Garrett McBride [00:00:09]:
Hey there. Welcome to Get the Scoop with Smirk’s podcast, where bulk ingredient conversation happens. We’re sharing our knowledge and expertise as bulk ingredient importers, tapping into the latest trends we are seeing and commenting on what that means for natural food businesses as they approach ingredient purchasing, product development, and marketing. You’ll hear the latest market reports, ingredient specifications, and product applications from Smirk’s’ in house experts, as well as origin stories from our growers and processors around the world. Listen in for the scoop on what’s happening with bulk ingredients.
Garrett McBride [00:00:49]:
Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Get the Scoop with Smirk’s episode 17. I’m Elisa Louis. And joining me today is my colleague, Jessica Warden.
Jessica Warden [00:00:58]:
Hey, friends.
Elisa Louis [00:01:00]:
In this episode, we’re breaking down the trends we saw at Expo West’s show in Anaheim this March. And, you know, as a bulk organic and non GMO conventional ingredient importer and supplier, SMIRCs is very active in Anaheim. Not only do we exhibit at Expo West, but we’re also in the Fresh Ideas organic marketplace and the nearby Southern California IFT show. So today, really, you’re gonna wanna hear all the things we have to say, but high level, some of the things that we’ll go over are nutrient dense snacks to the rise of nostalgic flavors and innovative global products. We’ll really dive into the major trends we uncovered at expo. So, Jessica, big welcome to you.
Jessica Warden [00:01:45]:
What’s up, Elisa? I have to say I’ve been dreading. Do I’m just kidding. I’ve been looking forward to recording this podcast ever since we’ve gotten back from Anaheim. It’s always a a fun one to recap. So thanks for having me.
Elisa Louis [00:01:58]:
Absolutely. This is gonna be a lot of fun. And not only are we podcast buddies, but we were sharing a house at the show. Right? Yes. Yay. There you have it. Meeting you. Alright.
Elisa Louis [00:02:11]:
Well, a little a few stats before we kinda get into it here. So this year, they reported 70,000 attendees at the show and around 3,000 or so exhibitors at Expo West. And this compares to last year, like, they reported around 65,000 and roughly 3,300 exhibitors in 2024. So some good stats. And the schedule was different this year. Right?
Jessica Warden [00:02:38]:
Yes. Yep. I liked it.
Elisa Louis [00:02:40]:
You know, having them shorten it up made it more condensed time frame between Wednesday through Friday with the limited hours the final day. And Tuesday, we opened up in the fresh ideas organic marketplace, and that place was hopping.
Jessica Warden [00:02:57]:
Oh, yeah. Definitely.
Elisa Louis [00:02:59]:
I mean, could you believe the visitors that were lining up around the corner? And we felt like we were, I don’t know, the cool place to be. But, maybe that’s because there are actually nothing else going on during that time, Jessica, but we could feel good about it.
Jessica Warden [00:03:16]:
I don’t know. I think the line at our booth definitely rivaled that of all of the hotel coffee shops. So Smurk’s booth specifically, that was the place to be, I think.
Elisa Louis [00:03:25]:
There you go. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Exactly. Alright. Well, let’s break it down with some stats, Jessica. They reported that there were some 70,000 attendees at the show this year with about 3,000 exhibitors.
Jessica Warden [00:03:40]:
Okay.
Elisa Louis [00:03:41]:
Last year, they said around 65,000 attendees with about 3,300 exhibitors. So pretty good stats. Yeah. Schedule this year is of course, you know, was shortened and being Wednesday through Friday with limited, hours on the last day, that was kind of a different format.
Jessica Warden [00:04:02]:
Whoop whoop. No Saturday.
Elisa Louis [00:04:04]:
Yeah. We got our weekend back.
Jessica Warden [00:04:06]:
Yeah. Exactly.
Elisa Louis [00:04:09]:
And, Tuesday, when we opened up, we felt like kind of the cool kids in town, maybe because there’s nothing else going on. But over at the Fresh Ideas organic marketplace, the place was hopping. Right?
Jessica Warden [00:04:23]:
Yeah. For sure. It was very busy. Lots of great conversations in that first day for sure.
Elisa Louis [00:04:29]:
Definitely. And the fact that we were in a captive audience didn’t hurt, but then we really had to divide and conquer with our team because we had the Southern California IFT show that opened up at 03:30. So half our team headed over to that show to cover that one as well. And I gotta say, I mean, despite all the traffic congestion that people were facing trying to get from one place to the other, the, SoCal IFT was quite busy.
Jessica Warden [00:05:00]:
Oh, yeah. So Yeah. For sure. It was even I mean, through the end too, you know, it was it stayed really busy through most of the show hours. So that was great.
Elisa Louis [00:05:10]:
It definitely did. Yeah. And for those of you who haven’t been to that show, I think it’s really great because it really is a place for anybody looking for very specific ingredients to find it. I mean, you can find just about anything just walking up and down those aisles. And it’s just a great place to network with people. I mean, we had so many customer and supplier engagements there. It was a lot of fun.
Jessica Warden [00:05:41]:
For sure. I agree. It was a nice way to start off the expo where, you know, you kinda see a lot of your industry friends starting in the organic marketplace. But then when you get over to IFT, it’s like, oh, a great way to kick off the week for expo. That’s for sure.
Elisa Louis [00:05:56]:
Andrea Wien Absolutely. So without further ado, let’s dig in to these trends. Jessica, do you wanna start us off? Andrea Wien I
Jessica Warden [00:06:04]:
got my shovel. I’m ready. Andrea Wien Right. Andrea Wien Yeah, for sure. So a lot of what we saw doesn’t come with a lot of surprise. It’s, you know, what we kind of have come to see over the last few years, and we just see a lot of growth in these continued snacking trends. And so nutrient density, definitely protein packed snacks ruled the aisles. This year, protein was king, and a lot of it was not your typical protein applications.
Jessica Warden [00:06:33]:
We saw a lot of a surge in versions of our favorite foods being enriched with protein. So pasta, pasta sauce, overnight oats, pancakes, you know, some of the fruit bars. I think, Elisa, you mentioned you saw protein pretzels. And so that’s really fun to just kind of see new and, inventive ways to really pack that protein punch is what I’m trying to say. That’s also not to disregard that protein drinks are still going strong. So, basically, we’re seeing protein applications as far as from an ingredient level, whether it’s pea protein, whey powder, other plant based proteins, whether they’re from nuts or other kind of creative options, that’s definitely something that we’re still continuing to see readily available there at the show.
Elisa Louis [00:07:25]:
I couldn’t agree more. The protein trend was certainly not unexpected. Mhmm. But what did surprise me as compared to 2024 was all the real meat products that were at the show. I’m not talking about plant based meat. I’m talking about real meat.
Jessica Warden [00:07:45]:
Yeah. Like our meats. We have the meats. Everybody was there with the meats. Yeah. Exactly.
Elisa Louis [00:07:50]:
It was absolutely there. So that was very interesting. The meat sticks, the meat jerky, and all the different flavors, You could find it all. But that’s not to say that there weren’t all of those plant based products as well, you know, all the the different ones that we’ve seen in the past. But what caught my eye as something new and different this year was some of the seafood products Yeah. That are popping up like smoked salmon. Right. That was really interesting.
Jessica Warden [00:08:24]:
Yeah. I agree. Lot of fun to kinda just see what each year is gonna bring an innovation. But speaking of maybe high dollar proteins, what is your take on this egg related, products this year, some of the growth we’ve seen there?
