Boulder, CO (September 18, 2017) – The 32nd Annual Natural Products Expo East, held September 13-16, hosted more than 1,500 brands including 451 first-time exhibitors and more than 29,000 community members. Both large and small brands continue to launch innovative products that further missions centered on health, wellness, community building and sustainability. Natural Products Expo East is produced by New Hope Network and is co-located at the Baltimore Convention Center with All Things Organic/Biofach America, Natural Products Association East, and Harvest Festival. “Natural Products Expo East is an excellent event for us to share both our newest products as well as to connect with customers and like-minded companies on our mission-based programs. This year we saw a lot of interest in our new product launches and had great feedback on our recent efforts regarding mitigating climate change through our More Crop Per Drop™ growing practices,” said Caryl Levine, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Lotus Foods. Each fall, brands showcase new products at Expo East that will end up on store shelves heading into the new year. The content and research team at New Hope Network tracked 10 Trends this year including: 1) The Plant Revolution, 2) Wholegrarian Shopper, 3) Protein Redefined, 4) Inherently Functional, 5) Probiotics 2, 6) The Verified Brand, 7) Nutrition Customized, 8) Getting Crafty, 9) Snackification, and 10) Sugar Vilified. For detailed descriptions and examples of exciting new products that exemplify each trend, visit the online gallery at newhope.com. “Each year our community gathers to share ground-breaking product innovations and learn about healthy trends. But, there is a larger force that brings us together around how we, collectively as an industry, can improve the health of our food system and planet,” said Adam Andersen, Senior Vice President, Events at New Hope Network. The conference featured a robust education program including a keynote presentation by Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Eating Animals and the international bestseller Everything is Illuminated. The official “Best of East: Press Award” went to The Maple Guild for their organic Vermont maple syrup. Runners-up included 4th & Heart and The Soulfull Project. The winner of Natural Products Business School’s Pitch Slam was Know Brainer. A full list of the winners of the 2017 NEXTY Awards, representing what tomorrow’s healthy living landscape will look like, can be found online. This year, the NEXTY Gold Award was established to recognize two companies that innovate and inspire. Winners included REBBL and Lotus Foods.
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