Natural Products Expo East & Our After-hours Insights

Last week we attended the Natural Products Expo East 2022 in Philadelphia- a trade show showcasing health, beauty, organic, natural, and specialty foods/products. We walked every aisle, running our own version of a marathon at the show. There were plenty of products to see and people to meet, and while many folks focus their recaps of what happens on the show floor, we thought we’d share some of our favorite discoveries off of it. We met countless founders during the after hour parties and gatherings working on some incredibly innovative brands and products we’re likely to see in future trade shows.

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Meet Broc Shot. A female-founded BIPOC-owned brand pushing us to rethink rethinking our morning rituals and create new habits. Broc Shot is a daily shot for beauty, body, and brain powered by sulforaphane. In order for their product to deliver the best and most effective results they have designed a patented dosing cap for their packaging to keep active ingredients from degrading. They have merged industrial design, lifestyle branding, and a new wave of nutrition to bring a thoughtful new wellness product to market.

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Tired of paying $6 for your Whole Foods green juice to get your vitamins in? Blueshift Nutrition is changing the way we consume supplements. They are pod-based drinkable supplements that offer a variety of different flavors for different functions. They deliver 10x the power of typical pills or gummies and also at a cheaper price point ($1.37/day compared to $3.75/day of equivalent pills or gummies). Their drinkable format allows for maximum bioavailability and product effectiveness. Blueshift’s colorful packaging makes us nostalgic of our childhood gummy vitamins but with an elevated twist.

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Heard of superfoods? Well we think we’ve just discovered super-superfoods. FUL is a sparkling spirulina drink. Not only is it insanely nutritious (you can read more about the benefits of spirulina on their website), but it is climate positive. Yes, you read that right– POSITIVE. The superfood in their drinks efficiently recycles CO₂ emitted by other processes into the oxygen and the rich nutrients found in FUL. With sustainability being a core value for us, of course we are fans. Let’s not forget to mention that this superfood makes the drink a beautiful blue color perfect for any social content. They are a UK brand currently expanding to the US and we can’t wait to get our hands on it.

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There were so many amazing brands, founders and new products who came as vendors and attendees. We noticed a lot of innovation in the hydration space. There was still a focus on better-for-you products and efficacious ingredients. And we can confirm there will be no slowdown in the offering of vegan and plant-based options. But as a design agency, packaging & creative was what caught our eye. Our Creative Director and Partner, Fred Hart, recapped his take on creative standouts at Expo East. You can read more about it here: https://thedieline.com/blog/2022/10/5/10-creative-standouts-from-expo-east-2022

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Natural Products Expo East 2022 was a success. We are looking forward to more trade shows and being able to connect on and off of the trade show floors.