Elisa Louis [00:08:42]:
I was really keying in on that one, just knowing that it’s top of mind for consumers these days, as far as like, not only the price of eggs, but finding protein, sources of protein, like an egg. And so what I definitely noticed was that there were a lot of different egg replacement products. And so I saw things like what a vegan would be looking for, or maybe just somebody who wants to eat more plant based food.
Jessica Warden [00:09:13]:
Sure.
Elisa Louis [00:09:14]:
Like a real hardboiled egg looking product. I mean, I was kind of blown away by in terms of the look and the texture. It seemed like a hard boiled egg and it was like a kind of nice on the go type product or easy product to throw in your salad or whatever.
Jessica Warden [00:09:33]:
Right.
Elisa Louis [00:09:33]:
And it was made from almonds, cashews and coconut milk. Oh, wow. Super interesting.
Jessica Warden [00:09:38]:
Definitely.
Elisa Louis [00:09:40]:
I thought it was pretty good. And it did win a Nextee award, which isn’t was, you know, so kudos to them. Yeah. There was a plant based egg patty that I saw. And on the flip side, for the innovators who are looking to still utilize eggs in their ingredient deck or really try to cut down the number of eggs cost wise. There were definitely some companies that were providing solutions for that. And you could see that at the IFT show a lot, which was fascinating. So I learned that some of the r and d managers are utilizing a steamed chickpea flour as a replacement for eggs.
Jessica Warden [00:10:26]:
Oh, yeah.
Elisa Louis [00:10:27]:
Yeah, it’s pretty interesting. So the steaming process that reduces the bean flavor and aroma, making it kind of a neutral option. So you can use it for various recipes. Andrea Wien
Jessica Warden [00:10:38]:
I’ve also seen that that particular spec kind of brings out some of the emulsification properties in the chickpea relative to just like a straight chickpea flower. So that probably helps quite a bit when you’re using it in place of eggs.
Elisa Louis [00:10:51]:
Yes. Absolutely. And I mean, aquafaba, that’s been around, but Sure. That’s definitely another one that was featured as an egg replacement. I just think that consumers still want their eggs and in whichever fashion Right. They’re gonna get their eggs or the illusion of eggs.
Jessica Warden [00:11:11]:
Right. Right. So Yeah. That’s for sure. And, I mean, I think it’s just because there are so many trends out there where it just points to people wanting pretty readily available snacks and foods, and eggs are always kind of that tried and true. They’re really easy to make. They’re easy to have on the go. They’re easy to jazz up a little bit if you wanna have a nicer option for them.
Jessica Warden [00:11:32]:
So it’s no surprise that people would also like a substitute for them in times when maybe they’re making dietary changes or when economically, it doesn’t make sense to eat them as much as we, you know, have once the consumption level that we’re used to.
Elisa Louis [00:11:47]:
Absolutely. Yeah. So pretty interesting.
Jessica Warden [00:11:51]:
Yeah. For sure. Well, that’s cool. So, for all of our friends that don’t know what aquafaba is, Lisa, could you tell us a little bit about that one?
Elisa Louis [00:12:00]:
So, I mean, it’s, viscous water from legume seeds like chickpeas.
Jessica Warden [00:12:06]:
Oh.
Elisa Louis [00:12:07]:
That the texture can just be used as an egg replacement. It I think it’s fairly neutral in terms of flavor.
Jessica Warden [00:12:15]:
Yeah.
Elisa Louis [00:12:16]:
If you know more about it, Jessica, pipe in.
Jessica Warden [00:12:21]:
From what I remember is that it’s very much more aligned with, like, the egg white portion of the egg. And so you can actually use it as, like, a one for one replacement if you’re trying to do things like meringues and that kind of thing. Me and my daughter have started making a meringue dessert as a Thanksgiving tradition, so I might challenge her this year and say, hey, we should try it with aquafaba and see how well it goes.
Elisa Louis [00:12:43]:
There you go.
Jessica Warden [00:12:44]:
Yeah. Yeah.
Elisa Louis [00:12:44]:
There’s a good challenge. I I like to hear how that turns out.
Jessica Warden [00:12:47]:
It’ll probably end up, disastrously, but, it’ll be fun. That’s your key there.
Elisa Louis [00:12:53]:
So It’s an adventure.
Jessica Warden [00:12:54]:
Yeah. Exactly. Well, beyond that, brands definitely seem to be trying to check more boxes, not only with protein packed enriched items, but definitely still that gut friendly, low carb, and other functional ingredients. We’re just we continue to see some of that.
Elisa Louis [00:13:11]:
Yeah. So what do you think is really driving that trend?
Jessica Warden [00:13:14]:
I think there’s a lot of different factors in play. Certainly, you know, we’ll continue to see the influence of social media and just what influencers and dietitians and the content that’s being put out is driving a lot of consumer opinion. And certainly, protein rich and nutrient dense foods are no exception to the content that’s covered on social media. There’s this people actually wanna live long and they wanna be healthy. Imagine that. And so they’re starting to connect the dots that what you put in your body actually has an impact on that. So definitely protein rich foods and recipes are featured over and over as the population in general focuses on fitness and weight loss. Higher protein has always been part of that because protein helps develop muscle mass.
Jessica Warden [00:14:04]:
And with muscle mass, you have weight loss and strength and and all kinds of things that people find beneficial in the long run to a high quality of life. Mhmm. And I also just I kinda wonder about the impact that we’re starting to see with the GLP one drugs like Ozempic. We’ve just seen how some of those consumer trends and adoption levels of that particular drug have also impacted diets and consumption and grocery levels. There was a report in the Progressive Grocery and Food Dive that basically said that individual grocery spending has decreased by around 6% in the first few months of someone adopting that treatment. And so that percentage is even higher with people in higher income brackets. So as I understand it, there’s this emphasis on eating healthy proteins because as people are consuming less, then that nutrient density really comes into play. So across the board, I think all consumers, you know, really have started to appreciate nutrient density.
Jessica Warden [00:15:05]:
But with this particular niche of consumers that are now kind of changing their shopping habits, I think it’s driving a little bit of those functional needs, even more so. So I also I think I’ve read that a GLP one friendly diet includes things that are rich in fiber and are easily digestible. So it just kind of all builds on itself there.
Elisa Louis [00:15:27]:
Yeah. No. I think you’re right on with the GLP one trend. It’s gonna be really interesting to see how this unfolds as time goes by and that more people are on this medication for longer periods of time. But you definitely see, like, the brands responding to it because you see the GLP one friendly callouts on the packages right now, you know, such as like yeah. Right? Like Yeah. Gut friendly GLP booster or Yeah. Whether that’s on a probiotic powder or and then but, basically, I guess, with the idea that these products could be die designed to help curb cravings and, as you mentioned, improve digestion.
Jessica Warden [00:16:15]:
Right. Right. Well, cool. Well, kind of related to that and digestion is that same topic. I think I’ve been on this podcast just a handful of times, and it seems like gut health and functional foods have come up just about every time. So we’re still seeing that fermentation is still trending. So brands that are featuring fermented yeast protein, pickles, sauerkraut, I know we’ve talked about kimchi in the past, all that kind of stuff. We just continue to see that.
