As you may have seen on my Instagram stories, I had the opportunity to go to Expo East again this year. Expo East is the fall natural products show from New Hope Network (and the “kid sister” to Expo West.) There were over 1,000 vendors and a lot of great finds. Sadly, they announced that this will be the last Expo East. They’re moving to a new buyer-centric format called Newtopia next August in Savannah, GA. Thank goodness, we’ll still have Expo West in March.
The show was in Philadelphia for the third year in a row. The Philadelphia Convention Center is large and centrally located (and closer to NJ so I had the opportunity to visit my brother and Dan, too.)
[Check out my Instagram post and Instagram story highlights “Expo East ’23.”]
Trends I Saw at Expo East ’23
- Regenerative farming, sustainability and upcycling of ingredients are IN. From baby food to snacks to main dishes, this was spread throughout the show.
- There’s a focus on functional wellness. Many products are capitalizing on ingredients like lion’s mane mushrooms and turmeric which increase energy and focus.
- Plant based foods are here to stay. There were many fewer meat alternatives and many more mushroom and jackfruit products than last year (and even compared to the National Restaurant Assn show in May) .
- There were SO many beverages again but this time it was all about mocktails! So. Many. Mocktails.
- Some biggies from last year like CBD and Keto were barely around. Caffeine, collagen and cauliflower were also less prevalent than past years.
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.” At Expo East, it opens the day before the full exhibit hall. I met up with Marissa, my Expo East buddy, and we checked out the Harvest Festival.
At the Harvest Festival, I tried a mix of old and new-to-me products. There were a bunch beverages including my fave Olipop, Frescos Naturales Agua Frescas and Cloud Water – an sparkling water with Vitamin D and Zinc. I saw my friends from Brave Good Kind (chicken jerky), Zen B (pasta with pea protein) and Maya Kaimal (Indian inspired dishes and ingredients).
We tried Dr. Bronner’s new Golden Milk Chai oat milk chocolate – yum! Endangered Species also gave me oat milk baking chocolate to try. Speaking of chocolate, we tried Honey Mama’s Chocolate Cake squares and new Cinnamon Roll bar and Core Foods Keto Truffles. There were a few new electrolyte drinks including Plink! (fun branding). There were a bunch of fruit pouches and baby foods that were all natural and some made with regenerative crops.
Harvest Festival Haul
Expo East – Day 1
We started with a group run at 7:30 AM. Marissa and I met up with other Expo attendees for a City Running Tours 5K. It was a similar route to last year but it was a good time again.
After breakfast and a shower, we headed over to the Exhibit Hall and started with Hot Products.
Day 1 – New Finds From My Faves/Faves
It’s always fun to catch up with brands I love and to see what’s new. Among my favorite new additions are:
- Started the day with Nixie Sparkling Water – obvi!
- Bourbon and Uncured Bacon Salami from Singing Pastures
- TruEarth Fabric Softener and Toilet Bowl Cleaner Strips
- Remix Trail Mixes from Rind
- New flavors of nuts and mixes from Purely Sprouted
- RipVan’s new Leos low sugar cookies and wafers
- Olyra‘s new soft jam filled breakfast biscuits
- New look and new flavors of better for you brownies from Dalci
- New chocolate walnut butter and pistachio walnut butter from Nutty Gourmet
- (Coming soon) New grain-free crackers from Artisan Tropic
- New pickles in several varieties from WildBrine – branded WildVine
- Simply date bars and fruit bites (the fruit bites are delish!)
- Milkadamia’s new Coffee Latte and Milk Tea made with macadamia milk. So good!
- New flavors of Mezcla crispy bars
- Pirq‘s new hydration mixes with curcumin in 4 flavors.
- Henrietta.Said wing flavored peanuts – lemon pepper is my fave!
Day 1 – New Finds
- Equii complete protein bread – 10g of protein per slice from a patented fermented wheat process
- Blobs vegan gummies w/only 2 grams of sugar and no sugar alcohols
- HiBar solid shampoo and facial cleansers
- Hurrah vegan lip gloss and plant color lipstick
- Before toothpaste
- Olive oil cheese from Good Plant Foods
- Fx Functional Chocolate line
- Sattva Vide ayurvedic energy bites
- Sayso ready to make cocktail tea bags (non-alcoholic)
- Better for All truly compostable multi-use cups
- Flourish plant food
- Vulva Balm and “Lip” Stick from Medicine Mama– yup! The founder is an MD who wants to normalize self care down there!
Marissa and I went to Happy Hour in the Press Room. It’s always fun chatting with founders and brands in a more intimate setting. I enjoyed chatting with the founder of Jack and Friends jackfruit jerky and Shroommeats – a new mushroom based, shelf stable meat replacement among others. Other sponsors included ChocXO, Juni, Henrietta.Said , Uncle Waitley’s and Popadelics. Check out my sample box reel here. We then stopped by the Mediavine happy hour with Food & Wellness Equity Collective. The highlight for me was meeting the women behind @blackgirlsinnyc.
Day 1 Haul
Day 2
I started the day with another run stopped at Sprout’s. Marissa had to head back to NYC so I hit the show solo and got through most of the rest of everything. I started at the breakfast “happy hour” with Seasons and Tost – a non-alcoholic wine. I only spent a few hours but I had some great new finds.
Day 2 – New Finds from my Faves
- Joolies new chocolate covered dates
- Dill pickle sprouted almonds and pumpkin seeds from Daily Crunch
- Amazing new Tonnino yellowfin tuna in smoked olive oil with jalapeno
- Amazi dried jackfruit with ginger turmeric
- Lesser Evil’s new Space Balls cheese puffs
Day 2 – New Finds
- Clean (and pleasant tasting) antacids from Wonder Belly
- Lovo plant based chocolates – the hazelnut milk chocolate was so delish!
- Pinky Up Boba Tea has the boba in the tea bag so you get all of the taste without the added sugar and calories.
- Viori shampoo and conditioner bars in citrus and unscented
- Treehouse Naturals Pecanmilk in original and chocolate. This is one of the first plant milks that I could see drinking from the can!
Day 2 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!