BALTIMORE — Attending the Natural Products Expo East last week, where the latest “crazy new products” were on display, proved to be quite an overwhelming experience. With over 9,000 booths showcasing food and beverage innovations—specifically 9,106—it required a strategic approach. As a diligent journalist, I arrived with an appetite, beginning my journey from the top floor and making my way down. What began as a notion of “crazy” quickly shifted to “trendy.” While I might have thought that munching on Exo’s whole roasted spicy taco crickets paired with a sip of pickle juice sports drink from the Pickle Juice Company was outlandish, these items are now among the most popular offerings in today’s food landscape. There’s cricket flour for passionate bakers and Sriracha cricket chips for those looking for a snack. Interestingly, fresh dill pickle juice has become a favored ingredient in sweet treats like ice cream, slushies, and marshmallows.
The reality is, the food industry has become quite “crazy” as innovation is essential for even the largest companies to maintain and, more importantly, expand their market presence. This is evident in the recent collaborations between brands like Kraft Heinz, PepsiCo, and Tyson with food incubators over the past eight months.
So, what innovative products did I get to sample? If it can be cultivated, it can be puffed. A wide array of airy snacks filled the aisles, including Taali’s popped water lily seeds, Snacklin’s puffed veggie crisps, I Heart Keenwah’s quinoa puffs, Crunch-a-mame’s edamame snack, Hippeas’ chickpeas, Hopapops’ popped lotus seeds, Sun Tropic’s mochi rice bites, 24 Mantra’s Indian-flavored organic grain snacks, and 4505 chicharrones for meat lovers. The extensive variety of puffed snacks is not surprising; a report by IRI cited by Snack Food indicated that puffed and extruded snacks experienced a 4.45% increase in dollar sales over the 52 weeks ending April 16, 2017, with the market anticipated to reach $31 billion by 2019.
So why the emphasis on puffs? Food scientist Steven Witherly discussed with author Michael Moss in “Salt Sugar Fat” about the phenomenon of puffed snacks melting in your mouth, describing it as “vanishing caloric density.” Witherly explained that if a snack dissolves quickly, the brain perceives it as having no calories, leading to continuous consumption. This scientific insight may elucidate the popularity of puffs at Expo East, but many companies echoed the sentiment of “Why not?” The versatility of popping various foods allows brands to explore diverse flavor profiles—expanding beyond traditional cheese to include international flavors like Thai curry or tikka masala—while utilizing nutrient-rich ingredients such as legumes and ancient grains. Furthermore, puffs often cater to health-conscious consumers seeking a crunchy yet healthier snack made with minimal oil. Many of these snacks also boast impressive protein content, with some bags containing 8, 12, or even 22 grams of protein, which was prominently displayed on the packaging.
Move over, kale! Ayurvedic herbs are taking center stage. During an ingredients trends panel, Sarah Schmansky, vice president of growth and strategy at Nielsen, highlighted the rise of these herbs. “Turmeric is known. Moringa is new. Ashwagandha is foreign,” she remarked. Moringa and ashwagandha are just now catching the attention of consumers curious about their potential health benefits, such as inflammation reduction and cholesterol management. Despite its relative novelty, moringa is experiencing significant growth, with data from New Hope Network indicating a 460% increase in new products featuring the herb at Expo West from 2014 to 2017. “Moringa is showing signs of being an ingredient prodigy, potentially dethroning kale as the super green,” she added. At Expo East, nearly 100 products highlighted moringa, including Vegan Rob’s moringa puffs, Lotus Food’s pad Thai rice noodles, Kuli Kuli’s energy bars, and various teas. Kale, however, remains competitive, with over 300 items featuring the leafy green at the event.
Ashwagandha also gained popularity across beverages, including REBBL’s Ashwagandha Spicy Chai and 3 Roots Mango, which blends ashwagandha with ginger and turmeric, along with many of Holy Kombucha’s offerings. REBBL’s combination of ashwagandha and mango provided a sweet contrast to the herb’s more bitter notes.