Jessica Warden [00:16:46]:
And I think, again, as more science backs up how important probiotics are to the diet, not just for digestion, but for your overall connection to your brain and how you feel when you’re eating and, you know, some of the links to depression and and how the foods you eat can help with that. The functional snack and meal replacements will continue to be on the rise. One of the things that I actually tried while I was at the show, I I actually didn’t get a consume too many, samples, surprisingly. It’s, like, usually my go to is figure out where all the good samples were. Not this year. I was busy, actually. I don’t I don’t know what the difference was, but but I did try one of these drinkable multivitamins. And so I thought that was really interesting.
Jessica Warden [00:17:31]:
I mean, I think maybe they’re not new or they might have been around a while. But out here in, you know, Fort Morgan, we don’t get a lot of the new and innovative things right away. And so usually, I rely on expo to, like, okay, what’s gonna be my grocery store in a few months? And that was one that I I was kinda counting on to see down the road. Then we also had the collagen products. So just things with collagen. And I’m probably going to butcher this, but I’m guessing chaga is the name of an antioxidant that we’ve seen and l theanine added to coffee. And so those are all things that, again, play into that nutrient density where if you’re drinking a cup of coffee and it has all these extra things added in, then that makes you feel just that much better about the consumption of your daily cup of joe. So
Elisa Louis [00:18:18]:
Yeah. I mean, we certainly don’t have to try very hard to find snacks and products with fun functionality. Yeah. Whether it’s giving you that protein hit, the gut boost, or whatever it is. But how about all the functional beverages? I mean, of all the categories, right? I mean, functional waters. We talked about them last year, but I mean, it’s like, you know, this year?
Jessica Warden [00:18:42]:
Yes. Yeah. Well, and I think just in general, the different variations of water period that you can see every year, year in and year out. And sometimes it’s, you know, your tried and true brands, and other times it’s new and innovative brands. But the amount of innovation that still exists around water is mind blowing to me. But definitely this year, we saw, like, the botanical functional waters, so things with chamomile and rosemary and adaptogens being added to water. So, again, those mental health boosters, memory boosters, prebiotics, probiotics, maca, all those types of things being added into the water. And I think you were telling me about crystal infused water, and their big claim to fame is that it balances your chakra.
Jessica Warden [00:19:28]:
So again, another just kind of mind blowing innovation in the space of water.
Elisa Louis [00:19:34]:
So Who knew? Yeah.
Jessica Warden [00:19:37]:
And then outside water in the beverage category that we continue to see trend is that nonalcoholic cocktail inspired drinks, natural sodas, nonalcoholic, you know, sparkling champagne, all of those types of products. What’s also really interesting is, again, I I don’t get out too often, but when I go to the old the big city there in Denver and we take in a really nice meal, I’m starting to see so many different variations of cocktails and mocktail both as part of just, like, menu mainstays. So I think it just kinda speaks to the fact that that trend is not a trend. It’s probably not going anywhere. It’s gonna keep hanging around. So
Elisa Louis [00:20:14]:
Yeah. And now you don’t have to just go to your restaurant to get a really nice
Jessica Warden [00:20:19]:
Yes.
Elisa Louis [00:20:20]:
Mocktail Yeah. Or nonalcoholic Yeah. Beverage. I mean, you can buy it in the grocery store and and consume it at home.
Jessica Warden [00:20:28]:
Yeah. It’s like you got a mixologist right in your back pocket there.
Elisa Louis [00:20:32]:
That’s for sure. Yeah. Yeah. What about all the electrolytes this year? I mean, again, like, my mind was blown. It just exploded this year. And as you know, my daughter competes in cross country and track in high school and is headed to compete in the fall in college. So here in my household, we’re like, tracking and trying all these different electrolytes, including all these samples that I picked up honestly at expo to see which ones really do the job so that she’s got something that can kind of sustain her when she heads off to college and it’s lightweight. It can be shipped to her super easy.
Elisa Louis [00:21:17]:
I was just truly astounded by all of the options Yeah. In a powder format. Little package.
Jessica Warden [00:21:24]:
Yeah. I agree. Same. I have kiddos that are just active all the time, and a lot of them are outside activities. So we’re just constantly trying to find the best ways to replenish in between three games of whatever each day. So I’ve, as a consumer, been really jazzed about the kind of continued growth in this space. I’m not positive it was at Expo per se, but there’s a an electrolyte, almost like an applesauce pouch that it’s an electrolyte replacement. And I know that’s a a fan favorite at our house, so I think you’ll have to let me know which ones you guys land on as your favorite beverage electrolyte replacements, and we’ll have to compare notes and and try what you’re finding out there.
Jessica Warden [00:22:05]:
So
Elisa Louis [00:22:06]:
Yeah. Absolutely. You know, so far, the ones that are, like, leading the pack, so to speak, are the ones that are infused with the coconut water powder. They just seem the most refreshing Yeah.
Jessica Warden [00:22:19]:
To us.
Elisa Louis [00:22:20]:
And how they’re sweetened is really I mean, these ingredient decks are very diverse. But you see some combination of a little bit of cane sugar and or stevia or some that just have fruit juice powders to add a little sweetness, but really different combinations. And then this year, they’re changing it up. I mean, some of them are including Yerba mate, that tea to give you a boost of energy.
Jessica Warden [00:22:47]:
Yeah.
Elisa Louis [00:22:49]:
You’re also seeing ones that have additions to boost your immune system to write. It’s really interesting. So I just see this category continue to expand. And as I shop different grocery stores, I I’m noticing now a section in the store that’s really carved out for electrolytes, both in the powder format. And then you go over to the ready the drink side, and you get a lot of options there. And, again, what I saw at expo was a lot of coconut water driven ready to drink electrolytes and then some with lemon as well. Wow.
Jessica Warden [00:23:28]:
Yeah. Exactly.
Elisa Louis [00:23:29]:
So Well,
Jessica Warden [00:23:30]:
and anytime we hear anything about coconut, our ears at Smirks perk up because that’s one of our favorite categories to work in. So it’s definitely something that we can help with, and we can do both the powders. And so we’re excited. Anytime we see all of the growth in that space, it’s a good fit for us as a sourcing partner. So
Elisa Louis [00:23:49]:
Absolutely. And the fact that we can do the coconut water concentrates as well, which we we can bring those in, and they’re more economical than bringing in just your regular coconut water. So
Jessica Warden [00:24:06]:
Right. It’s
Elisa Louis [00:24:07]:
another great option in this space.
Jessica Warden [00:24:10]:
Yeah. For sure. Well, shifting gears away from, beverage, let’s talk about the gluten free innovations that we saw there at Expo West. By the way, a little fun fact for you. In The US, some about six to eight percent of people have celiac disease or some kind of gluten sensitivity, but around twenty five to thirty percent of people make the choice to eat gluten free or cut their gluten intake. So that’s pretty cool. And I guess that would explain why, we see so many brands delivering some very interesting gluten free options. So some of the ones that we noted were Bedrock Bakers English muffins, which is cassava flour based, and then cinnamon raisins, sourdough, and toast or, excuse me, and Texas toast, sourdough, which actually is sweetened with date syrup.
Jessica Warden [00:25:02]:
So that one’s kind of a nice combination of a alternative natural sweetener and a gluten free option. So kind of packing the punch there.
Elisa Louis [00:25:11]:
For sure.
