Highlights:
- Plant-based products are expanding into new formats made with new ingredients.
- Better-for-you indulgent treats are continuing to grow since the pandemic.
- Sustainability is still a major factor in consumers' purchase decisions.
What We Saw at Natural Products Expo West
Less sugar sweet treats, edible glitter, and functional mushrooms are just a few of the trends that captured our attention at this year’s Natural Products Expo West. Here’s a look at the standout innovations from Expo West 2022.
Recap of Natural Products Expo West 2022
This year’s Expo West brought together more than 2,700 exhibitors, including 625 up-and-coming brands, at the Anaheim Convention Center in California to showcase natural and healthy products in the food, beverage, supplement, home, and beauty categories.1
Retailers at the show ranged from grocery to club to convenience stores and included Alberton’s, Aldi, Costco, GNC, Kroger, Sprouts, Whole Foods, and 7-Eleven. The March 8-12 event, which had both onsite and online options, boasted over 57,000 registered attendees.2
Top Trends at Expo West
Soaring consumer interest in natural and healthy products has made Expo West the place to be for trendspotting. This is what we saw:
1. Plant-Based Evolution Continues
What started as plant-based milk alternatives has proliferated to every corner of nutrition and health. Besides the continued expansion of plant-based dairy (including milks, yogurts, cheeses, and ice creams), we’re seeing plant-based meats in new formats and with new protein ingredients.
Pea is still trending as the non-allergen, non-GM plant protein of choice in plant-based meats, while mushroom is emerging—especially in jerky. Besides meaty texture and savory taste, mushrooms are being tapped for their functional benefits. We saw reishi, lion’s mane, chaga, and cordyceps in coffees, teas, and tonics for stress and immunity., lion’s mane, chaga, and cordyceps in coffees, teas, and tonics for stress and immunity.
2. Sweet Treats Get a Healthy Twist
We also saw a clear trend in better-for-you indulgent treats—perfect for addressing consumers’ post-pandemic weight loss and healthier snacking goals. For sweet baked goods, we saw Whoa Dough cookie dough bars with 4-5 grams of protein and Better Bites Bakery top 9 allergen-free, vegan cake bites and cupcakes.
In confections, Smart Sweets is promoting its high fiber, less sugar gummy candies with the motto “Kick Sugar, Keep Candy.” Unreal offers sugar-reduced versions of classic chocolate favorites like M&Ms, Mounds, and Snickers. Moreover, traditional healthy snacks are taking a cue from indulgent snacks to boost appeal, like PopArt popcorn with edible glitter. (Our EdiSparklz® Edible Glitter can add colorful sparkle to snacks, confections, cereals, and more).
3. Sustainability Front and Center
Food, beverage, and supplement brands in the healthy and natural product space are doubling down on their sustainability efforts. The environment continues to be a priority for their target consumers, whose purchase decisions are influenced by sustainability messaging.
One sustainability approach featured at the show was the management of a company’s plastic footprint through certification by rePurpose. Certified Plastic Neutral allows a business to fund the removal of the amount of plastic it uses for a net-zero footprint, while Certified Plastic Negative goes above and beyond to cover twice the business’s plastic footprint.
We’ll See You Next Time!
We hope you got to see some of these exciting innovations for yourself at Expo West and had a chance to stop by our booth. But if you missed the show, we look forward to seeing you at the next one! See where else you can find us this year. We’d love to meet up and share how our nutrition solutions can help you meet the latest trends.