Enjoy just a FEW of the dozens of foods and beverages I sampled at the 2016 Natural Products Expo West. Coming soon: an exhaustive and exhausting list of everything I tasted. Sign up for the FoodStarter newsletter to see the carnage and my commentary.
3 major natural food trends spotted:
- Meat-based bars, from jerky brands like Country Archer.
- Better veggie burgers, from fresh chickpea burgers that Whole Foods uses in foodservice to other plant-based burgers in ethnic flavors.
- Niche ethnic and ancient ingredients turned into snack foods.
And how will they ever keep up with the demand for coconut in everything?!
Major branding trend: artsy clutter
Kind of noisy
The phrase “brand fixing” came to mind as I roved the floor. How is it the natural food brands all come out with similar packaging design in the same years?
A couple of years ago it was simple, clean, big, bold statements. This year it is adjective and long sentence overload.
I’m smiling because it was early in the sampling day. Who wouldn’t smile over a coconut-based ice cream bar for breakfast?