Jessica Warden [00:25:12]:
Other ones that we’ve started to see grow in popularity are things with buckwheat and sorghum flour bases. So pasta options there. And then a remake of our favorite childhood snack, the rice crispy treats. And I have to say they’re my favorite because I really love the combination of marshmallows and butter. So I don’t know if this nostalgic treat, you know, maybe does that for me. But if I ever grow up and I wanna have a snack that’s better for me, this one has organic ingredients. It’s brown rice and quinoa, which I’m sure has some probably interesting textures. And then the other things that were included in that ingredient deck were the ube and churro and honey matcha.
Jessica Warden [00:25:55]:
Matcha. So it actually sounds quite delightful. I’m just still a kid at heart. Give me all the marshmallow and butter that I could ever consume.
Elisa Louis [00:26:03]:
Yeah. Yeah. They’re certainly changing it up with those different flavor options and a rice crispy. I’m super curious about this one too. But, yeah, of course, it’s definitely throwback to childhood. Right?
Jessica Warden [00:26:17]:
Yes. Exactly. And then some of the other things that we saw were gluten free puff pastries, pancakes and waffles made from einkorn flour, which is the flour just inherently with a lower level of gluten. So, yeah, a lot of really cool things happen in that space. Again, I think we’ll continue to echo that year after year, but it’s always fun to to see what’s new and innovative each year.
Elisa Louis [00:26:42]:
Absolutely. And our household has already picked up some of the products to check them out because we have gluten free folks and our my husband is gluten free. So the Texas Toast has already been included in our Nice. Grocery basket. Pretty good. So That’s awesome. Did you see that, definitely nut butters and seed butters well, not going away, but definitely all over the place at the show.
Jessica Warden [00:27:11]:
Yeah. Yeah. I definitely have noticed that. And it seems like just more brands are developing, whereas, like, before it was, like, a couple of niche brands for years and years. And now it just seems like every year we go, and there’s more brands that are offering their various take on these types of offerings.
Elisa Louis [00:27:29]:
Right. And I mean, from almond to hazelnut, of course, and nut butter combinations mixed together. In other words, you know, they’re just all kinds. And it’s not just standalone products, but they’re incorporated into bars and chocolate and baked goods.
Jessica Warden [00:27:47]:
Right?
Elisa Louis [00:27:48]:
Just all over the place. It it just strikes a chord again as we talk about protein, right? Because these are definitely high protein options to add to your snack.
Jessica Warden [00:28:02]:
Yeah. For sure. And they also seem to just kinda inherit just less fillers than maybe our traditional nut butters that we grew up with. And so that’s also kinda nice to be able to just have something that has a slightly cleaner ingredient deck.
Elisa Louis [00:28:16]:
Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I’m I get pretty excited now in the nut butter space in the grocery store just looking at all the possibilities and things to try. And I’ve been kinda making my way through trying different ones. And and now I’m getting into the seed butters. And those were really pretty big at the show. I mean, sunflower, pumpkin, and then I saw black sesame butter with chocolate.
Jessica Warden [00:28:42]:
I had
Elisa Louis [00:28:42]:
to take a sample of that. It’s pretty interesting stuff.
Jessica Warden [00:28:47]:
I think we might have been chatting about this, and I mentioned to you how one time I visited a Shake Shack, and it was a seasonal shake, but they used a black sesame butter in the shake. And so something that has chocolate in it, I’m very intrigued by that. I’ve been trying to kind of figure out how to recreate that particular shake at home. And so maybe with a a product like this, we’d be able to to get that done at our with some vanilla ice cream and some black sesame butter with chocolate.
Elisa Louis [00:29:12]:
Boy, that sounds good, Jessica.
Jessica Warden [00:29:14]:
Earthy and delicious is what that sounds
Elisa Louis [00:29:15]:
like. Bring it on. For sure.
Jessica Warden [00:29:20]:
Oh, well, cool. Yeah. So there was definitely a combination and continuation of seed butters, but kind of right there with some of the flavors that we’re seeing with sesame. There was an explosion of just global flavors this year. So a lot of flavor trends that we are seeing are tied to miso, mushrooms, and just stuff with global influence. I actually got kind of intrigued by you know, we were chatting about some of the global flavor trends, and so I was trying to figure out, like, what is driving some of this. And, of course, all things point back to social media and TikTok and influencers and things like that, but I actually stumbled across the name of this, you know, new cooking craze called chaos cooking. But essentially, it’s this idea of less traditional culinary processes and procedures and recipe following and all of that.
Jessica Warden [00:30:14]:
And so, you know, if you’re not familiar with it, I recommend digging into it a little bit. It seems pretty interesting. But one of the things that I think comes out of that and just overall has been reinforced by restaurants and then now brands is this idea of fusion of flavors where you’d see, you know, things that have maybe more Asian elements being fused with things with Latin American elements. And and so we’re starting to see that at play with brands and the snacks that are are available. So there were a lot of international brands at the show. We saw all over from Japan, Taiwan, Korea, India, all making a strong showing. Some of the highlights were the Korean kimchi salsa and just some freeze dried options and Indian inspired lemonades, which had cardamom and turmeric and cumin and some of the packaged rhodium Mexican chili spiced dried fruits, which are a favorite at my household. Any spiced dried fruit, my kids chow down.
Jessica Warden [00:31:19]:
And then West African phonia rice and phonia rice pilaf. So just a lot of different flavors. And then like we said, we’re starting to see where maybe things that traditionally wouldn’t be paired together are starting to be paired together, and they’re in a snack bar or in a mix or off the shelf product that make it a lot more fun at home to experiment.
Elisa Louis [00:31:39]:
I love this trend. Yeah. I think this is great. And kudos to those folks that are coming up with these new chaotic, right? Just like the creativity
Jessica Warden [00:31:50]:
that goes into it.
Elisa Louis [00:31:51]:
Yeah. Yeah. I think it’s fantastic.
Jessica Warden [00:31:53]:
Yep. Exactly.
Elisa Louis [00:31:54]:
Some of the stuff, you know, that stood out for me was, like, there’s so many more matcha based items this year and that, of course, being a flavor of Japan and then Ube flavored products, and that’s a Philippine, product.
Jessica Warden [00:32:09]:
Right.
Elisa Louis [00:32:09]:
They were abundant. You’ve got that beautiful purple color. And so I even saw, like, Starbucks has a a new drink now.
Jessica Warden [00:32:18]:
Yep.
Elisa Louis [00:32:20]:
Like, ube matcha tea or you know? Anyway, these are super interesting and beautiful. So that’s been something to see and miso having a moment, right?
Jessica Warden [00:32:32]:
Yep. Exactly.
Elisa Louis [00:32:33]:
You know, we saw veggie puffs, chips, eggplant, pizza and salad dressings, all from me. So I mean, I can think back to too many years ago to say on camera of when I studied abroad in Japan back in the day in college, and I just could never fathom seeing miso on a veggie puffed chip or on a pizza here in The US. Yeah. That’s just kind of mind blowing to think about now.
Jessica Warden [00:33:03]:
Oh, that’s cool. Yeah, for sure.
Elisa Louis [00:33:06]:
Yeah. And then I noticed the whole boba trend
Jessica Warden [00:33:11]:
Yep.
Elisa Louis [00:33:12]:
Is just it’s prevalent. Right? I mean, every Yep.
Jessica Warden [00:33:15]:
Guilty is charged. For one of the consumers driving that trend. And I don’t even really like the Taco Bell that much. I like the ones that pop and, like, are full of sugar. That’s me right there and my kids too. So maybe they’ll still put some dates, syrup, and that and that bad boy, and I’ll feel better about it.
