Just Serve Real Food: Dispatches from Expo West
By: Annie Drury
I’m the rare breed who actually enjoys trade shows. And as a foodie and health enthusiast, Expo West is naturally one of my favorites. The largest natural foods show in the world brings the who’s who in beloved brands that line retailers from small herb shops to Whole Foods to your neighborhood supermarket.
Today is an exciting time in food retailing, as large brands innovate with great products to meet demand for protein-rich and other health-minded claims and small start-up brands help drive industry growth like never before. Consumers now more intentionally seek out artisan brands and have higher standards for clean ingredients, transparency and quality.
Some observations from the show floor:
The return of meat
The Savory Institute’s Land-to-Market breakfast was a hot invite, and attendees got an inside look at the verification program designed to create a market and production system for products that regenerate land and human health. This has been championed by brands such as DanoneWave, General Mills and EPIC Provisions, the latter of which pays its respect to the animal through the best agricultural practices and aims to further eliminate animal waste with its nose-to-tail commitment.
Jerkies of every variety, and almost always 100 percent grass-fed were aplenty. Free range chicken even made its way into chips. Really! Wilde Chicken Chips sampled its fried chips made from chicken and tapioca flour in Barbeque, Jalapeno and Sea Salt & Vinegar flavors.
TRIBALI Foods cooked up its frozen 100 percent grass-fed burgers in Mediterranean and Umami flavors, creating a delicious smell that carried across the show floor.
Restaurant-quality foods made fool-proof
One of my favorite pieces of media feedback from years past was to recommend clients serve “hot, real food.” Thus, it’s no surprise TRIBALI’s patties and the new Lillie’s Q direct-to-consumer smoked pork offering were fan favorites. A multiple winner in America’s most prolific barbeque competition, Lillie’s Q is already perfectly cooked and shipped frozen, offering a gourmet meal with minimal time or effort.
One Culture Foods has made beloved soups like pho into convenient cups (and gluten-free), then enhanced them with healthy bone broth. Bantam Bangles were arguably one of the most popular samples in all of the Hot Products Hall. The mini bagel bites filled with cream cheese were absolutely brilliant and nearly on par with the experience of having a fresh bagel served up hot at a coffeeshop.
Celebrities adding greater visibility to the nutrition world
Celebrities have long attached their names to brands and served as ambassadors or investors. Sarah Michelle Gellar strutted the floor in a cool jean jacket adorned with “more flour to you.” Not only is she an organic food and baking enthusiast, she also heads up fast-growing natural baking line FoodStirs. The brand is on a mission to clean up the category by using heirloom flour, biodynamic sugar and fair-trade chocolate in decadent dessert mixes beloved by kids and adults.
Jennifer Garner even keynoted, as she recently joined cold-press baby food startup Once Upon a Farm as chief brand officer. Her interest to partner with an organic food brand was fueled while working with Save the Children and seeing the lack of access to organic food in rural America.
Whether integrated into the C-suite or acting as an ambassador, the celebrity CPG collaboration reminds me of a great interview from BEVNet’s Taste Radio Podcast where Jim Tonkin shared insights on launching Arnold Palmer’s tea brand. Palmer was hands-on to ensure the quality and authenticity of his product, he set a strong culture and he pressured his team to never dilute the quality of both the product and his personal brand.
Sparkling and functional beverages get exciting upgrades
Consumers don’t want diluted brands or diluted drinks, and a higher standard for beverages was apparent. Like most sparkling water-addicted PR people, I’m always interested in new sparkling flavors. Per Vida delivered with a unique Blue Hawaiian Ginger drink that boasts a unique patent for pomegranate seed oil, which has been found to reduce inflammation and enhance immunity. Anecdotally, it seemed to alleviate some of my soreness from tradeshow staffing.
Berri Fit had no bubbles, but added manuka honey, maqui berries, maca and coconut water in a cleaned-up sports drink in flavors such as Organic Dragon Fruit and Mango. Dr. Brew Kombucha showed off the first kombucha I’ve seen in a can, and graciously kept my thirst quenched with its 12 oz. cans of my favorite variety, Love.
While food is still an industry and a business, the passionate entrepreneurs within the natural foods sector who truly “do the right thing,” have much bigger implications than just creating a tasty meal. And thankfully, this sector’s only getting more delicious.
Annie Drury is a director in Allison+Partners' San Diego office.
