America’s First Major Food Trade Show since the Pandemic – Expo East

Natural Products Expo East took place in Philadelphia between September 22-25. For the majority of attendees, this was the first in-person trade show since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Expo East and Expo West are seen as the biggest in the US food and beverage industry and are extremely important to brands and buyers alike to facilitate meaningful in-person connections. Whilst numbers were down from 2019, Expo East 2021 still had approximately 1,000 exhibitors and 12,000 attendees.

Green Seed owners David Wilson and Sanjay Panchal attended in person to meet the industry and monitor post-pandemic trends.

David commented “It was clear that attendees were energized by the event, which gave great exposure to the brands that attended. It was a great opportunity to meet with buyers and brand owners on a quieter show floor than in previous years.”

While some large established brands decided not to exhibit, many start-up brands felt they couldn’t afford not to attend. With fewer attendees and exhibitors this was a chance to have greater visibility and have more intimate one-to-one meetings that could significantly impact business.

“The plant-based trend continues to impress, with high profile booths from early-stage non-dairy cheese, meat-free burger, and non-dairy liquid beverage brands” Green Seed owner Sanjay Panchal observed.

The next major industry show date was recently announced for the Winter Specialty Fancy Food to be held on February 6-8 2022. The show is relocating from San Francisco to Las Vegas. We expect there to be an even stronger turnout given the success of Expo East and the relocation of Winter Fancy Food to a fun travel destination.