Trendspotting at Natural Products Expo West: Healthspan, Wearables and of Course Protein
By Jacqueline Beckley and Leslie Herzog of The Understanding & Insight Group
To see Jacqueline and Leslie's picks for most-novel products, click here. To see Dave Fusaro's main NPEW story, click here.
Natural Products Expo West is an annual new products extravaganza that gives a look at trends and what foods and beverages are coming soon. The show provides a lot more around the whole area of food and culture when allowed to be digested a week or two later. This year’s expo was March 5-7 in Anaheim, Calif., with more than 64,000 attendees and 3,000 exhibitors, 900 of them first-timers. All those figures are about the same as last year’s.
Here are the key trends and themes that we saw (or did not see):
* Protein is still huge. People apparently feel they cannot get enough (or so companies think); obsessed is probably the right word. Whey is apparently coming back into formulations. Some of the innovations we will mention link to protein benefits. Bob’s Red Mill leaned into a higher-protein strain of oats to message a new overnight oat product.
Returning from the past is collagen – and it can be found across the natural product spectrum, e.g. foods, beverages, supplements, healthy & beauty (even though the science is still questionable about consumption benefits). Southern Recipe pork rinds, referenced later, touted it. However, keto as a marketing messaging tool was more or less absent at this event compared to previous years.
* Hydration: The originators of Gatorade created a drink full of hydration salts – and subsequent owner Quaker Foods created an understanding of the word hydration. Now many companies, even Gatorade, are marketing mix-it-yourself packets of hydrating electrolyte salts, as Gen Z and others to carry around their own water bottles, perhaps avoiding too much packaging or microplastics. Potassium, magnesium and vitamins are common in most packets.
* Influence of wearables: Across several talks at NPEW, wearables – smartwatches, fitness trackers, that Health app on your iPhone – were credited with some of the drive that Gen Z and Millennials are exhibiting related to awareness of their potential nutritional gaps or physiological need states. The reliability of the measures wasn’t discussed, just that individuals can monitor mood, stress, sleep, aspects of brain viability. Therefore, the individual could be more empowered to make food, beverage and supplement choices.
Within this community the 30-30-3 diet has become popular. It stands for 30g of protein within 30 minutes of getting up in the morning, 30g of fiber and three forms of probiotics daily, supposedly providing optimum health – all aligned to metrics coming from a wearable.
* The microbiome explored: Everyone admits that the whole area of the microbiome is complicated but promising. The quest to improve gut health is enabling a stronger connection to kombucha. Fiber is a goal – with foods, beverages and supplements highlighting the amount of fiber – and suggesting both prebiotics and probiotics are of value.
* Adaptogens: This old again/new again area is back. And has strengthened since last year. The key items in the adaptogen tool chest are lion’s mane, ashwagandha, reishi mushroom, green tea/hibiscus extract, acerola extract; plus L-theanine and B vitamins.
* Flavors and seasonings are intense: We saw increased use of flavoring that has more intensity, brings in the Global South flavors, and might also blend in one or more late heat notes. Gen Z appears to be the focus of these designs due to their interest in more compelling flavors and generalized boredom with traditional flavors. Early exposure to regional and global foods and cultures may be part of the inspiration.
* Influence of GLP-1 drugs: It’s still there, although we noted fewer products tied specifically to GLP-1s than we expected. Food design is more intense to help with smaller portions. Flavors are bigger, bolder. Craveability can change – if you eat smaller quantities, you might crave certain tastes/foods as a result of smaller quantities. Texture is important.
* Food bars: Is this category stuck in time? Maybe since food bars are made by a small number of co-packers, we saw only a few designs and little innovation. Maybe the category is stuck in old formulations that co-packers don’t want to change. Current designs are the original granola bar, the Power Bar design (a wad of a food matrix that is thick and tough to chew or break), a Rice Krispy square design or a “cookie-ish” bar.
However, Built Puff was a novel concept. It had more of a “candy bar” design and wasn’t a dense, barely chewable protein wad nor ingredients glued together. (While not present at this year’s show, Kind Bar has demonstrated a way to provide texture along with innovative formulations – i.e., their Kind Zero introduced last year.) Some savory approaches looked interesting.
* Packaging: Many products appeared to switch to aluminum bottles from plastic or aseptic packs, for both sustainability and a desire to avoid microplastics. However, we’ll need to see how Trump’s metal tariffs affect this shift. In general, more pouches were sustainable, allowing for food preservation and better disposal/less waste.
* Healthspan: There’s been a shift in terminology in the past three years from “lifespan” to “healthspan.” This goal is linked to wearables, heightened interest in GLP-1 drugs and the concern over dementia and impact on hardy aging vs. fragile aging.
* Meat is sticking around: Sticks continue to dominate over the original jerky form, due to portability (single stick packaging), not needing to touch the food and probably a lower price point. The flavor intensity of the sticks appears to follow the trends mentioned above – much more impactful than the original classic tastes. Heritage or Ancestral were big last year and are still around, just not as trendy (although Diestel Family Ranch was a NEXTY Winner for their Primal Blend Ground Turkey). Beef, chicken and turkey still dominate while some of the exotic meats are fading.
* Fats: There appeared to be less promotion of palm and coconut fats and a rise in beef tallow and lard being used in formulations – just as new research (and RFK Jr.) calls into question seed oils. But nutritionists and physicians suggest the worry about plant oils is not based in science.
See the novel products we noticed here.
Jacqueline Beckley is founder and owner of The Understanding & Insight Group LLC (www.uandicollaboration.com), a strategy and business development company; Leslie Herzog is vice president of operations & research services for The Understanding & Insight Group and a longtime member of Food Processing’s Editorial Advisory Board.
