Natural Products Expo West returned to Anaheim this past week for its 45th annual gathering, and as always, it delivered both inspiration and a healthy dose of industry reality. The show is widely considered the “Super Bowl” of the natural and organic CPG world.
It’s a place where emerging brands make their debut, legacy players signal where they’re headed next, and the broader industry takes stock of where it stands.
This year’s event drew more than 60,000 attendees and over 3,000 exhibitors representing 130 countries, spread across the one million square feet of the Anaheim Convention Center and adjacent Marriott and Hilton spaces.
It’s hard to overstate the scale of Expo West. No matter how much planning you do in advance, you’re never prepared for the real thing. If you’ve been before, you know what I mean when I say that getting from one meeting to the next is no small feat.
On the show floor, the energy was unmistakable. Protein continued its multi-year dominance, showing up in everything from beverages to cookie dough bites. Wellness-forward innovation was everywhere you looked, from mushroom adaptogens to GLP-1 boosted drink mixes.
Sustainable sourcing and regenerative organic certifications had a stronger presence than ever. It was, as always, a lot to take in.
We also had the chance to connect with several clients at the show. It was great to see familiar faces, check in on how they’re using BluePlanner, and hear firsthand what’s top of mind heading into the rest of the year.
Beyond the excitement on the show floor, there was a persistent undercurrent to nearly every conversation we had: cost. CPG brands across the board are navigating a genuinely difficult inflationary environment right now.
Gross margins are getting eviscerated by high costs, brands are being pushed to do promotions, chargeback rules from national distributors continue to change increasing costs, and raw material costs continue to rise. For many brands, these pressures crush any chance of profitability. That’s something we heard echoed across conversations throughout the week, and on a regular basis with clients and prospects.
The tactical responses varied. Some brands have moved to smaller pack sizes to maintain accessible price points. Others are doubling down on local sourcing and vertical integration to reduce exposure to global supply disruptions.
When speaking with clients, our natural interest is learning how BluePlanner helps them navigate this environment. The consistent message we heard was that the timely, accurate data, flexible data they get from BluePlanner is critical when evaluating potential strategy shifts, and when making decisions.
But there’s no easy answer. Brands that don’t have a clear-eyed view of their cost structure heading into the back half of the year are going to feel it. As external pressures continue to rise, brands will have to remain agile in adjusting processes to stay ahead of the curve.
Natural Products Expo West was a great experience this year, as always. At the same time, our conversations brought up some interesting points that will guide our focus into the year ahead.
The pricing pressures, supply chain volatility, and marketing allocation gaps we heard about throughout the week are challenges our clients are navigating in real time. We’re looking forward to continuing those conversations and helping brands find smarter, more resilient ways to operate as the year unfolds.
Damask is a Senior Marketing Manager at UpClear, where she supports the sales team in developing new business. She’s based in NYC with roots from Oregon. She brings over a decade of marketing and sales experience from a variety of industries.
At UpClear, our mission is to empower Consumer Goods brands to maximize revenue performance and trade investment returns through intelligent, collaborative software—providing a single source of truth, streamlined automation, and actionable insights.
BluePlanner Revenue Management software supports end-to-end processes, from Annual Operating Planning to Account Planning and Execution.
