The Return of Natural Products Expo West

By Erin Fasano, Managing Editor, Startup CPG

For so many in the Natural Products industry, the true start of the year is marked by a four day journey to Anaheim, California. Months of planning, preparations, coordinating, organizing, (spending!) later, thousands of founders, buyers, service providers, investors, and consumers fock to the biggest, baddest show of the year, Natural Products Expo – West, or as we call it, Expo West.

But for all of us, COVID-19 cost us the opportunity to present our new innovations, meet retail buyers, talk to potential brokers and distributors, and we’ve spent two years counting down to the moment that the in-person event fnally returned. Te day has come, and we couldn’t be more pumped. We asked Lacey Gautier, the Vice President of Events, Natural Products at Informa (the host of the show) to sit down with us and give us an insider’s guide to making the most out of the show.

FOR EXHIBITORS

In general, booth designs that are the most impactful, and cost efective for small brands, tend to be the simplest.

Consider leveraging your own product to make interesting displays or patterns within your both, or utilize upcycled materials like your own cases or a pallets as tools to create a special environment in your booth. Especially for brands who might not have a deep understanding of how the show works, a simple design will allow you to focus on your brand, and let the work you put into your beautiful packaging shine. Inside your booth, you’ll of course want the basics: sales collateral, business cards, packaging examples, and price lists. But, the buyer audience consistently appreciates when everyone working in your booth knows the basics of the product’s distribution. Gautier says that buyers want anyone in the booth to have the knowledge to drive a great conversation – and if you’re concerned not everyone in your booth can do it, consider making your sales collateral a cheat sheet, with key distribution noted, how it turns, and other basics on your brand. She also recommends ensuring that your virtual booth is fully leveraged, particularly with video content that can teach about your brand. New Hope is going to do a ton of promotion of the virtual booths to all attendees, so don’t miss the opportunity to present your brand as best as you can.

Sampling is a critical part of your booth experience, but with the pandemic still impacting daily life, many want to know how it will work. Generally, the guidelines will be very similar to Expo East. Open samples (prepared or cooked) must be under a sneeze guard or food cover, servers must wear a face mask and gloves, and all booths will need to have a handwashing station. Prepackaged samples may be distributed by a face masked and gloved booth attendee.

Once your booth is set, your sampling plan is in the works, you can start planning how you can staf your booth. One 10x10 booth comes with 6 passes, and Gautier recommends using them all, if you can. Between stafng the booth, sample preparation, breaks, meetings, walking the show foor, and attending educational and networking sessions, it can be a tiring few days if you don’t have enough people to staf the booth. If you can’t send that many folks, have a schedule set so the team who is going knows where they should be and when. While in your booth, you can expect visitors from a variety of communities. New Hope will return to physical printed badges with color coded designations to aid exhibitors in identifying who is at their booth. You may consider investing in a lead retrieval unit, to simplify tracking your visitors and managing follow up. In preparing for the show, you can see which retailers have confrmed attendance at this link. New Hope is seeing increased registrations week over week, and expects a strong contingency of retail buyers at the show.

FOR BRANDS NOT EXHIBITING

Other than walking the show to see what other brands are showing, there are a lot of opportunities for learning and networking. Visit this link to fnd out more about the various Yoga and Musical events taking place. New Hope posted the Event at a Glance content, which outlines the various education sessions throughout the show. Plan ahead and ensure you can attend the sessions you think you’ll get the most out of. Te networking events will be great opportunities to meet other brands and service providers, but potentially investors and retail buyers. Tere are new events this year, like the JEDI Community Happy Hour, the New Hope Community & Purpose Awards, and tried and true events like the Nexty Awards.

If you have a NPEV Community All-Access Membership, New Hope has added a new VIP lounge for these brands. Tis will give brands a place to meet and network, and can serve as a home base for your show operations. If you do not have a Virtual Booth, you can fnd various common spaces at the show by visiting the show map, and be very present at the networking and educational events, where a chance meeting could take place anytime!

If you still have not secured a booth but think you might be interested, contact your representative to fnd out more. New Hope always sees some level of last minute registration, and there are still a limited number of booths available. Te New Hope team is here to help you fgure out the best solution for your brand – but don’t delay! Te longer you wait, the less time you have to plan and prep your booth and sampling logistics. Additionally, if you aren’t able to make the commitment of a full booth, you can consider a table top opportunity at the Fresh Ideas Organic Marketplace – more info can come from your New Hope rep.

Gautier encouraged the Startup CPG community to lean on their New Hope Account Rep to help with a wide range of needs, from show management, to operations, client services, and sales, they’re all there to help point you in the right direction and deliver a positive show experience for you. Are you interested in fnding other Startup CPG brands at the show? Find our list in this issue and be sure to stop by and say hi!