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New Natural Products from Expo West!

March 25th, 2010

The show was packed! The best spot to browse new trends is the basement where I was not disappointed. There was a bevy of wonderfully creative products made by intrepid entrepreneurs.

Ingredient trends include: Anything coconut from coconut ice cream, to non-dairy milk alternatives, to coconut sugar;  Kombucha of all different flavors; Probiotics in all sorts of products and agave used as an ingredient in beverages, ice cream and as an alternative to honey.

Nature’s Agave offers 3 different types of agave: Clear, amber and raw. The flavors of each were unique and invite experimentation!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oogave is an agave sweetened soda which launched in Colorado and is very tasty.  I liked the watermelon flavor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a sampling of what other products await you at your favorite natural foods stores:

Rhythm Chips are super tasty kale chips and one of the more unique items I tried at the show.

 
Another "raw" product I liked is from Earthlings Organics – their Rawnolais are distinctive, nutritious and delicious.

 
Capsaicin spiced elixir by Prometheus Springs was incredibly interesting. They did a great job on the flavor. The chilies are a little hot but not so hot that you needed to eat some bread or rice right away. These would be really fun to pair with different types of food. A true flavor trip, especially as a cocktail mixer!

Boulder’s Good Belly has some fantastic new flavors and introduced one for kids, a large sized beverage called Splash, and a handy to go pack.  

 

 

 

Activate Drinks have a unique cap that allows you to add your vitamins into the water.

 Coconut anything is hot, hot, hot but my attention was drawn to coconut sugar.  This is a low glycemic sugar which is similar in flavor to brown sugar but without the molasses. The sap is collected from the flowering buds of the coconut tree.

 

 

 

 

In the protein supplement arena there were two exciting new products: One family of protein drinks from Evolution Fresh are outstanding. With 3 flavors (chocolate, mocha, and chai) and 31 grams of protein, these are the best ready to drink protein drinks I have ever had. They won’t be launching until April and mostly in California, but keep you eyes out, they are on the move.

Another interesting protein product is Tera’s Whey, "chef inspired and functional flavors of whey protein" from organic cheese producers. They even offer goat whey.  With flavors like yumberry, pomegranate, Bourbon Vanilla, blueberry and chocolate, whey is no longer boring.

Overall it was a great show. I was relieved to see that the economy hasn’t stifled creativity. There were many beautiful and tasty new products.

Entry Filed under: Grocery Finds,Websites/Blogosphere