Regenerative agriculture and functional foods among key trends at Expo West

This March saw the largest gathering of food manufacturers and retailers in the USA at Natural Products Expo West in California. 3,300 companies exhibited their products to roughly 72,000 attendees, with many companies revealing their latest innovations.

A team from Green Seed USA attended to manage client booths, to observe trends and developments in the industry. There was a sense of optimism and energy at the show which bodes well for an industry moving on from the shadow of COVID, a reduction in available cash from investors, and concerns about consumers spending less as price increases take hold.

This year’s show featured many more brands calling out/making claims about:

• – Regenerative agriculture (+ 1300% versus Expo West 2023 – thanks to Wietske Helle at EatQ for the analysis). This is clearly a pervasive trend with many potential benefits for planet and health, but there is not yet the evidence available to show that a large number of consumers are aware or driven to purchase by them. It will be interesting to see how the regenerative movement connects those dots.
• – Functional superfoods/adaptogens (+800%). Probiotics, mood-enhancers, antioxidants, and energy-givers were at the forefront here. This feels a little like the ‘CBD in everything’ fad from a few years ago, but there is more potential here for consumers to find things that work for them and become ‘superusers’ of a brand because of it.
• – Plant-based (+250%). There were of course some ‘meat alternative’ products at the show, but less than in previous years; what drove this was ‘plants being plants’ with beans, lentils, and vegetables in snacking or convenient ready to eat formats taking the lead. This one feels like it is here to stay.
• – Fiber (+210%). 95% of Americans do not get enough fiber, according to the US Department for Agriculture, and there has been a rise in awareness of the positive impact from increasing feelings of fullness due the popular weight loss drug Ozempic, which mimics these feelings. Brands were keen to position themselves as the natural alternative to the drug, or the right food to eat while taking it.

Other interesting trends spotted were lower sugar and no sugar alcohols (eg erythritol, maltitol) claims alongside each other – consumers appear to be rejecting these types of sweetener – the use of animal products to create new protein-and-crunch forward snacks like crunchy beef jerky, chicken chips, salmon skin bites, and egg white puffs, and the continued rise in global food influences (eg Mexican, Korean, Indian). As ever the Green Seed team will pay close attention to which of these develop into long-term trends and which fizzle out as short-lived fads.

To get in touch with our US team