Our small-but-mighty team had a blast at Expo West this year, clocking in dozens of brand video hits, thousands of steps through the Anaheim Convention Center halls, and what seemed like hundreds of delicious samples.
We also pinpointed quite a few up-and-coming trends at the Expo, from edible caffeine and eco-focused initiatives to herbal coffee and healthier options for alcohol, pasta, baby food, and more.
Letโs take a closer look at some of the trends we notedโand keep your eyes peeled for in-depth reviews on some of our favorite brands in the coming months!
We all know that drinking water is good for usโbut it can get boring to chug bottle after bottle of plain olโ H2O.
Thatโs where brands like Cure Hydration, Lemon Perfect, and Harmless Harvest come inโtheyโre making hydration more exciting and accessible, a trend we definitely saw an uptick in this year.
Weโve seen a rise in electrolyte drinks and powders in past years, but Cure Hydration stands out for their top-tier ingredientsโlike coconut powder, pink Himalayan salt, and organic flavoringโand no added sugar.
For some pre-mixed hydration, Lemon Perfect gives you a healthy take on lemonade, while Harmless Harvest offers natural electrolytes with their sweet, organic coconut water.
A theme we saw emerging last year at Expo Eastโa focus on non-alcoholic beverages or healthier ways to drinkโhas certainly stuck around.
From lower-sugar mixers to recovery shots to adaptogenic NA spirits, Expo West gave us a good taste of how to drinkโor not drinkโin a healthy way.
Some of the NA brands we loved sampling were the adaptogenic Social Elixir from Three Spirits (loaded with yerba mate and lionโs mane mushroom) to elevate your mood and the low-sugar mocktail mixers from Mingle with just 20 calories per serving.
And if you are planning to imbibe in drinks with a non-zero ABV, More Labs has got you covered with their Morning Recovery shot, full of vitamins, electrolytes, and liver-supporting compounds to get you back on track the next day.
From stevia to erythritol to monk fruit, the options for non-caloric, natural sweeteners are now seemingly endless.
However, we heard from a handful of brands that they are aiming to step away from these sugar-free sweeteners, for reasons including potential health risksโcase in point: this recent study on erythritolโor simply wanting to get back to more natural ingredients.
One brand we saw taking the โregularโ route was Mingle, who added just a smidge of organic cane sugar to their healthy mocktail mixers.
If you thought coffee was just coffee and couldnโt be reimagined, think again.
From herbal teas that taste like coffee to mushroom-loaded java to delicious instant coffee that puts Folgerโs to shame, Expo West was loaded up with coffee of all sorts (as was our slightly overcaffeinated team).
A few that we loved were Teecinnoโs Maca Chocolate Chicory Herbal Coffee (perfect for mocha lovers who canโt hang with caffeine) and the freeze-dried instant coffee from Waka Coffee.
Plus, Four Sigmaticโknown for their functional mushroom coffee and elixirsโrolled out their new line of โshroom-loaded, plant-based coffee creamers, including Vanilla Coconut and Cacao Coconut.
For the purists who are looking just for regular coffee, look no further than Ethical Beanโa brand with a mission to provide 100% fairtrade certified and organic beans that are good for both the people and the planet.
Which brings us to our next trendโฆ.
Not only did Expo West as a whole place a greater emphasis on sustainability at the show, but many companies we saw were leaning into eco-friendlinessโor making it a core part of their brand.
A favorite that we stumbled upon on the show floor was Bar U Eatโupon first glance, it looks like another tasty granola bar, but talking with the brand led us to learn that their wrappers are compostableโmade with plant-based materials from FSC Certified forests as a means to become BPI Certified Compostable.
We also loved to see that some well-known brands are taking sustainability to the next level, like Harmless Harvest, who rolled out new lines of coconut yogurt and smoothies to help them meet their goal of being zero-coconut-waste by 2025.
A significant trend that we made a note of this year at Expo West was a greater emphasis on healthy foods for babies and toddlersโwhy should adults have all of the (clean, organic, non-GMO) fun?
The baby food industry has been in need of a serious revampโand brands like Whiteleaf Provisions, Yumi, and Brainiac Foods delivered.