Elisa Louis [00:33:31]:
There you go. There you go. Yeah. No. I mean, there is, like, no short and it’s kinda like the you know, you don’t have to go out and Right. Go to the restaurant to consume your drink, your boba, now you can get it at home with a ready to drink boba. So Yep. Yeah.
Elisa Louis [00:33:52]:
That’s a a bonus for the folks that just are craving it and have to have it right now. So
Jessica Warden [00:34:00]:
Yes. Exactly. Or if you’re like I said, we live out kind of in a remote place, so boba is not super readily available for us. And so it’s just kind of one of those things that now that we have these brands that are developing these in in home use brands or options, Xfinity products, it’s been wonderful because we don’t have to go out of our way to have something that we enjoy as a family. So
Elisa Louis [00:34:22]:
Absolutely.
Jessica Warden [00:34:24]:
But, yeah, outside of of boba drinks, that plant based milk department seems to keep growing. Items keep getting added to the shelves there. Oat milk and coconut milk are still very popular. But in addition to those, what stood out was how much or prevalent pistachio milk was. And I think what’s interesting about that one is certainly we know in the food space timing is everything. And so I’m sure there were a lot of projects in the R and D pipeline when, pistachios were running at some lower cost basis. And then now, right now, we’re seeing, you know, we’re in an off year for pistachio crop, which has resulted in an uptick in prices. And not just an uptick in prices, but availability has been truly hard to come by, especially in the organic space.
Jessica Warden [00:35:14]:
So it’s kind of interesting to see such a big push at expo because I’m sure, like I said, a lot of these projects were probably in the works, and then now they’re in the commercialization phase. So it’ll be interesting to see if demand remains high or if it’ll be curbed by some of these pricing or if consumers are just loving pistachios enough to pay the prices. So
Elisa Louis [00:35:37]:
it definitely will be interesting to see. In my local store, I saw the pistachio milk for $8 And I was like, wow, okay. But I mean, I am a bit of a sucker for pistachios. And I’m probably one of those people that might go for it because I crave it now and then in whatever form. Speaking of butters too, I mean, the pistachio butter is also a really tasty thing.
Jessica Warden [00:36:06]:
Yep. Yeah. For sure. I remember very distinctly last year, I’m I’m sure the the brand’s probably still around, but that was like one of the hot products as far as taste and, mouthfeel and just overall innovation was a pistachio butter. Yeah. So
Elisa Louis [00:36:24]:
Oh, yeah. That was really tasty.
Jessica Warden [00:36:26]:
I’m sure we’ll continue to see it.
Elisa Louis [00:36:28]:
Absolutely. And just when you thought that oat milk would might be on the downward slope, no way.
Jessica Warden [00:36:36]:
You thought oat milk was on a downward slope, Alicia?
Elisa Louis [00:36:38]:
I know. Not even close. I thought we had already peaked.
Jessica Warden [00:36:44]:
Yeah. I mean, that’s true. Sorry to gauge. Yeah.
Elisa Louis [00:36:48]:
We have not peaked with oat milk. Not even close. I mean, the number of oat milk products, creamers.
Jessica Warden [00:36:55]:
Yep.
Elisa Louis [00:36:56]:
It was just all over the show. And I’m gonna be honest with you, like, when they started to become popular, I was like, I’ve gotta adjust my palate to this taste. It was just different. Right?
Jessica Warden [00:37:11]:
Yeah.
Elisa Louis [00:37:11]:
But I’m hooked now.
Jessica Warden [00:37:14]:
When I very first tried it, I was actually surprised at the it’s kinda goes back to that nostalgic flavor profile that we have talked about on this podcast and some other trends that we’ve discussed. I don’t know what about it made it taste nostalgic to me. I don’t know if it was just when I’m used to eating oatmeal growing up or or what have you. But I do. I enjoy the taste of it. And it’s not something I will use per se as a personal consumer for one for one milk substitute, but I definitely really enjoy it as an ingredient in certain things that we’re preparing at the house. And my kids love it, and they’ll just drink a cup of it. You know? So it’s definitely done a great job establishing itself as a big player in the marketplace.
Elisa Louis [00:37:55]:
Sure has. And definitely the on the coconut milk side, we saw a whole lot of products around coconut milk. I think, you know, as major importers of coconut milk and coconut cream, We don’t see this trend going away and then coconut milk powder as well just to kind of be an extension to that.
Jessica Warden [00:38:21]:
Yeah. So, as importers of this item, friends, drink up all the coconut milk and let us help you bring it in for some more. We’re also seeing it being used quite heavily in, like, yogurt applications. And, again, the global flavors, it’s a flavor profile that plays well in a lot of different global flavor palettes and cuisines. So certainly around for the long haul, we hope, as the importers of this item.
Elisa Louis [00:38:46]:
Absolutely.
Jessica Warden [00:38:49]:
But, yeah. So but speaking of oats, outside of our normal traditional oat milk application, did you see that there was oat milk being incorporated more into, like, vegan chocolate products? There was an oat milk caramelized coconut cup and then other chocolate bars using oat milk. So certainly kind of an interesting flavor profile, a lot of different flavors in that in that mix there.
Elisa Louis [00:39:14]:
I absolutely saw that. I’m a sucker for all the chocolate products. So I’m really key in on all that. And it is seem to see more and more formulation with the chocolate brands utilizing the oat milk. And I even saw a new chocolate brand that utilized rolled oats in their chocolate as well.
Jessica Warden [00:39:36]:
Interesting. Yeah. Well, chocolate brands, speaking of chocolate, faced some challenges this year. We were talking about pistachios that that had nothing on the cacao market, and we saw one chocolate brand at their booth that just said it had no you know, nothing really around it, no production high production quality type things, and it just had a handwritten sign that said, cocoa stole the budget, but we are still here. And I think that’s hilarious. I mean, it just sums up the coconut market or the cocoa market, excuse me, these days. And it is true when you’re kind of at the whim of some of these commodity fluctuations, you have to get creative. And whether that’s creativity in the formulation by adding things like a creativity in the formulation by adding things like coconut or excuse me, oat milk and other items into your mix.
Jessica Warden [00:40:24]:
But it’s really cool to see how innovative some of the brands were getting, how creative they were getting at the show with their marketing. And then just also the other piece of it is just how cautious they were being in the samples they were handing out. It wasn’t a, you know, everyone take one, please. It was like, here, have this sliver of chocolate and move along. You know?
Elisa Louis [00:40:46]:
You can’t blame them. Absolutely. And, I mean, it’s just a matter of, like, if you really wanted to try something or have that sample really engaging with them and asking questions and whatnot, which our household is quite the consumer of chocolate. So, yeah, it wasn’t hard to engage. But, yeah, it’s been a challenge. And, you know, on the cocoa front, as I learned when I went to the food sustainability conference, back in January in San Francisco, here, we’re really talking about of course, there’s been severe weather patterns in the last few years that have really taken a toll Right. On the farmer’s production. And while cocoa farming used to be a profession that kind of was passed on generation to generation, so to speak, The average farmer, cocoa farmer age is like getting in their fifties and sixties.
Elisa Louis [00:41:44]:
And the younger generation is just not necessarily seeing a future in it. So the reality is that even though maybe just past maybe even couple of weeks, we’ve seen a little softening in the cocoa market pricing, right?
Jessica Warden [00:41:59]:
Definitely.
Elisa Louis [00:42:00]:
Which is good to see.
Jessica Warden [00:42:01]:
Yes.
