Fear & Loathing At Expo West

0:05Welcome to the CPG Week podcast by BevNet and Nosh, your source for the latest food and beverage industry news. I'm Monica Watrous, Managing Editor of NOSH, here with my co-hosts Brad Avery and Lucas Southard. If you're enjoying the show, please subscribe on your listening platform of choice. On the podcast today, we are discussing Expo West, and you might be hearing this on your way to Anaheim. We are releasing our special episode a couple days early to try to catch you before you hit the show floor if you are planning to attend. Like 90 ,000 other people are, I think. Is it 90? It's getting there.

0:45It was like 80-something. It's 90 and it's a day shorter than it normally is. Yeah. Are you guys popping your immunity supplements or how are you preparing for this? Well, I'm currently drinking kombucha. Not that that's something that I don't normally do, But, you know, I'm trying to get my gut ready for the onslaught of little itty bitty bites of 30 ,000, 90 ,000 different samples. So, you know, call that my wellness routine. It's okay because 90 % of the things that you sample I hear is going to be good for your gut. Just add to my flora. Seems to be the trend. Well, and I've been preparing by walking on my treadmill slowly with a backpack weighing about 30 pounds.

1:25so I think that I'm in good shape I'm ready to do this weight training yeah that's actually smart how do you train for expo prepare for pain emotional pain mental pain physical oh there's been some years where my feet like are just wrecked by the end of it now here's the thing is some people listening might have a booth and therefore they don't move all day they're they're standing around which still takes a toll but it's a lot different for us. We have a different experience where we're walking the floor. It's, I don't know how many miles. I don't track my steps. I'm sure some people do and they probably go, I don't even want to imagine how far trying to traverse the Anaheim Convention Center will get you in eight hours.

2:12Especially if you're ping-ponging between the North Hall, Hot Products, Hall E. If you have a bunch of appointments that are scattered, then it's a lot of steps. But I've tracked in the past and I average anywhere between five and 10 miles a day when all is said and done. I mean, it's not a joke. And that also includes the walk from the hotel to the convention center because don't expect to get an Uber or you'll be waiting in a line that probably takes about two hours. I actually like the walk to and from the hotel because I get fresh air. You get real air and you're not just in the like massive crowds through those little narrow aisles like dodging people.

2:49It's like, oh, I spread my arms out a little bit usually. and breathe real air. That is nice. It's a moment of zen. Yeah. You've put a little pot in there too, mixed in usually. Yeah, well, I mean, hey. It's California. It's California. You can do what you want. Fear and loathing at Expo West. That's the name of this podcast. Here we go. It's a compressed schedule, and we will be packing in the booth visits and trying to taste and see and take pictures of as much new innovation as we can. But we've got a whole fleet of reporters and editors here to do the job for BevNet and Nosh. What are some of the topics that you guys are tracking as you traverse the show floor?

3:34Well, I will say that the main thing I'm going to be doing is walking to every cookie and cracker maker and asking them if they think that cookies are considered a snack. Because I want to do a poll. That's how you're going to use your time? That's how I'm going to use my time. I haven't told the edit team at BevNetNosh. That's what I'm going to be doing. You're telling half of them right now. Yeah, but by the time they hear this, I'm already going to be on the floor doing my work. So, you know, sorry. Along with my polling project, I am going to be walking the floor to talk to a lot of the brands in the OG high protein category, meat snacks, and trying to get a sense of what's happening with meat sticks and jerkies.

4:21And I know that there's been a couple of rebrands within that category. So looking forward to talking to those brands, kind of see how they are positioning for the future with new looks and kind of a brand refresh. I'm also going to be stopping by the new snack brand from the founders of Kevin's Natural Foods. Their new snack brand is called Wild Fox. So I talked to them before Expo started about this launch and why they kind of chose to lean into the trend of no seed oils and how they're hoping to kind of position in the snack category and nuts and trail mixes and even protein bars with this new product line.

