Natural Products Expo East
Natural Products Expo East is an annual tradeshow for the Natural, Healthy, and Organic industry. Attendees can expect to witness the latest trending content, newest products, and interactive networking events. This year, the Expo was held in Philadelphia’s Convention Center from September 23 to 25. Due to COVID-19, attendees had the option to visit the Expo in person or experience it online. Since LUHV Food was chosen to exhibit, I swung by to check it out!
Upon entering, I noticed that they separated everyone into two groups: attendees which received green wristbands and exhibitors who received purple wristbands. Everyone who entered needed a ticket and their vaccination card. As soon as you came upstairs, you were met with a flower wall that read “Expo East” and then down the hall there was a showroom and further down the hall were classrooms.
First, I headed into the showroom and passed aisles and aisles and aisles aisles labeled “Vitamins, “Cold Products, “Hot Products,” etc. I had heard that due to COVID, some of the exhibitors couldn’t make it, but I couldn't even imagine how any more exhibitors could fit into the Convention Center. Represenatives from companies stood next to their booths offering samples and sharing information about their products. Some of my favorite booths included the Cookie Dough Café, Avec, Kendel Teas, and Forage Kombucha.
After perusing through the showroom and filling up on free samples, I headed over to LUHV Food’s booth! Jill and Soren (our two team members) were prepping samples for the attendees, Daniel was busy in the kitchen, and Silvia was chatting with the Founder of Happy Co (Eric Brent) and the Founder of Vegan Strong (Bill Muir). In fact, Bill from Vegan Strong was so enamored with LUHV Food that he gifted Silvia a personally signed book.
There was a swarm of attendees hovering around our booth! One attendee wrote, “Holy Freakin’ Delicious!” I’ve included some of the others attendee’s messages via social media below:
Silvia said, “It’s been a long time since I was around surrrounded by people who were trying our food for the first time. It was overwhelming to hear how many people from all over the country loved LUHV Food! It reaffirms my confidence in our products and reinvigorates my mission to make Veganism accessible for all!”
After finally seeing all the booths in the showroom, I made my way into the classrooms. I attended a lecture titled, “Sustainability for the Future: How Food Companies can Drive Change through Climate-Friendly Practices” hosted by Felipe Guerrero of DAABON, Nova Sayers of HowGood, and Daniel Montes of Control Union Certifications. The panelists addressed how to measure and understand the environmental impact of food ingredients and products and how the plant-based food movement can help to minimize climate change when ingredients are sourced responsibly. Daniel Montes said, “A plant-based lifestyle is a big change that is pulling the whole supply chain in the right direction. This lifestyle is promoting and telling retailers, suppliers, and growers that consumers prefer sustainable products.”
Being a member of the LUHV team signifies being a part of a bigger movement that’s changing the world for the better!