6 Trends at Natural Products Expo West
Last month, the Sampler team flew over to Anaheim, California to take part in Natural Products Expo West—a trade show featuring the latest trends and greatest brands in the world of natural products. In partnership with Natural Products Expo, Sampler powers the NEXTY Consumer Choice Awards—the newest award among the NEXTYs which creates an experience where brands can actually send product samples directly to a consumer’s home for judging. Aside from getting to meet all of the awesome brands that took part in Expo West’s NEXTYs, our team also got to walk the grounds (by walk, I actually mean hike since we racked up a total of over 18,000 steps a day), exploring all the different booths and also getting to try LOTS of free samples.
As we hiked booth to booth, we couldn’t help but notice that there were certain recurring ingredients being featured in the products being showcased. From chickpea puffs to oat milk, mushroom powder to coconut jerky—we were amazed to see these ingredients being used in various categories. Because of this, we decided to do a round-up of the top 6 ingredient trends that we spotted at Natural Products Expo West.
Beets
Known as the superfood for the hair and body, beets are as popular as ever. They are packed with antioxidants, fibre, iron, Vitamin C, etc. (basically all the good things), and promote an abundance of health benefits. No wonder beets are trending!
Chickpeas
Chickpeas are high in protein and are becoming a very popular meat alternative for vegetarians and vegans. They also offer multiple health benefits like helping to control blood sugar levels and improving digestion (Those chickpea puffs were delicious by the way).
Mushrooms
Also a superfood, mushrooms have been used as a form of medicine for thousands of years. They have been shown to decrease the risk of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. There were a ton of mushroom products but we found the one below most interesting.
Turmeric
Like mushrooms, turmeric has been used for thousands of years as both a spice and medicinal herb. One of its top benefits is that it’s anti-inflammatory and has been used as a natural support treatment for arthritis and bursitis. Turmeric me up!
Oats
Oats are loaded with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. They can help improve cholesterol levels and weight management. We came across several oat products but oat milk seemed to be the most popular product of them all. Sadly, I’m allergic to oats, but our Account Executive, Sharon had never tried oat milk and absolutely LOVED it. I can also confirm that she now buys this milk regularly!
CBD
Out of all of the ingredients, CBD was definitely the star of the show at Expo West. CBD has become more and more popular in the last couple of years with its top benefits being pain and anxiety relief, but has also shown to support heart and liver health. PlusCBD was actually one of our NEXTY Consumer Choice Award finalists and they received an incredible amount of positive reviews from consumers about their CBD oil.
And that’s our ingredient round-up! We loved getting to try some of these awesome ingredients and we can’t wait to see what’s trending at Natural Products Expo East. See you there!
Want to be a NEXTY Consumer Choice winner for Natural Products Expo East? Learn more here.
