As you may have seen on my Instagram stories, I had the opportunity to go to Expo East this year. Expo East is the fall natural products show from New Hope Network (and the “kid sister” to Expo West.) Expo West was cancelled in 2019 and 2020 and this show was about half the size as usual with about 800 exhibitors attending. Masks and vaccinations/negative COVID tests were required for all and sampling had to follow certain protocols. (Note: Masks off for some photos below – just took off for photos and put back on!)
It was definitely different but well spaced and easy to get around to all of the brands. Many of the “big” brands (and ones owned by large companies) like Bob’s Red Mill, Kodiak Cakes, Vital Proteins, RxBar, Nature’s Path and Perfect Bar stayed home. Some brands that have been around a while like Barnana, Skinnydipped, Gaia Herbs, Wedderspoon, Go Macro and many others that I expected to see also decided not to come.
I was still excited to be back to checking out products and meeting people IRL! The show moved to Philadelphia from Baltimore which was really nice. The Philadelphia Convention Center is large and centrally located (and closer to NJ so I had the opportunity to visit friends and family, too!
[Check out my Instagram post and Instagram story highlights “Expo East ’21.”]
Day 1 – Wednesday
I arrived in Philadelphia on Wednesday for the Harvest Festival. The Harvest Festival is “a tabletop event with a festival-style atmosphere.” In previous years, it’s been outside. At Expo East, it opens the day before the full exhibit hall.
At the Harvest Festival, I tried a mix of old and new products. There were a bunch of pumpkin seed products and lots of CBD. I met the folks from A Dozen Cousins (tried their products in the Good Food Brands box), Soom Tahini and True Made Foods. I grabbed some new mustard from True Made Foods, Soom tahini packs, Recess’ new immunity seltzer and all of the snacks from Eden Foods. I got some yummy sweets from Little Secrets and Endangered Species Chocolates, too. It was pretty crowded and less than 50 vendors, so I just moved through quickly.
Harvest Festival Haul
Expo East – Day 1
I started with a group run at 7:30 AM. I was excited to find out it was a 5K run tour with City Running Tours. Though I lived in Philly from 2000 to 2002, I haven’t been in a while and wasn’t familiar with all of the sights and monuments. I met some cool people, too!
After breakfast and a shower, I headed over to the Exhibit Hall and started with the food first. I was able to tackle almost everything in one day and planned to go back with a friend the next day and walk through again to hit anything that was too crowded or that I missed.
Trends
- CBD/hemp is still really big. There were a lot of gummies, tinctures, creams for people and pets. The supplement area was small but it seemed like a big portion was CBD brands.
- Plant based is also still in, but there weren’t as many new options showing. Aslo, the big guys like Impossible and Beyond were no where to be seen.
- Keto is the hot diet trend. That was the most prevalent diet mentioned and in the labeling.
- There were SO many seltzers. I love my seltzer, but I was surprised at the sheer number of options. Some had functional ingredients including hemp but not limited to that. In general, there were a TON of beverages. I’m not sure if it was more than usual or just seemed like a higher percentage because of the smaller number of exhibitors.
- There were still a lot of coffees and caffeinated beverages, but not as many cold brews or tea based products as previous years.
- Plant based milks/frozen desserts are alive and well. Oat seems to be winning the day. There were some new ones like pumpkin seed milk that I hadn’t seen before.
- A few trends that seem to have died down were collagen in everything, jerky/Paleo, “hidden veggies” for kids and caffeinated food.
Day 1 – New Finds from my Faves
- Core Bar has a new flavor, Coconut Chocolate Chip and two new Keto bars.
- Split Nutrition is launching Almond Butter and Dark Chocolate and a new look!
- Pizootz expanded its infused nuts to include seeds (pumpkin) and pecans.
- Lesser Evil has new vegan snack puffs and chick pea snacks.
- Torie and Howard is launching candy coated gummies called Gummi-Snaps.
- Thunderbird Bar has a new look and mini snack bars are coming soon.