Elisa Louis [00:42:02]:
But what we kind of have to worry about is like the long term outlook,
Jessica Warden [00:42:07]:
right?
Elisa Louis [00:42:07]:
And what that’s going to look like. And I mean, the honest truth is that we might just simply be paying higher prices, but with the hope that more of the price that we pay is going back to that small farmer because most of these are small farmers
Jessica Warden [00:42:27]:
Right.
Elisa Louis [00:42:27]:
To really make this more of a sustainable industry as a whole. Right. That’s my hope.
Jessica Warden [00:42:33]:
Yeah. For sure. That makes a lot of sense. And it’s oftentimes not a perspective you think about when you’re eating your favorite chocolate bar. And so it’s it’s really quite interesting to to learn that those facts. And overall, we see a lot of those fluctuations, you know, on some of the pricing. But as again, at the consumer level, you don’t always see that in real time. And so the cacao market has gone for a wild ride.
Jessica Warden [00:42:58]:
And, like you said, we’re hoping that we’re gonna kinda see some softening there. But besides chocolate, one of our other favorite vices to talk about is coffee. For those of you who don’t know, I was couldn’t drink coffee for quite some time because it tasted really awful to me actually after I had lost my taste and smell from COVID. And so 2024 was the year that I could drink coffee again, and so it was like a a small victory. And so I was actually paying attention to coffee trends at the show this year. So all good things there. There’s a lot of innovation in that space, kind of similar things that we’re seeing with the other functional beverages. Profi, protein in coffee, so, you know, really a double whammy there.
Jessica Warden [00:43:44]:
And then you have the mushroom and adaptogen infused coffee that’s supposed to help with alertness and memory and stress levels, all of those good things. And, canned coffee with a gut friendly a two milk. So just across the board, a lot of different options there. And then as for tea, gherbal mate tea has had a bigger presence. Often with that higher caffeine content without that big caffeine spike is kinda what they make the claims on. So, again, it’ll be kinda cool to see how all these different brands and products continue to evolve over the next couple years. So
Elisa Louis [00:44:21]:
Yeah. I’m super jazzed about this category too, as you know. And, I mean, did you see the steepable coffee bags that I mean, it’s kinda like tea. But it’s
Jessica Warden [00:44:31]:
not see those. That sounds really cool, actually.
Elisa Louis [00:44:35]:
That was super interesting.
Jessica Warden [00:44:37]:
Yeah.
Elisa Louis [00:44:38]:
And speaking of pistachio, we had, like, a pistachio coffee. Coffee alternative, and it contains pistachios, coconut milk powder, and monk fruit.
Jessica Warden [00:44:49]:
But is there caffeine? That’s the real question.
Elisa Louis [00:44:52]:
I mean
Jessica Warden [00:44:55]:
Yeah. Unlikely is the answer to that. Yeah. Exactly. Well, then I don’t want it, Elisa. I want nothing
Elisa Louis [00:45:01]:
to do
Jessica Warden [00:45:01]:
with that. Yeah. Yeah.
Elisa Louis [00:45:05]:
Yeah. You know, that’s, for an alternative.
Jessica Warden [00:45:08]:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For the non caffeine fiends. I understand. I understand you’re out there. I just don’t know you, and I want nothing to do with you.
Elisa Louis [00:45:17]:
And speaking of alternatives, they had a decaf ready to drink cold brew, which, I mean
Jessica Warden [00:45:25]:
Anybody that’s drinking that is not my friend is what I’m gonna say. That’s all I’m gonna say.
Elisa Louis [00:45:30]:
But it’s a first. I have not seen that before.
Jessica Warden [00:45:32]:
Yeah.
Elisa Louis [00:45:33]:
And so yeah. I mean, there’s been definitely some interesting things in the coffee front for sure.
Jessica Warden [00:45:42]:
Well, that’s awesome. Also, I think tied with coffee is the natural sweeteners that we’ve alluded to and have chatted about in the past. But we like to see the sugar free or sweeten naturally things or, like, the cleaner ingredient decks, when we go to the show. And it seems like there were some booths that were doing a lot of the made with real sugar, which kind of goes to some of the backlash boom of some of the artificial sweeteners we’ve seen in the past. But I think that’s also part of why we’re seeing dates have a special moment, because there’s a lot of date based sweets and butter stuffed dates and date sugar and date syrup. And then, of course, tried and true maple syrup, you know, all these fun sweeteners and honey. So just all the things we’ve chatted about before continue to be there. And I think that’s also where we start to see some of the fun plays on sweet and savory, and some of those things being swapped out for one another, or, like, you would see a honey where you would normally because it’s just there’s some of the savory elements being implemented with some of those things.
Jessica Warden [00:46:44]:
So it’ll be cool to see how how natural sweeteners continue to take up space on the shelves.
Elisa Louis [00:46:51]:
Yeah. Super interesting to see how this, ebbs and flows, this whole category. And what I did find that was different, I talked to one chocolate company that explained to me that instead of using other types of sweeteners, they were literally taking fresh fruit, drying it themselves and adding it to flavor their chocolate bar as an alternative to cane sugar or another sweetener. And they were truly delicious. Yeah. And I thought expensive,
Jessica Warden [00:47:22]:
but it sounds amazing.
Elisa Louis [00:47:24]:
Yeah. Yeah. The cost and then the labor involved with that is a lot.
Jessica Warden [00:47:29]:
Yeah.
Elisa Louis [00:47:29]:
But the concept
Jessica Warden [00:47:31]:
Sure.
Elisa Louis [00:47:32]:
And the execution was quite lovely, I gotta say.
Jessica Warden [00:47:35]:
Well, I imagine if if that, you know, is something that catches on, then you start to get more mainstream processing methodologies and potentially can bring down some costs and those kinds of things. But even if it remains a niche item, it’s still fun to kinda get to have those and and have those as alternatives to everyday sweeteners. So
Elisa Louis [00:47:55]:
Absolutely.
Jessica Warden [00:47:57]:
We’ve already chatted about nostalgic flavors or at least hinted at it, you know, here and there. But I don’t know if we would be able to get away with not talking about nostalgic flavors when talking about expo trends. Did you notice how they’re still all over the place, still on the rise? We’re definitely seeing that comfort food flavors making a comeback. PB and J profiles are still around. You know, Shirley Temples, I think we talked about that that last year too, so they’re still there and prevalent. And then the pretzel, the pretzel’s making you know, it’s having its moment. And it’s kind of fun because there’s the gluten free and protein pack options that we’ve already talked about. But then just in general, you know, kind of your average pretzel snack with just seasonings and nice solid flavors, they’re everywhere as well.
Jessica Warden [00:48:46]:
And I know pretzels are a favorite snack around our house in all variations, and so it’ll be kind of fun to continue to see that one grow as well.
Elisa Louis [00:48:57]:
Absolutely. Lots of fun stuff in terms of nostalgia at the show. And it was not only in snacks, but I saw it everywhere in the marketing approach that the brands are taking, you know, did you? But before I move on with the marketing, I just have to see if you saw this. Did you see a root beer float flavored popcorn?
Jessica Warden [00:49:23]:
No. I did not see that. That sounds delicious and gross all at the same time.
Elisa Louis [00:49:29]:
It’s been a minute since I’ve had even just a root beer float, but let alone even thinking about a classic snack like popcorn being flavored with root beer
Jessica Warden [00:49:39]:
Yeah.
