The Natural Products ExpoWest show serves two purposes for me:

1. To see what the latest and greatest products are in the “natural” foods and lifestyle category
2. An excuse to have a cocktail at Trader Sam’s Enchanted Tiki Bar at the Disneyland Hotel

What can I say.  I’m just being honest.  The only way I can get through this MASSIVE trade show is to take an afternoon tiki break.

When I say massive trade show, I’m talking about over 3,000 exhibitors.  That’s a lot of beef jerky and protein bars!  I totally understand now why it’s so hard to be a success in the food biz.  There’s so much competition and you really need to differentiate yourself and do it well.  It’s rare that I see something and say “wow, that is so innovative and unique.”   ExpoWest is great because it gives me a chance to recognize ingredient and product trends popular at the moment.

ExpoWest in 2011 even helped me snag my position as the foodservice RD on the campus at USC!  During the initial phone screening, I was asked about food and nutrition trends.  Well, just so happens that I wrote a blog post on the trends I saw at that show and was able to casually pull up my post while talking to the screener! 

In no particular order, here’s what I saw for 2018:

Overnight oats – homemade overnight oats have been super trendy for a while now, but this was the first time that I’ve seen packaged, single serving overnight oats.  

Probiotics and prebiotics in everything.  Snacks, yogurt, beverages, etc. You name it, it had probiotics or prebiotics.  Check out my post on prebiotics.   The gut health trend isn’t going anywhere!

Endogenous ketones & mct oil creamers – with the explosion of the Keto diet trend, I wasn’t surprised to see these types of products. 

Products free from the top 8 allergens – with so many individuals that have multiple food allergies, it’s great to see products that don’t contain wheat, dairy, eggs, fish, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, and soy. I tried the cookie dough bites enrobed in chocolate from Better Bites Bakery and they were amazing!!

Honey – omg…there were so many booths promoting honey.  Not necessarily products made with honey, but straight up honey instead. 

Avocado –  I saw a number of avocado products, but a stand out was the Kumana Venezuelan inspired avocado sauce, local to my native Los Angeles.  I managed to snag a full size bottle of this stuff and have been putting it on everything from eggs, to veggies and of course tacos.

Korean sauces and kimchi – Korean food has been on the rise the last few years, but this year, I definitely saw more companies selling sauces and kimchi, the popular fermented cabbage condiment.

Cauliflower products are still going strong in the form of pizza crusts, baking mixes, pretzels and crackers. Caulipower, the makers of the popular gluten free pizza crust, now has a baking mix made with dried cauliflower, rice flour, quinoa flour and tapioca flour. They state that you can use the flour as a cup for cup replacement to traditional wheat flour.

Alternative chips – when I say alternative, I mean non-potato and tortilla chip.  Chips were made from everything from plantains, to lentils, cassava, and beets.

Single serve desserts – I saw quite a few treats in this category, but thought Miss Jones Baking Co dessert cups were pretty cool for when you want just 1 serving of a freshly baked cake or brownie.  Just add water (oil for the brownie) to the instant oatmeal-style cup full of mix , pop it in the microwave and less than a minute later, you have a sweet treat.

Popsicles made with veggies –  there were definitely more brands in this category than last year.  I was pleasantly surprised that my husband liked these and couldn’t taste the veggies.

Jerky is here to stay, but I don’t know how much more innovative companies can get with this product.  Maybe that’s why many of the jerky brands added a new line of products:  pork rinds!  Pork rinds are a staple in the low carb community and I have to say, they are pretty darn delicious.

Cheese crisps –  these products are basically like a fricos, which is simply cheese baked until crispy.  Literally, just baked cheese and they were delicious.  I’m assuming these are geared to the low carb and Keto crowd.

Pili nuts –  I didn’t get to taste them, but saw sprouted pili nuts, which are native to the Philippines.  I feel like this may be one to watch, especially since there is a new plant based yogurt on the market, Lavva, which is made from pili nuts.

Fonio – this is a West African  “super grain”.  According to Cooking Light, this gluten free grain is a type of millet and can be used in salads and pilafs in place of other grains like quinoa and bulgur.  I didn’t have the chance to taste it, so if you’ve prepared it, let me know how it is!

