- Gaea has been changing how consumers define “authenticity” and “traceability” since they’ve entered the U.S. market from Greece. Gaea’s now giving other snack brands a run for their money by elevating the quality of the C-store product game. At Expo West, Gaea showed off its Gourmet Olives, available in two varieties: Green and Kalamata. Put your slurpees down, folks, get some real food in ya!
- Munk Pack finally showed off the highly-anticipated MunkPack Protein Cookies. 18 grams of plant protein, and available in four delicious flavors: Coconut White Chocolate Macadamia, Double Dark Chocolate, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin Spice—lace up your hiking boots!
- Viki’s Granola, the fastest growing granola company year-over-year, is branching out—or should I say barking out? Viki and her team announced the upcoming launch of new product line, Granola Bark, at the show—four delectable flavors: Original, Banana Crunch, Citrus Explosion and Blueberry Blast (Banana Crunch is my fave!)
- Carrington Farms, long-time maker of the most innovative and dependable health food products gave show attendees a sneak peak of the incredible rebrand that the brand is rolling out in weeks to come. The new packaging and new products were amazingly well received – we can’t wait to show off the new look soon!
- PALEO – As someone who has “gone paleo,” I was delighted to see that you couldn’t walk a few booths without seeing the word “paleo” on packaging. One of my clients’ after the show said, “is Paleo still a thing?” Answer: yes. The marketplace for the Paleo Certified stamp of approval is booming. Even non-paleo brands have begun to “clean up” their acts, removing additives and unnecessary ingredients. Think: bone broth, coconut wraps, pure maple water, almond flour, and paleo jerky sticks.
- PROBIOTICS – Walking the show floor, I think there was an hour stretch where I took a probiotic shot, drank probiotic juice, and topped off a breakfast taco with probiotic hot sauce (which by the way was delicious). The probiotic train has left the station and there are no signs of slowing down.
- PLANT-BASED – Given that there are hundreds of rows on the show floor, it’s typically hard to reach a consensus of opinion on what booth was most popular, but this year, everyone I talked to said the same thing: Beyond Meat was the “it” booth. Perhaps it was due to the fact that Beyond Meat was serving up the plant-based burgers in a fully functional diner style flat top, or perhaps it was just that they were on trend with the ever-growing trend and category of plant-based products. Plant-based milk topped $4.2BB in 2016², plant-based cheese generated 31.4% growth in the natural channel and 18% growth in all channels³, and plant-based meat sales exceeded $606MM in the 52 weeks leading up to Jan 22, 2017⁴.
- DOING GOOD – More than ever before, we saw “1-for-1” Give Back Models and brands that proudly pushed social missions and CSR efforts. Case-in-point: we saw a snack bar brand called “This Bar Saves Lives,” the motto is “buy a bar, feed a child.”
- FUNCTIONAL RTD BEVERAGE CATEGORY – We saw “superpower tea with ginseng,” caffeinated water, probiotic water, drinking vinegars, and kombuchas. We saw beverages that had a long check list of why you should be drinking them besides for hydration. Functional RTD Beverages game was on fire. If you want hydration with a side of wellness, energy, digestive support, or more—check your grocery aisles out.