Elisa Louis [00:49:40]:
Float. But, you know, so, like, fun. I mean, just genuinely fun.
Jessica Warden [00:49:45]:
That is awesome. And I think it’s kind of it’s really interesting because we do run into so many of the flavor companies, and you just always see all the different innovations at just, like, the very base ingredient level. And so then to see it on the actual finished product and having that root beer float flavor applied to popcorn and and getting to kinda taste that, that sounds really awesome. I I missed that one. So now I’m gonna see if I can make up for it and find it after the show here. I’ve gotta
Elisa Louis [00:50:12]:
try that. Gotta gotta find it. Yeah. But as I said, on the branding side, there’s just so much going on. And the companies are incorporating those throwback colors and designs and fonts in their packaging.
Jessica Warden [00:50:26]:
Sure. Yep.
Elisa Louis [00:50:27]:
And it just really evokes that sense of playfulness. And, you know, I just love it. The booth designs, the clothing that the people are wearing that are in the booths. It just all just was playful and fun and just, you know, took me back a decade or two or three, you know, I don’t want to date myself, but it did. It just, this is kind of fun to see that. But in total contrast to that, what about all the really edgy marketing
Jessica Warden [00:50:59]:
Oh, yeah.
Elisa Louis [00:51:00]:
That we saw? I mean, you
Jessica Warden [00:51:02]:
know, I’m talking about right. Consumer. Right? Yeah. And there’s the attention grabbing brand names and graphics. We’re all familiar with liquid death at this point. And our booth was luckily positioned right next to Death Wish Coffee. So Jason befriended them day one, somehow finagled his own very big coffee, you know, not a sample size coffee cup. And it seemed like he got free refills pretty much whenever he wanted.
Jessica Warden [00:51:29]:
So, you know, that that boost is there and all the marketing that goes with that and Punk Bunny coffee and just so many more different branding things. And kind of in in preparation for this podcast, I was just researching, and I actually had a note specifically about marketing about again, it just kinda goes back to some of the influencers. And just in general, the younger generations respond very well to some of these. And they’re not really innovations in marketing, but it’s just like that recycling, but still coming out with that creative content. And so it seems like all of those things will be here to stay because the consumer appeal is really what’s driving a lot of that stuff. So pretty cool. It’s always fun. I love the production quality of all these different things and the marketing messages.
Jessica Warden [00:52:15]:
And but at the end of the day, I think my favorite is still going to be the one that that was a handwritten sign with nothing else that said that Coco stole our budget. Like, that’s classic.
Elisa Louis [00:52:26]:
So Yes.
Jessica Warden [00:52:28]:
But yeah. I mean, after the branding, we can kinda transition from our branding notes into just one other trend we wanted to chat about was the upcycled and sustainable ingredients trend. Again, I think this has just been a every time I I chat with you on these podcasts or my colleagues on these podcasts, Lisa, we’re always talking about this, so it’s pretty cool. So what is your take on some of these things, especially being fresh off the sustainability summit and that kind of thing?
Elisa Louis [00:52:56]:
Yeah. I really took a notice to it for sure. And definitely what stuck out for me was there’s upcycled rice. I mean, that was a new thing.
Jessica Warden [00:53:07]:
Yeah. Okay.
Elisa Louis [00:53:07]:
Where they’re utilizing whole and kind of barely broken rice and
Jessica Warden [00:53:11]:
Yeah.
Elisa Louis [00:53:12]:
Popping that into a bag. I mean, for a lot of people, I I don’t think, you know, it matters so much, how big that kernel of rice is. So Right. That was cool. That’s definitely taking a product that, you know, that might end up going to waste and putting it on the market. So I thought that was neat.
Jessica Warden [00:53:33]:
I think what’s interesting about that in general is that, you know, there’s so many practices that were adopted for so long because brands maybe had the consumer resource or maybe whatever that drove them to think, hey. We have to be at this caliber of whatever product. And just as you shift from one generation of consumer to the next, some of the level of care at the consumer level, like you just mentioned, is probably diminished. Maybe not where the brands didn’t know it at first. And so there’s just been this, you know, really fun revelation in the last few years of people kinda digging in and understanding that some of the sensitivities that consumers had ten, twenty, thirty years ago don’t exist anymore. And so then now that opens the door to all these upcycled options where if the dried fruit isn’t quite as pretty or the rice isn’t quite the perfect size or whatever, you’re not going to get those same maybe consumer complaints that once upon a time existed. So that’s kinda neat.
Elisa Louis [00:54:31]:
No. And it yeah. And in contrast, because usually those products are not necessarily the cheapest, but people are willing to pay a little bit of a premium for something that they know is not going into the landfill and maybe has in some cases, more nutrients in certain products. That would be the case. So yeah, it’s a super interesting trend and regenerative organic was a big topic at the sustainability conference that I was at. And I saw so many regenerative organic certified and there’s other certifications as well for this same regenerative topic. But in terms of farming practices, whatever certifier they use, it proliferated the show. Right.
Elisa Louis [00:55:24]:
I mean, we just saw more and more, and we talked about it last year, but dried fruits, coconut products, rice, olives, pasta, coffee, tea, chocolate, oats, and more. It was there.
Jessica Warden [00:55:37]:
Right. Well and I mean, if you think about it, at one point, we were doing more of an educational bit on one of our podcasts about just even what is regenerative organic. And, you know, I think we’re getting to the point more and more now where it’s not even an educational piece anymore. It’s just, hey. Do you have that item in this Mhmm. Option? And so it’s really cool how it’s just continued to like you said, proliferate is the best word to describe it. So
Elisa Louis [00:56:02]:
Yep. Absolutely. And it’s one of the things that I learned at the conference that is growing at a rapid pace in terms of consumer understanding. So and once people are aware of it, it just just just kind of exploding.
Jessica Warden [00:56:20]:
Yeah.
Elisa Louis [00:56:21]:
The challenge now is to keep up the growth because it’s not an easy process to get certified. Whichever certified buyer you use, it’s a challenge. So when I see a brand coming online, like I just saw on the news, a meat company coming online with it just recently. Yeah. It’s impressive because I know there’s a really, a lot of work put into that. It’s a lot of effort, but you can respect the work they’ve done within their supply chain to make that happen.
Jessica Warden [00:56:53]:
Yeah. And I mean, one thing that’s to that exact point is interesting is that some of the practices that are required to become certified in regenerative agriculture are not new. It’s just the documentation and the and the process around it. So it’s kind of fun in that some of these practices that are very inherent into this certification have been around and they’ve been utilized and they’re not new to these farmers. And so now it’s just kind of it’s basically saying, oh, well, we’ve been doing that all along. Now let’s let the world know that we’ve been doing it. And so that’s what’s really neat about this particular certification.
Elisa Louis [00:57:28]:
That is remarkable too what simple things like cover cropping can do
Jessica Warden [00:57:34]:
Yeah. Exactly.
Elisa Louis [00:57:36]:
To benefit the soil. So yeah. Absolutely. Super interesting.
Jessica Warden [00:57:41]:
Well, thanks for the insight there. Yeah. And kind of not really in the same vein here, but just, again, more trends and more, you know, kind of in the same vein from the eco friendly standpoint is on the household product side. I mean, that’s one of the cool parts about expo is it’s not just food. It’s, you know, that we’ve got personal care items and we have household products and just a whole bevy of things to look at. And so same thing there. We continue to see growth and innovation in the space around the eco friendly cleaning products and soaps. And not just in the ingredients that are being used, but in the actual, you know, mechanism that they’re being commercialized, like, with soap, we’re seeing the bars and with laundry detergent and things like that.
