The Ozempic Impact, Clear Labels & Extra

Consuming breakfast earlier than hitting the ground at Pure Merchandise Expo West is a rookie mistake, because the annual meals convention might simply qualify as the most important multi-day sampling occasion in America.

Held final week on the Anaheim Conference Heart simply south of Los Angeles and within the shadow of Disneyland, the commerce present pulled in some 70,000 attendees and three,000 exhibitors of “pure, natural and acutely aware merchandise” spanning meals, dietary supplements, and well being and sweetness, per organizer New Hope Community.

The shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, together with the present’s 512,000 sq. toes of actual property, could assist to reenergize a class that has taken some lumps just lately for its expensive items and elitist advertising.

“The turnout speaks to the curiosity in the entire sector,” Tom Spier, founder and managing accomplice of funding agency BFG Companions, informed ADWEEK. “The numbers recommend there’s actual endurance on this trade—it isn’t a passing fad.”

Whereas it’s not a here-and-gone section, it might take a brand new kind in 2024, consultants say, with the proliferation of manufacturers lately and the present financial local weather setting off a merger-and-acquisition growth. Some manufacturers will survive, some received’t, and a few may very well be devoured by CPG behemoths trying to amp up their better-for-you bona fides.

Eyes larger than abdomen

Along with full bellies, the retail consumers and distributors, traders, entrepreneurs and lookie-loos on web site received a style of rising and ongoing traits. These vary from the continued explosion of world flavors like Asian, Indian, Mexican and African to the omnipresence of fake meat jerky, “ugly” fruit snacks, adaptogen-boosted espresso and a Yo Egg plant-based poached egg that was virtually indistinguishable from the actual factor.

Dates and sizzling honey are having a second, and mushrooms are nonetheless going sturdy—as a complement, an ingredient and a stand-alone product in numerous varieties. Paul Stamets, a mycologist recognized for his key position within the Unbelievable Fungi documentary and companion ebook, received a rock star’s reception with persistently lengthy meet-and-greet strains at his Host Protection Mushrooms sales space.

Pistachio and pecan milk are not the brand new children on the non-dairy block—that distinction goes to corn milk, a longtime staple in Asia and Central and South America, however largely unknown right here. A startup known as Maizly, readying its first U.S. distribution deal, goals to interrupt by with its non-GMO various to plant- and nut-based drinks. (And talking of options to conventional milk, Lattini’s sunflower milk can also be coming quickly.)