Vegan, fermented food, beauty and CBD all boosted at Natural Products showcase
Natural & Organic Products Europe served up pioneering trends, thought-provoking debates and ‘better-for-you’ innovations in April. With 700 exhibitors showcasing the best choice of natural, certified organic, vegan, Fairtrade and free-from food, drink, VMS, cosmetics, skincare and eco living, the London trade show saw an attendance of 10,298 (up 3% on 2018’s figures).
“CBD was massive,” reported Lisa Gawthorne, MD of Bravura Foods. “The uncertainty surrounding the novel foods listing certainly doesn’t seem to be prohibiting innovation.” Fermented foods and drinks were popular, she added.
“Beauty seemed bigger than ever – it’s nice to see such a focus on ethical and cruelty-free beauty and displayed in a really professional manner.
“The show was the busiest we have seen it in years – everyone wants to talk anything vegan right now with it continuing to be the biggest food trend the market has seen.” Her presentation on vegan food was one of the best-attended talks, filled with retailers keen to find out more about how they can increase in-store sales of plant-based and vegan products.
“We are having our busiest ever time with respect to NPD and it’s something we feel is hugely important in the vegan food and drink market,” said Lisa. “The market dynamics have changed immeasurably and all brands and private label products are really upping their efforts.”
Adam Arnold, founder of branding agency Brandality and a judge at Natural Products, identified an issue with new product marketing. “Being a judge gave me a great insight into industry trends and the latest innovations,” he said. “One thing it did highlight was that the new products that are launching are good, very good in fact, but still many are failing on one critical thing, communicating what their product is and what makes it different.
“There are definitely some beautiful brand identity and packaging designs, but so many are clearly yet to identify a clear proposition and their brands are suffering because of it. Nice design alone does not make a successful brand. This failing therefore leaves massive potential for many to differentiate and make a huge impact.
“Overall I found Natural & Organic Products Europe to be one of the most buzzing and insightful trade shows I’ve ever attended and I can’t wait to see how the sector grows in the next year.”
Among the ‘Best New’ product winners were Bravura Foods, Captain Kombucha, Eaten Alive, Qwrkee Foods, Willy’s ACV, Conscious Chocolate, Wasi Organics, Happy Cheeze, BetterYou, Living Planet Distribution, Opus Innovations, Pukka Herbs, Natural Wound Care (Suma Wholefoods), Motion Nutrition, Antipodes and Giovanni (distributed by Kinetic), Viridian Nutrition, Holy Llama, Natura Siberica, INIKA Organic, Natracare, Biona, and Dr Hauschka.
The Natural Products Special Contribution Award went to Soil Association’s Lee Holdstock, while The Natural Products Outstanding Achievement Award went to Suma Co-operative, and Better Food Co in Bristol was named Best Independent Retailer. The Natural Beauty Retail Award winners for 2019 included Waitrose, Neal’s Yard, Naturisimo, As Nature Intended, and Content Beauty/Wellbeing.
Further information about the awards
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