2016 Natural Products Expo West show floor
What's old is new again in natural and organic product launches.
 
 

ANAHEIM, CALIF. — What’s old is new again in natural and organic product launches. Ancient wisdom, a notion of back-to-basics nutrition, remains a driving force in packaged food and beverage innovation, fueled by demand for simpler labels, said Carlotta Mast, executive director of content at New Hope Network.

“It only continues to gain steam as we see entrepreneurs in the natural and organic product industry innovate around undoing what industrialized food has done to our food system over the last 75 years,” Ms. Mast said.

Carlotta Mast, New Hope Network
Carlotta Mast, executive director of content at New Hope Network

Speaking with Food Business News in advance of Natural Products Expo West, held March 10-12 in Anaheim, Ms. Mast highlighted several key trends shaping innovation at the show, which is produced by New Hope Network.

“You’re seeing much shorter ingredient lists in almost every product category, including beauty and cleaning supplies,” she said. “We are still seeing lots of consumer demand for greater transparency and lots of interesting ways companies are trying to provide that level of transparency. You’ll see more and more companies that are providing tracking codes on products so you can trace specific ingredients back to the producers of those ingredients.”

So-called “superfoods,” from beans to beets, are gaining favor in functional food and beverage formulations, she noted.

“Rather than having highly processed functional foods and beverages, you really get back to much simpler ingredient lists and using superfruits and superfoods to create inherent functionality and nutritional benefits in that product,” Ms. Mast said.

Read on for 10 trends at Natural Products Expo West.