We “squeeze the juice” out of resources like this to bring inspiration and connect dots as we help BigCos take leverage innovation pipeline sprints to reinvent existing brands and expand into new ones. Download our 2019 Natural Products Expo West Report.
What’s inside the 2019 report?
- Key Takeaways: Natural and organic products sales continue to grow, while conventional sales decline. Consumers expect these offerings to be healthy AND tasty, and expectations that food/bev would accommodate their personalized dietary needs continue to grow. Amidst greenwashing, a key Job to Be Done is helping consumers discern what’s truly a good selection, and brands are accelerating their claims at a breakneck pace.
- Business Model Impact: It’s not enough for brands to simply deliver on health and taste – how they go about delivering natural and organic products matters more to consumers now than ever.
- Claims Insights: Consumers have voiced confusion about shopping in the aisle and discerning which brands truly are better for them, natural or healthy. The bar for trustworthy brands has been raised, and brands must now adhere to good values and actions – not just about whether the product “works.” To tell this value and action story, many brands are digging deep into their sourcing, packaging, and more.
- Consumer Needs: Emerging trends and innovations at Expo West mirror growing consumer needs, as brands look to deliver on things their audience is asking for. Trends like kombucha, matcha, mushrooms and more that were mentioned in The Garage Group’s past reports continue; this section features new shifts in the natural and organics space and the consumer needs that back them.
- Flavor Themes: Brands are continually innovating on new flavor SKUs or line extensions to deliver on changing consumer taste needs and keep consumers engaged. Previous reports included a variety of flavor themes that still continue to be popular, but the following three flavors showed up across a variety of food executions.
- Ingredient Themes: A continuing theme for the past several years has been ancient and globally-inspired ingredients. New forms bring new life to ancient ingredients as consumers become more educated about their functions and benefits, and social media provides platforms for consumers to share their favorites across borders. Looking ahead, as wellness-seeking consumers reduce sugar in their diets, their tastes will also change; and we anticipate continued enthusiasm for new ingredients and the rediscovery of ancient ones.
And if you missed them, here were our daily boots-on-the-ground live updates:
- Day 1: Respecting the Farmer, Staying Power & Packaging Innovation
- Day 2: Expansion of Coffee Forms, Kosher Certification & Snackification
- Day 3: Courageous Natural Products Startup Founders & Hacking Alzheimer’s
