Expo West is huge, I would now argue it’s the biggest Food Show in the world. If you’re a new entrepreneur looking into the food industry and have $2000 bucks to spend, Expo West is well worth the trip

There are many trend reports that took place less than a week after Expo West was over. The trend reports are good. How can I even compete?

Here at My Food Job Rocks, we try to talk about things differently. Instead of the eye-popping products, we look for underlying themes within expos.

Expo West is gigantic, huge. It is impossible to see the whole show. Even if you have 3 days. Your legs will collapse before you check out every single booth. It reminds me of Disneyland because you’re surrounded by the stimulus, but it’s exhausting.

Instead of a top 5 trend report, I’m going to talk about the underlying themes of each Expo Hall. I might have missed some, or maybe I was only focused on a couple of things. But the themes of each hall is really important. It is a fine divide of how trends happen and what’s amazing is if you categorize by hall, you can really see what’s coming and who’s innovating.

Hilton Hall

I don’t remember the Hilton having booths last year. Perhaps I skipped it? Better Meat Co was at the Hilton because we got a pretty good deal. If we got a pretty good deal, who else did?

Many new products are at the Hilton. This includes of course, CBD products. Not only ingestible but topical. CBD is mainly concentrated in these halls because it’s super new and also in a weird regulatory place.

In general, the Hilton Hall had a lot of innovative trends. Plant-based products that were not quite there, whatever-spectrum ointments, and complex tinctures.

There is also a hint of artisanal quality at the Hilton. Cookie dough, sausages, and all that other fun stuff is more centered here.

Mentions

Glad to see Sonar Foods at the show. As mentioned in the Fancy Food Show, these guys worked with us at the booths and it was great to see them really hustling so early out the gate.

Sovany, whose booth was right next to us, gave me a free case of “blended sparkling water” after the show but I couldn’t carry it and gave it to restaurant staff. I wish I kept more. It’s pretty refreshing.

JUST was at this portion of the Expo. They had JUST Egg and it tasted it and it was really good.

North Hall

North Hall is always a blur. The North Hall is a bit far off, the opposite of the Basement. The giant building has a first and second story that just crams booths. The feel reminds me of a sterile fleamarket. Most of the booths are small, but the big ones always pop out.

My biggest issue with North hall is that I have a hard time remembering any of the booths. It’s great, but overbearing and everything blends in. I’m ashamed to say it, but I really don’t remember anything from North Hall. Oh, there were massage chairs where you can buy for $1000 dollars. Why are massage chairs at Expo West?

Mentions

MyMochi is one of my favorite products and they had a great blueberry filled mochi ice cream

Impossible Foods was swarmed. I had their 2.0 burger. I plan to write a detailed review later, but it was a huge improvement from 1.0.

Main Hall

If you have over five-to-six figures and are willing to build a behemoth of a booth, Main Hall is the way to show your glory. It always impresses me how creative the booths at the Main Hall are. After all, they have the space to be creative. Not only in floor area, but vertical as well.

Hidden in the cracks, a lot of ingredient suppliers are there. From what I understand, Engredea, the section for ingredients, was removed this year. There were also citings of Jessica Alba but unfortunately, I missed her.

Main Hall is interesting because it is a competition both visually and product wise, for the big, established players. General Mills showcased their stance on agriculture, Cliff not only had this weird petition PR move going on, but they also had a pretty good plant-based protein bar being showcased. I am always impressed by Daiya’s skyscraper of a booth.

Mentions

Cliff’s new pea-protein bar is excellent. Coming from a guy who eats terrible pea protein products.

Quest launched a new healthy Pizza that I found to be pretty legitimate. I’m surprised I haven’t seen it in stores.

And Applegate is now getting into the blending game

Arena

I feel bad when people are put in the arena because it’s never crowded and the products aren’t really that memorable. The arena is hard to find, as it’s not well advertised. I somehow have always stumbled my way there because I get lost in the main hall and end up in the arena.

Mentions

Simply West Coast was there. I loved their products at Fancy Food Show and I’m glad they’re back in action.

Basement

The basement is located down an escalator on the OPPOSITE side of the Main Hall. It’s a treck, but to be honest, it’s my favorite place. It’s a party down there, like a secret club where everything cool happens.

I don’t know how Amplify Snacks does it, but they are always right there when I enter the basement.

The booths are extremely expressive and colorful, probably due to the fact that both Amplify and Epic Provisions set the tone by putting a nature-themed showpiece in the middle of it. I don’t know how Amplify Snacks does it, but they are always right there when I enter the basement.

From the feel of it, all the cool kids are in the basement. It’s a place where players who get a ton of buzz are stationed.

Mentions

Beyond Meat was there. They also had their 2.0 samples there too. It was also very good.

Regrained’s new extruded chip piece was launched. Since I’m great friends with Phil Saneski, he’s been telling me about this for months and the wait was worth it. They also won an award for it. Congrats!

I found Hilary’s new burgers really innovative. They have a Cauliflower and Black Bean burger. What I like about their philosophy is that they know that they are a burger made from plants and own it. They also taste very good.

Outside

I think outside gives you the best exposure because it’s so easy to distribute your product to the masses. There were a lot of yogurt, bars and chips outside.

 

Mentions

Thank you Pathwater, for your giant metal tins full of water. I was very hydrated thanks to you guys.

Thank you to the various chip producers who are stationed outside. You’ve given me food for weeks to snack on.