Natural Products Expo East to Be Succeeded by New Event
Natural Products Expo East will take place for the last time. After almost four decades of highlighting the natural and organic CPG industry, Informa Markets’ New Hope Network has revealed that the 2023 show will be its final edition. Natural Products Expo West will continue to take place every year in Anaheim, Calif.
Since it began in 1985, Natural Products Expo East has provided a platform for thousands of retailers’ product sourcing needs, featuring emerging brands on a national stage and facilitating partnerships between buyers and brands that have enabled consumers to make more conscious choices. Over the years, the show has been held in Washington D.C.; Boston; Baltimore; and Philadelphia, where the last-ever edition is taking place this week.
[Read more: "Trends to Chew on at the Restaurant Show"]
The end of Natural Products Expo East clears the way for the introduction of an entirely new event format next year that offers a more tailored and intentional approach to connection and product discovery. The event, Newtopia Now, aims to provide more opportunities for brands to meaningfully participate, no matter where they are in their development. Newtopia Now will offer curated matchmaking within a diverse community of buyers, brands and partners; more avenues for new and emerging brands to take part; creative product discovery opportunities; and the opportunity for industry leaders to shape the future of the CPG industry together. The event will kick off Aug. 6-8, 2024, in Savannah, Ga.
Natural Products Expo East will wrap up in Philadelphia with performances by Brett Dennen and Wyclef Jean, a keynote by Jay Shetty, and a farewell celebration on Saturday, Sept. 23.
Progressive Grocer was in attendance at the show’s annual Harvest Festival, described by event organizers as “a tabletop event with a festival-style atmosphere that allows [attendees] to connect with exhibitors in a more casual setting.” The packed Sept. 20 festival featured such companies as GoTeff, a manufacturer of products containing the East African superfood; plant-based deli meat producer Prime Roots; Rowdy Mermaid, sampling its functional good mood soda; Queen St. Bakery, a Canadian maker of gluten-free baked goods; and TropPitaya with its pitaya (dragon fruit) sorbet. The festival enables companies that aren’t exhibiting on the main expo floor to take part, so is well worth attendees’ time.
