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Special Feature GOURMET NEWS MAY 2015 www.gourmetnews.com SPECIAL FEATURE 2 0 N P E W W R A P - U P The 35th annual Natural Products Expo West, the world's largest natural, organic and healthy products event, took place March 4-8 at the Anaheim Convention Center in California. The event grew 7.2 percent, bringing together an inspired com- munity of over 71,000 industry members, with more than 2,700 exhibiting compa- nies, including 634 first-time exhibitors. The event is produced by New Hope Natu- ral Media. Co-located with Natural Products Expo West was Engredea, the event to source new ingredients, packaging, technologies, equip- ment, and services for cutting-edge products; and the Fresh Ideas Organic Marketplace, an innovative outdoor event that combines a traditional farmers' market feel with the busi- ness-building power of a trade show. Due to demand, New Hope expanded the event's exhibit space to encompass the en- tire Anaheim Convention Center campus. In addition to traditional Exhibit Halls, new exhibitors showcased new products at the Hilton Hotel Anaheim, which also of- fered an extra day of exhibits on March 5. NEXT Forecast estimates the natural and organic products industry is expected to grow to $252 billion by 2019. First time exhibitor, Keith Mullin, Founder of Zippy's based in La Jolla, Cal- ifornia said, "We launched a new prod- uct at Natural Products Expo up in the new products area at the Hilton. We had some really high-quality conversations with retailers and received great feed- back about how they perceived our prod- uct and how we can expand and grow with their companies." "Thanks so much for having us; we had a really great time at Expo West. We love the new changes this year! Loved the Thursday hot products at the Hilton, loved seeing all of the new things coming out and are excited to come back next year! See you in September for Expo East!," added Beth Natural Products Expo West and Engredea Shatter Attendance Record and Amy Soergel of Naturally Soergel's, a natural foods and products store based in Wexford, Pennsylvania. Matt Stearn, Project & Social Media Manager of Derma E based in Simi Valley, California commented, "As a company that has been coming for over 30 years, we have to say that this is our best Expo West ever! Everybody has been so awesome and we are ecstatic about the audience that we saw this year." This year the conference program was extended to four days of robust education. The program offered a full docket of edu- cation topics as well as keynote presenta- tions from Mark Bittman, food journalist at The New York Times, regular guest on the "Today Show" and author of "How to Cook Everything" series and "VB6: Eat Vegan Be- fore 6:00" and Dr. David Perlmutter, MD, FACN, ABIHM, board-certified Neurolo- gist, fellow of the American College of Nu- trition and New York Times bestselling author of "Grain Brain." Many companies were recognized with awards at Natural Products Expo West. The official Natural Products Expo West "Best of West: Press Award" went to Justin's Mini Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups. Runners up include: Noosa Yoghurt, LLC's Vanilla Yoghurt and Brandstorm Inc.'s Dark Chocolate Covered Chia Seeds. The winner of the NEXT Accelerator Natural Products Business School Pitch Slam was Loliware. See the story about Loliware on page 14 of this issue of Gour- met News. New Hope's team of editors and analysts identified the five macro trends influenc- ing the marketplace. They include trans- parency advancements: Consumers are in- creasingly demanding to know what is in their food, and brands are responding by using technology and other innovations to provide greater transparency and trace- ability for their products. Additionally, brands continue to innovate by producing simple, delicious products that take mini- mal processing to new levels and contain short lists of nutrient-dense ingredients, Paleo-positioned products were even more prevalent. The newest Paleo offerings are popping up in every product category, from English muffins to chocolate. They also saw some interesting packaging inno- vations. From edible cups to packages fea- turing famous cookbook authors, the packaging innovations made advance- ments in sustainability, consumer educa- tion and shelf stability. "Advancements in transparency, clean product development and sustainable packaging created a rich environment of in- spiring product innovation at this year's Expo West," said Carlotta Mast, Executive Director of Content and Insights, New Hope Natural Media. Expo West and eTown hosted a sold out benefit for Just Label It to help fight for fed- eral mandatory GMO labeling. The evening of musical entertainment and interviews in- cluded performances by Ziggy Marley and Aimee Mann. Natural Products Expo East 2015 will return to the Baltimore Convention Cen- ter, September 16-19, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. Natural Products Expo West 2016 is scheduled to take place March 11- 13, 2016 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. GN Salem Baking Company Introduces Sweet and Savory Treats Made with the Coveted Hatch Chile Pepper Salem Baking Company has created lim- ited edition products made with the uniquely spicy Hatch chile pepper, which is grown exclusively in the Hatch Valley of New Mexico. Delightfully Thin & Crispy Cookies in Hatch Pepper Chocolate Chip combine the flavorful pepper with a blend of milk and semi-sweet chocolate chips for a palate- pleasing combination of sweet and spicy. Delectable, spicy Hatch Pepper Artisan Crackers and Hatch Chile Cheese Straws are baked with extra sharp aged cheddar cheese, finely milled wheat flour and creamy butter to perfectly accent the pep- per's flavor. Visit Salem Baking Company in June at the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York at booth # 3920. For more information, contact Salem Baking Company by phone at 800.274.2994 or via email at orders@salembaking.com or visit them at www.salembaking.com