- Honey Mama’s has its seasonal Pumpkin Spice coming and is expanding to Whole Foods nationally.
- Humm Kombucha launched Zero – a no added sugar kombucha.
- Grabbed some of my fave antimicrobial toothbrushes from Dr. Plotka’s Mouthwashers.
- Good Pop is donation a ton of meals when people enter their free Pledge Good challenge.
Day 1 – New Finds
- Beeyond Bar is making bars with ancient ingredients – sesame and honey. Delish!
- Brave Good Kind has chicken jerky in three varieties and they’re working on a plant based.
- RW Knudsen is in the healthy functional shot game and they’re working on some sport versions!
Day 1 Haul
Day 2
My friend, Marissa joined me from NYC on Day 2. My plan was to walk the show with her and to check out Hot Products and supplements as I did those quickly on Day 1. I also caught up with Chicago friend, Nikki from Knack PR and met Insta-friend Jamie from @NYCfitfam and her husband George.
Marissa wanted to start with Hot Products and then hit the food sections. I was happy to spend more time in these sections and to visit some booths that were too crowded the day before.
Day 2 – New Finds from my Faves
- Milkadamia has some amazing new coffee creamers including a Cinnamon one that’s to die for!
- Rind Snacks has new fruit chips in orange, apple and kiwi.
- Patch has new bamboo-based sports tapes and band-aids with fun designs.
- Pocket Latte has a new product coming out. It’s top secret but they promise to send me some to share when they’re ready to spill!
- Season Brand has a new shelf stable grilled mackerel in olive oil coming soon and a “Cavi-art” caviar style seaweed pearls.
- Dandies has awesome seasonal flavors including pumpkin, peppermint and maple.
- Undercover Quinoa has snack packs coming for Halloween and Valentine’s Day.
- Veggies Made Great has new frittata minis and new veggie based hot bites coming soon (so delish!)
Day 2 – New Finds
- Octonuts has protein powders made with single ingredients – almond and walnut.
- Flavor Seed has delicious organic spices and seasonings with great gift packs for the holidays.
- Banana Vital has banana and banana guava fruit bars made with 3 – 4 ingredients. These are great for run fuel and other fitness.
- Airly has “climate friendly” oat based crackers including a chocolate one that’s so delicious!
- Flatiron Pepper Co. has awesome pepper spices with specific flavor profiles to replace the generic “red pepper flakes.”
- Nutty Gourmet has flavored walnuts and walnut butters. I scored some savory nuts and maple cinnamon walnut butter!
- Savor Street has amazing gluten free pretzels and chocolate covered pretzels in milk and dark coming soon.
Day 2 Haul:
Day 3
On Saturday, I went to an awesome training run for the Philadelphia Marathon. I met Bart Yasso and made a new running friend, Ali. I ran my 13 miles, had a delicious breakfast sandwich from K’afar and packed up.
I went to meet Marissa to check out beauty and supplements. We took a quick spin through food to get some extra goodies.
Day 3: New Finds from my Faves
- Palmini has new hearts of palm based rice and mash.
- Crave Naturals rebranded as Yishi. They have a line of Asian inspired oatmeal including award winning Taro Bubble Tea.
- Nirvana has a few new lines of infused waters including Select infused with electrolytes.
- St. Dalfour has a bunch of new flavors of no sugar added fruit spreads – including apple cinnamon and wild blueberry.
- SunRidge Farms has a new Chocolate Almond Butter Coated Almond product that hasn’t been released yet. BOLO, they’re delicious!
Day 3: New Finds
- Province Apothecary from Canada has eczema balms and other all natural beauty creams.
- Dr Botanicals from England has a variety of product lines including the Apothecary Collection including an awesome lemon “rescue butter” that I grabbed to try.
- Irwin Naturals gave me some bacon flavored dog CBD oil drops for Remy to try!
Day 3 Haul:
I’ll be back with features and giveaways soon!
Which products or trends do you want to see in more detail on the blog?
Please note: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you use these links, I’ll receive a small commission. Check out many of these and previous finds on my Amazon list!