Lupini bean snacks – this was one of my favorite whole food snacks. Lupini beans can be quite tedious to prepare, so these snacks from Brami are super convenient.  7 grams of plant based protein per serving!

Protein bars and balls –  instead of just bars, there were lots of balls this year.  Most still tasted like crap and they all seemed very similar.  I was pleasantly surprised to see that Power Bar is coming out with a bar that seems more unique than the typical proteins bars.  It’s a sweet n’ savory meat jerky and nut bar in a variety of flavors.  The BBQ flavor was quite tasty!

Culture kits – Cultures for Health was a very cool find because their kits allow you to make your own cultured foods and drinks such as kefir, kombucha, yogurt, cheese, sourdough and even tempeh.  Plus, their website has tons of how-to tutorials and videos.

Turmeric – in beverages, sauerkraut, sauces, and even cereal.  You name it, it had turmeric in it.  Loved Farmhouse Culture’s new sauerkraut with turmeric.  Good stuff!  There were tons of turmeric shots, sparkling tonics, teas and even K-Cup pods filled with turmeric.

Kombucha reigns supreme –  there were so many brands of kombucha.  I really don’t know how these companies differenitate themselves!  I tried many, but nothing topped my GTs Gingerade kombucha!

Sparkling waters – with the success of La Croix, it seems that everyone is making a no sugar added sparkling water now.  I tasted a lot of waters, but found that many of them tasted flat.   Pepsi Co.’s version, Bubly, was very bubbly and tasty.  One of my faves is still Spindrift.  They don’t add any natural or artificial flavors; just a touch of real fruit juice/puree for sweetness.

Alternative “milk” –  This category is always a staple at the show!  A couple of the lesser known “milks” this year were made from bananas and macadamia nuts.  I also saw a couple companies promoting their lack of additives and gums, which pretty much most brands use.  Elmhurst brand nut and grain “milks” fall into this category of minimalist ingredients.  Their unsweetened almond milk and hazelnut milk literally only have 2 ingredients: nuts and water.  As someone who works with food sensitivity clients, this is super helpful!

Adaptogen beverages – adaptogens are herbal substances that can help the body adapt to the stresses of crazy daily life and they are super HOT right now.  Ashwaganda has more of a relaxing effect, while rhodiola gives you more of an energizing feeling.  The cold ashwaganda drink I tried had a lot of sugar in it, but the rhodiola hot tea was unsweetened and very nice. The tea from Arrgo comes straight from the growers of Canada. 

Plain water from exotic destinations like Hawaii, New Zealand and Alaska were abundant.  Not sure why the water from these places is so special though.  Wouldn’t it be great if someone could bottle water from the Fountain of Youth???

Chlorophyll  drinks – chlorophyll is the green pigment in plants that is needed for photosynthesis.  With a whole host of vitamins and antioxidants, we can reap some of the benefits too.  The various flavors from Verday were tasty, contain less than 1 gram of sugar, and don’t have any fake sweeteners.  As with all drinks, watch out for excess sugar.

Cold brew containing fruit juice –  I wasn’t crazy about this category.  If I’m going to have cold brew, I want it to taste like coffee.  Having blood orange and other juices mixed with the coffee tasted weird to me. Not a fan.  What I am a fan of is La Colombe draft lattes in a can.   While the brand isn’t new to me, it may be new to you and it’s fantastic.  I stocked up on 4 cans on the last day of the show!  My favorite is the plain draft latte.  It doesn’t contain any added sugar, but tastes slightly sweet!

Beverages promoting brain health  –  many of these drinks contained B vitamins, antioxidants and even phosphatidylserine. Phosphatidylserine can be  beneficial for depression and cognitive dysfunction; however, I would prefer to get that from a medical grade supplement company.  I’m not naming any names because I didn’t enjoy any of the drinks and some had way too much sugar in them. Is one beverage going to promote good brain health?  Probably not.  Overall dietary patterns ARE protective though!  

CBD oil products – no samples for this category!  However, my husband was able to talk a vendor into giving him a CBD lip gloss.  We tried it and weren’t really sure what the point of it was. Our lips felt dry pretty quickly.

Natural dental products –  I saw more natural toothpaste, rinses and whiteners this year than in any year past!

It’s pretty much impossible to visit every single booth at this show!  Tell me, what did I miss?