At the Lakanto booth, Greg Hall, vice president of inside sales, was busy whipping up brownies and waffles for attendees to sample alongside various chocolate bars, all sweetened with monk fruit—a natural sugar alternative. “Monk fruit is 2.5 to three times more expensive than stevia,” Hall explained, discussing the challenges of extraction. Unlike stevia, monk fruit does not possess a distinct flavor profile that deters some consumers, making it appealing as Lakanto vies for a slice of the increasingly competitive sweetener market.
“The race for alternative sweetener innovation is on,” noted Eric Pierce, vice president of business insights at New Hope Network, during a seminar on ingredient trends. The competition also included coconut sugar, xylitol, agave, and of course, stevia. However, monk fruit holds the potential for wider acceptance if companies invest in establishing its supply chain, as the fruit—native to a small region in southern China and northern Thailand—demands specific growth conditions and has a long germination period. The fresh fruit does not store well, and extracting the small amount needed for sweetener production is challenging and expensive, which has likely hindered its faster growth in mainstream markets.
In addition to Lakanto, Health Garden presented its own version of monk fruit sweetener, while brands like In the Raw and Whole Earth Sweetener Company offered blends that pair monk fruit with stevia to reduce costs. One drink even featured monk fruit sparkling soda from Talking Rain Beverage Company.
At their Expo East booth, husband and wife duo Roger Gerber and Beth Allison Kaplan, owners of Blackwing Quality Meats, showcased their exotic offerings, including wild boar, ostrich, and elk. “We’ve been doing this for 21 years. We started the ostrich industry back in 1989,” Gerber stated. While Blackwing has successfully tapped into the exotic meat market for over two decades, recent years have seen a surge in consumer curiosity. A 2017 GlobalData report highlighted that millennials particularly favor trying new flavors and foods. According to a Nielsen report from 2015, exotic meat sales have increased by 37.6%.
The booths in Baltimore featured a variety of game meats, including elk, bison, and boar. Furthermore, meat companies are finding innovative uses for entire animals to minimize food waste and create unique products that appeal to adventurous consumers. Kaplan remarked, “From tongue to tail, every muscle is used.”
Union brand introduced its interpretation of exotic meat through Whole Earth Bites, which not only highlight meat protein but also incorporate plants and grains. One product featured grass-fed bison, hemp seed, eggs, and blueberries. Various jerky products also showcased different meat types, including Patagonia Provisions Buffalo Jerky and Pearson Ranch Elk Beef Jerky.
For those who prefer plant-based options, the expo catered to non-meat eaters as well. Craving a teriyaki jackfruit bowl? The Jackfruit Company has you covered. Miss the taste of chicken pot pie without the animal product? Alpha Foods offers multiple flavors, including Chick’n Pesto and Beefy Cheddar. At Wunder Nuggets’ stand, a vegan Minty Lentil option uses plant-based protein to replicate the texture and flavor of chicken. In the jerky category, mushrooms emerged as a popular meat substitute, with Pan’s Mushroom Jerky mimicking the chewiness of beef snacks in flavors like Zesty Thai and Applewood BBQ. Other offerings included Savory Wild Portobello Jerky and Shrooms Honey Chipotle.
The dairy-free segment was well represented, with yogurt, cheese, and milk companies displaying their plant-based alternatives. Lavva offered samples of its creamy, nutty yogurts made from pili nut and coconut water, while Origin Almond shared tastings of its cold-pressed almond milk and juices. The impressive array of exhibitors presenting their latest plant-based dairy and meat alternatives was anticipated. According to Bloomberg, citing statistics from Nielsen and the Plant Based Foods Association, plant-based food sales surged 20% in the past year to exceed $3.3 billion, with the plant-based meat sector specifically experiencing a 24% increase from just 6% the previous year. In contrast, animal meat sales rose by only about 2% during the same timeframe.
As health-conscious consumers seek options that celebrate calcium, products like the Calcium Plus 500 chewable are gaining attention, contributing to the ongoing trend of wellness in the food industry.