For the fourth year in a row, I am on the 2017 Natural Products Expo West Blogging Team.

What this means is that not only do I have access to anything and everything at the show, but I will also be tasked with coming back after the show to share my top 3 overall picks.

Last year prior to the show I put together a huge “hot list,” and then I shared what I found right after the show. The year prior, I was looking for more than just “natural,” and I found it, too! The year prior to that, in 2014, I picked my top 4 (vs. 3) favorites because I simply couldn’t narrow it down.

And this year? Well, here we go!

Last year was a big year at Expo West for me because after the show, I realized what a gap there still is in the market for travel and convenience products geared towards the special diets market and a manual to help people navigate what does exist.

Taken directly from my recap post,

But, by far, my main overall recap thought and ah-ha moment came when I found myself perusing booth after booth and hearing companies utter phrases like, “100% natural, super clean, healthy.” I would then simply pick up said “100% natural, super clean, healthy” product and check out the ingredients, only to feel let down.

Ingredients don’t lie, and the use of buzzwords are confusing consumers. During all of those moments (because most of the times were convenience/packed goods), I decided to launch The Gutsy Girl’s Bible: a travel and convenience snack guide companion. The project currently hosts over 150 items….and I would guess it could hit 300 or more!

For a couple months after 2016 Natural Products Expo West, I went all in on creating this resource and in May of 2016, I released the Travel and Convenience Snack Guide Companion.

2017 Natural Products Expo West

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With all of that said, my main goal for Expo West 2017 is to continue my search for items to add to The Trave and Convenience Snack Guide Companion. My goal is not to update the FREE (huge PDF) e-book (at least not now), but instead, to continue building out the massive Excel Spreadsheet that accompanies it. 

According to how the spreadsheet breaks down, I am looking for products that fall into the following categories:

• Bars (Protein + General)
• Beverages
• Carry Along Sweeteners
• Child Specific, Adult Approved + Loved
• Chips ‘n Crunchy
• Dessert ‘n Sweets
• Granola & Granola Bars
• Miscellaneous
• Meal-ish
• Nuts, Seeds & Nut Butters
• Supplements + Healthy & Vibrant Travel “Insurance”

And also according to how the spreadsheet breaks down, of those products, I am searching for those that fall into one (at the very least), but mostly several of these:

• Organic (Certified Organic only)
• Certified Gutsy
• 5 ingredients or less
• Gluten Free
• Dairy Free
• Soy Free
• Sugar Free
• 5g of sugar or less
• Total Grams of Sugar
• Total Net Carbs (Grams of Carbs – Grams of Fiber)
• Paleo
• AIP (Autoimmune Protocol)
• FODMAP Free (no FODMAPs or super low FODMAP)
• GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome)
• SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet)
• Vegan

All of that said, after doing some research, these are the brands/products and general trends I will be seeking out for more information during the show (p.s. HERE is an entire list of booths at the show. C’mon, I have 3 tiny humans I seek after daily so I ddid’t have time to peruse this whole list!):

1. Turmeric
2. Bone Broth
3. Kombucha. See project below.
4. Made in Nature (a client)
5. Healthy Fats. We eat a lot of fats in our house. I am loving on healthy fats and looking for more snacks that are filled with healthy fats that keep us full in between meals.
6. Nutiva (also a client)
7. Delighted by Dessert Hummus (also a client)
8. Kaila Foods (also a client)
9. The best bars (i.e. Epic Provisions and Wild Zora)
10. Lotus Foods
11. Restore
12. Clearly Kombucha
13. Lindsay. Do they have unprocessed snack packs?
14. Humm Kombucha
15. Sugar be gone. I”m tired of snacks that are full of junk or coated in cane sugar (especially when it comes to snacks for kids). Looking for on-the-go snacks that I don’t have to feel guilty about, that are easy to grab-and-go and full of real food with real flavor.
16. Wedderspoon
17. Alternative pastas
18. Adaptogen supplements
19. BrainGear
20. On-the-go natural, non-toxic beauty
21. Coconut, coconut, coconut (it never, ever gets old for us)
22. Fermented foods (i.e. Farmhouse Culture)
23. Honeydrop Beverages
24. Squeeze packs (i.e. Once Upon a Farm)
25. Healthy “chips”
26. Natural food dyes (I’m starting to live life in color because I’ve been so black and white my entire life. I started around my 34th birthday, with Paleo Birthday Cake with a Rainbow Unicorn Frosting. So, I need more ColorKitchen products in my life.)

Your turn! —> Is there any brand or company from that you’d love me to check out for you? Comment below or contact me!

Xox,
SKH