5:05So I'm looking forward to it. I'm getting a lot of snacks, it seems like, snacking it up. I am expecting to see a lot of seed oil in the conversation, whether it's call-outs to alternative oils like avocado, olive, or even beef tallow, which is starting to emerge as a prominent fat source in the natural products industry. I'm also curious to see how many people will be talking about GLP-1s as part of their marketing strategy, whether they are addressing the nutritional gaps that GLP-1 drug users may be encountering or talking about how certain ingredients in a formulation may mimic the effects of a GLP-1 drug such as Ozempic.

5:53I know SuperGut has been using that messaging a lot, which, by the way, SuperGut just raised a bunch of money to continue its distribution expansion. Interestingly enough, actually, their new CEO learned about the brand at Expo. I talked to them in anticipation of Expo this year, and the new CEO was actually introduced to the brand while walking the floor at Expo. So you can see that this is part of what the show brings is it makes connections. And next thing you know, a year later, you're running the business. You're running the business. Exactly. Brad, what are you looking forward to or planning to talk to people about as you walk the show?

6:34Well, I do want to find out what people's economic outlook is, given how tenuous the situation is and how uncertain everybody is right now about where things are going economically, whether it's tariffs, whether it's just the health of the market and layoffs throughout various industries, especially government, how that relates to supply chain when you consider the way that farmers have been impacted by some of these changes going on with Doge and other federal policies. So I just kind of want to get a sense of are people preparing, making plans, expecting something in particular? Are people excited about certain things?

7:16I want to kind of get a sense of what is the outlook as it's rapidly changing on where the economy is going to be later this year and beyond. And, you know, what can brands do to prepare for, you know, uncertain situations where, you know, shipping might get a lot more expensive depending on, you know, where and how you're buying supply. As of now, it appears that some of the tariffs that had been paused for 30 days will be going into effect while we're at Expo West. So we'll, of course, be keeping an eye on that and speaking with brands about how they're planning on preparing for higher costs as a result.

7:59Of course, Expo West usually has its celebrity appearances. And we talked about this last year ahead of the show. Brad, you have interviewed several celebrities at Expo West, and I got the chance actually to interview Chrissy Teigen last year at Expo West. This year, her baking business, Cravings by Chrissy Teigen, has a booth at the show for the first time. So I'm expecting to see maybe her, hopefully John Legend, Jennifer Garner, certainly at the Once Upon a Farm booth. And I feel like there may be a few others that sometimes show up and surprise us. Lucas are you anticipating any celebrity encounters this year?

8:39I haven't heard anything specifically but I know last year when I went by the Moss beverage booth they make a sea moss beverage if you're not familiar and they're backed by Michael B. Jordan the actor they had said he was going to make an appearance and I know he has made appearances at other moss events including a couple of Costco roadshows so I haven't heard anything specific I'm just going to preface that, but I might be stopping by to see because I'm a big fan of his work. Their most recent ad campaign, they have him making a cool Moss cocktail, so maybe he can make me a Michael B. Jordan Moss cocktail if he's going to show up.

9:19Ooh, I would drink a Michael B. Jordan Moss cocktail. I mean, I think most people would drink anything that he handed them. Yes. He's a charismatic, good-looking man with a nice body of work behind him. I thought you were just going to say nice body. Yeah, yeah. That's where I thought this was going too. That of work doing a lot of lifting there. I'm unafraid to admit it. He's a good-looking man, you know? Yeah. With a nice body. With a nice body. At work. And other stuff. Well, on that note, I am excited to see you guys in person. It's been a couple of months since we've been together, and I'm excited to see our listeners at Expo West.

10:02And if you're walking the show floor and you recognize our voices, make sure you stop and say hello. We would love to meet you and hear what you're working on and hopefully help you amplify your news. That wraps up this edition of CPG Week by Bevna and Nosh. Thank you to our audio engineer, Joshua Pratt. Our director is Mike Schneider, and our designer is Erin Willett. If you enjoyed the podcast, please subscribe on your listening platform of choice, and we will see you next time.