Jessica Warden [00:58:25]:
We’re seeing sheets. So in addition to becoming more eco friendly with less plastics involved and less waste overall or less even resources that go into the manufacturing of some of these things. We’re actually seeing from a consumer side how easy it is to use some of these new formats. You know, like, if you’re traveling, a washing machine heat in your suitcase is a lot easier to travel with or in some cases saves you from stopping at Target once you get where you’re going. You don’t have to run and, you know, run out to the store to to get any additional toiletries and and household products. So it’s really fun to kinda see the popularity that’s coming online. And speaking of traveling with the bar soaps and things, there’s all these options where now you don’t have to worry about liquids and getting through security and or packing them without them getting all over your clothing by the time that you land. So I think it’s a really cool product that checks a lot of boxes.
Jessica Warden [00:59:26]:
And so it’ll be exciting to see how that category just continues to take off, and we’re just seeing a lot more offerings than we ever did before. So some of the eco friendly packaging that we’re seeing is tied to reusable plant based water bottles, which are being used as an alternative to even some of the aluminum and things like that. And then we did see some aluminum packaged olive oil to refill with your glass bottle. So, like, some of these packaging options are being utilized in conjunction with each other to reduce waste overall and kinda make it easier for the consumer to not have to continue to buy the same product over and over again. You could just do the refills. So that’ll be interesting to see how that continues to develop. So what do you think about that, Elisa?
Elisa Louis [01:00:17]:
Yeah. I loved seeing some of these things that you talked about, Jessica, because they we had talked about some of these eco friendly packaging ideas at the food sustainability summit that I went to. And I was heartened to see that some of the speakers there and brands, they were talking about how they were utilizing recycled plastic for their containers. There were also much more corrugated paper being used instead of plastic. And when you think about those, whether it’s the bar of soap or the shampoo bar or the conditioner bar, you don’t have to wrap that in plastic necessarily. That can just be a simple corrugated paper wrap. It definitely gives you a lot more options that where we can kind of pivot away from plastic a little bit and sure. Even some of the packaging that’s compostable, you know, the one there’s a chocolate brand that uses a compostable paper to wrap their chocolate in, which is really cool.
Jessica Warden [01:01:26]:
Right.
Elisa Louis [01:01:27]:
So, yeah, I feel like expo west did not disappoint. No. You know? It barely does.
Jessica Warden [01:01:35]:
It’s a it’s a great show. Yeah. It’s honestly one of those things just like me in every corner that you look, there’s something interesting. I mean, even if you don’t make it through all of the halls and all of the places, you’re still going to find something that’s cool and either looks cool because of the marketing or tastes good or is innovative or is just truly interesting. And then, you know, you also get your mix of finding out things that you know you won’t buy when you get home because you just didn’t quite sit well with. Yes. So it’s good from that standpoint as well.
Elisa Louis [01:02:09]:
Yeah. There’s all things for all people, really.
Jessica Warden [01:02:12]:
Yes. Exactly.
Elisa Louis [01:02:14]:
Who knew that I’d find a a tasty vegan hard boiled egg made for nuts? And I
Jessica Warden [01:02:20]:
I would never have if, like, we were putting bets down before the show and Elisa said, hey, I need to find a tasty vegan hard boiled egg. How many options do you think we’d find? I would say zero.
Elisa Louis [01:02:31]:
Yeah. So that was super interesting. And there’s always also, like, this level of excitement. Right?
Jessica Warden [01:02:39]:
Yes.
Elisa Louis [01:02:40]:
And wonder about what you’re gonna see. And it’s really like the excitement is contagious. I mean, it’s so fun to kind of discover these different things and talk to these entrepreneurs that are behind these young emerging brands. And there’s just that element of surprise when we walk down the rows about what we’re gonna see.
Jessica Warden [01:03:03]:
Right.
Elisa Louis [01:03:03]:
And I hope that we summed up some of that here today, like, for folks that couldn’t make it to the show. Right. But, yeah. You know? And then, of course, there’s those element of surprises that happen at every trade show because I’ve been to trade shows for so many years. You know, I didn’t expect us to get locked out of our rental house on the first day. So That was
Jessica Warden [01:03:25]:
totally your fault, Elisa. You should really figure that out. No, I’m just kidding. No, it’s it that’s just it. It’s, you know, it’s always an adventure. It’s so fun to get go to the show, see our colleagues, see our customers, see the folks that we, you know, source things from all over the world. They come. They chat with our team.
Jessica Warden [01:03:47]:
And it’s outside of just the entirety of the show, it’s always fun at the Smirk’s booth. And it just seems like there’s always a buzz there. And so it was a pleasure getting to attend again this year with you and even more of a pleasure to get to recap it with you. So I don’t think that we forgot anything. But if we did, hit us up via email to tell us, you know, if you saw trends that you want us to dig into or have, any ideas on things you want to source, Smark’s team’s here for you. So Absolutely. Yeah. Thank you
Elisa Louis [01:04:23]:
so much, Jessica. It’s been a blast. And yes, that kind of wraps up our recap for expo west twenty twenty five. And we thank everybody for listening, but we definitely want you to stay tuned because we are going to give you the latest market report in the next segment of this podcast. So please don’t go away. Thanks again for your time as always and catches us smirks.com or what’s new smirks.com to reach out. Take care.
Jessica Warden [01:04:54]:
Awesome. Thanks, Elisa.
Elisa Louis [01:04:56]:
See you.
Garrett McBride [01:04:59]:
Hey, everybody, and welcome to the market report associated with episode 17 of the Get the Scoop with Smirks podcast. This one’s gonna be a little bit different. Today’s date is 04/03/2025. And as some of you may or may not be aware, the United States government, the president of The United States announced a multitude of potential reciprocal tariffs imposed on goods imported from countries all across the globe. As such, we are waiting. Smirk’s is waiting to determine what the actual impact of these tariffs looks like, where the dust will settle, which countries will be impacted, which ingredients will be impacted, and how everything will flow through to impact the markets and ultimately our cost and price structure. So as of this time, Smirk’s is not comfortable providing any market information, too many things up in the air, too much dust yet to settle. So please bear with us as we navigate these unprecedented and challenging times and we will provide you with market information as soon as we feel it’s responsible and reliable to do so.
Garrett McBride [01:06:13]:
In the meantime, if you could please follow us on LinkedIn, we’ll have information posted on there in almost real time. And also subscribe to our newsletter through the smirks.com website. Both ways that you can stay in touch with Smirk’s and with the most up to date information that we have and as close to real time as we can get it to you. So again, no market report this month as a result of the tariffs that are being announced and imposed currently as we speak until we figure out exactly what’s going on and exactly how it’s going to impact Smirk’s and all of our customers and partners up and downstream. Thanks again for your support, and we’ll have some information to you as soon as it’s responsible and reliable to do so.
Garrett McBride [01:06:59]:
So that’s it for this episode of Get the Scoop with Smirk’s podcast, where we bring you the latest market reports, insights into bulk ingredients and their origins, as well as in-depth product information. So if you have any questions, feedback, or just want a sample to taste for yourself, visit the smirks.com website or email us at what’snew@smirks.com. Never miss a future episode. Be sure to hit the subscribe button wherever you listen to your podcast. Thanks so much for tuning in.