Expo East: What stood out for the Nutrition Business Journal team

The Nutrition Business Journal staff spent the final week of September on the bottom at Natural Products Expo East in Philadelphia, speaking with corporations, scouting new merchandise and traits, and sharing our experience in convention training.

Here are the staff’s high takeaways from the occasion:

Bill Giebler, Content and Insights Director

Climate change continues to be a key concern for manufacturers throughout classes and throughout the present flooring, however how these manufacturers select to handle local weather points is diversified and hotly debated, from regenerative farming to precision fermentation and past. In the panel dialogue “Technology Tension: Innovations Influencing Food, Farming & Nutrition,” I spoke with a farmer, a dietary complement business chief and an alt-proteins professional in regards to the alternatives, issues and, certainly, the stress factors round every know-how. It’s an interesting and sophisticated path to navigate for an business with “pure” as its first identify. The dialog is much from over.

Claire Morton, Senior Industry Analyst

Supporting good psychological well being and relieving stress have been high of thoughts in NBJ and throughout the business since 2020, and this development confirmed up in full drive at Expo East. From an information perspective, shoppers constantly fee temper, psychological well being, stress and anxiousness as high well being points, and complement gross sales development has proven this demand, with 11.5% development following the spectacular 29.4% seen in 2020. Ashwagandha was a high ingredient seen not simply within the complement aisles, however increasing throughout many drinks and teas, and even showing in cookie dough. Some adjoining traits pointed to client understanding of a extra holistic view of psychological well being and anxiousness, together with a surge of non-alcoholic spirits and wine manufacturers.

Rick Polito, Editor in Chief

Gen Z shoppers are involved in well being and dietary supplements, and so they love their gummies. In a fireplace chat, Alana Andrews, the 18-year-old founder and CEO of diabetes-friendly sports-drink Swey, shared that her classmates at The Wharton School are taking dietary supplements for basic well being with long-term targets in thoughts. She stated Gen-Z calls for transparency; they analysis the merchandise they use whereas additionally turning their consideration to their very own habits, with smartwatches and different self-quantification know-how. The curiosity in well being is excessive, she stated, however manufacturers aren’t assembly that curiosity with advertising and marketing that resonates as genuine for her friends.

Erika Rommel, Industry Analyst

With the vast majority of shoppers making an attempt to navigate via post-COVID-19 way of life adjustments and what it means to be “typically wholesome,” numerous new product launches goal particular experiential circumstances along with immunity. Generally, shoppers wish to enhance their basic well being because it’s vital to constructing a robust immune system. General well being, particularly within the youngsters’s class, noticed 18.5% development in 2021, which was among the many highest in all classes. Many merchandise exhibited at Expo East assist youngsters’s basic well being. Product labels are attempting to catch the attention of the buyer. Targeting key traits throughout these experiential circumstances whereas including immunity advantages, manufacturers can acquire repeat shoppers who need to handle their long run basic well being.

Get extra information and insights on the important thing traits within the pure merchandise business in NBJ’s Trends and Innovations Report.