Whiteleaf Provisions carries baby food pouches and apple sauces with ingredients from organic, biodynamic, and regenerative farms, while Yumi offers organic baby food for all stages and puffs and clean-label-certified bars for the toddler crowd.
Plus, Brainiac Foods uses applesauce, gummies, and โBrain Butterโ to target key nutrients that most of our kiddosโand us adults, if weโre being honestโarenโt getting enough of, including lutein, DHA, and other omega-3s.
Plant-based or otherwise, pasta alternatives are no stranger to the bustling halls of Natural Products Health Expo, but this yearโs tour of better-for-you fusilli, linguini, and other classic options simply hit different.
What struck us was not so much the favorable nutritional comparisons (standard pasta is continually catching shade at the expo), but the leveled-up taste and texture.
For instance, ZenB was perhaps the most accurate alternative to standard noodles weโve tried to date, in taste, texture, and appearance.
Derived from the Japanese word for โwholeโ (zenbu), these immaculately pasta-like noodles are made from only one ingredient: yellow peas.
But Taste Republic is very much in the running when it comes to the tastiest gluten-free pasta, as the owner refuses to launch any products that arenโt impeccably similar to the pasta we all know and love.
Sure enough, our tour of Taste Republicโs Tortelloni, Linguini, and some of their other options (made with rice flour and/or cauliflower, by the way) confirmed this stubborn standard of tastiness.
Finally, Three Farm Daughters is about as pasta-like as it getsโconsidering itโs real pasta.
No, they arenโt gluten-free or plant-based, but thanks to the kind of wheat this North Dakota family uses in their pasta, you can dwarf the fiber content of your standard bowl of pasta several times over.
They certainly werenโt the only edible caffeine brand making moves at Expo West this year, but Quantum Energy Squares had the best interview and the tastiest edible caffeine products.
The crux of โChief Amazement Officerโ Dave Cynkinโs spiel was an eyebrow-raising point about the pitfalls of separating caffeine and food.
If you want a sustained energy boost without the crash, Dave explained, you canโt just have coffee for breakfastโwhich is where his plant-based, gluten-free, and caffeinated bars come in.
Loaded with nutritious protein sources and more, Quantum Energy Squares provided a perfect shot of mid-day pep for our team while staving off hunger at the same time.
And no, unwanted teleportation is not a side effect. They just wanted a cool name.
Itโs safe to say most of us are feeling a bit inundated by the constant flow of trendy herbs popping in and out of prominence.
Thankfully, we have brands like Ruved, Teeccino, and Four Sigmatic, who have planted their flags in highly promising niches throughout the realm of ancient herbology to bring practical, targeted solutions to the everyday shopper.
Naturopath-founded Ruved brings out a selection of the most trusted ayurvedic herbs in their catalog of herbal supplements, including ashwagandha, curcumin, and many more.
By far the best herbal brand in terms of bringing out the huge palate of bold flavors nature has to offerโfrom hazelnut chicory to maca chocolateโis Teeccinno. Hence the name, their herbal teas are very much geared towards the coffee-loving palate.
Finally, Four Sigmatic is putting on a clinic when it comes to tasty adaptations of functional mushrooms like chaga, lionโs mane, cordyceps, and much more.
In addition to their flagship line of coffees, Four Sigmatic now has coffee creamers and protein powders made with the same nutritionally hard-hitting ingredients.
Broth is broth, right? Actually, what may seem like a stale product category with little potential for improvement has actually proven to be a huge opportunity for brands that approach it correctly.
In fact, Bonafide Provisions has been at it since 2006, and by โit,โ we mean providing discerning shoppers with high-quality, Certified Organic bone broths that are frozen immediately after being made (in small batches) to preserve nutrients.
Bare Bones has applied this same level of ingredient quality to a highly convenient formatโInstant Bone Broth Sticks.
Their no-sugar-added, protein-packed instant bone broths are shelf stable, and can even serve as seasoning.
And of course, we didnโt visit them this year, but weโve got to give a shoutout to Dr. Kellyann for leading the field with their collagen-rich, delicious bone broths in both powder and liquid form.
We hope grandma doesnโt take it personally, but she has serious competition.
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