Natural Products Expo Recap [Video]

Last week I had the chance to go to the 2015 Natural Products Expo and it was amazing.

This expo brings together hundred and hundreds of natural product companies which include everything from household cleaners to make up. Obviously, I focused on the food vendors. 😉

There were a few obvious “natural food” trends that I saw at the show:

•    Coconut. It seemed like everything was made with coconut oil or coconut sugar. Paleo was definitely an underlying theme, which meant coconut was everywhere. It made for some very creamy chocolates!
•    Jerky. Consistent with the paleo-ness, there were a lot of jerky brands there. I didn’t try any of them (although there are some vegan fake jerkies out there) but there were quite a few types. I bet we’ll see more and more jerky brands emerge, at least until the paleo trend slows down.
•    Allergen-free. Nut free, dairy free, gluten free, soy free, it seems like the lack of certain ingredients was the most popular. Brands like Enjoy Life are basically built on the allergen-free idea but other smaller brands were touting it as well.

Here’s a little video recap highlighting some of my favorite products from the show:

And here are a few others that I tried (but don’t have samples to show you!) which are worth finding:

The Owl’s Brew– this tea is specifically created to be a cocktail mixer, which is genius. It’s like a low sugar alternative to a standard cocktail. I had this “White and Vine” mixed with gin and it was fantastic. Here are a bunch of their cocktail recipes. Lower sugar cocktails? Count me in.

Bees Wrap- These all natural wraps are made of cotton and bees wax and they’re a reusable alternative to plastic wraps. It seems like a pretty cool concept. They gave me a few to try so I’ll be testing them out this week!

Neat Foods– I’d been wanting to try this nut-meat from for awhile so I was glad I got to taste it. They had the Mexican mix at the display and it was awesome in tacos. It’s made from pecans, garbanzo beans, and corn meal! (Yes, a meat alternative that is soy free & gluten free!) I’ve already ordered some from Relay Foods so I can make it at home!

It was such a fun event and I’m glad I got to meet so many of the vendors behind some of my favorite products!

I even got to meet Maddy from Love Grown Foods! It was so fun getting to chat with her in person! They’re such an awesome company and I love their granola & cereals so much!

Look! It’s Bob, as in, Bob’s Red Mill!

How cute are these little muffin cup samples?

You’ll probably see more products popping up on my blog in the coming weeks because there are just so many to share! I had such a great time at the expo and I’m excited for more great products to hit the shelves!

Have you tried any new products lately?