Natural Products Expo

I just registered for my 6th annual attendance to Expo West held at the Anaheim Convention Center, a mega trade show featuring companies from all over the country releasing new products to the natural products industry.  From vitamins and herbal supplement lines to Fair Trade chocolate companies, organic snack dealers to food preparation equipment, if you are in any way, any how related to the world of natural health, you’ll find that THIS is Christmas for you.

Some succeed greatly after showcasing their brand and products by investing in their booths, as attendance reached 50,000 last year!  It’s a great weekend to indulge your brain in all the products out there and see what’s new. Typically, there is a trend that reflects the past year of new research. For example, 5 years ago, Tofurky and soy jerky and anything else soy was still making its way into the marketplace. However, you were able to see that decline with the soy controversy growing, exemplified with Soy Delicious changing it’s name it So Delicious and then introducing coconut ice cream.  In 2008, the raw food revolution started to make it’s way into the show and last year, they boomed; the majority of the booths in the lower level featured raw chocolate and dried snacks and even salmon jerky!

It could not have been a coincidence that I finally convinced my raw-fanatic friend that she’d LOVE to come with me last year. And ever since tasting raw kale chips and raw trade free coconut ice cream, she’s been waiting anxiously for March to roll around to go to her “Disneyland”!

I can’t wait either!

For all of you east coasters, Expo East is in October in Boston.