So this past weekend I had the pleasure of attending Natural Products Expo West at the Anaheim Convention Center. To put it shortly, it was OUT OF CONTROL! This was my first time attending and to say that the experience was overwhelming is a definite understatement, but overall the event was amazing. In my humble opinion the best way to describe Expo West is to think of Costco on a GOOD sample day. But ALL the samples are brands you are obsessed with. And multiply those samples by 1000. I’m not joking, there truly is a heaven 
My expo experience kicked off with breakfast hosted by the kind folks from Chobani! We dined at Catal and the chef made all the food using their fabulous greek yogurt. We started off with yogurt parfaits then I moved onto eggs benedict which was a stellar decision. The Chobani team was awesome, and it was awesome to meet the masterminds behind their social media presence.
After breakfast I headed over to the Expo. I grew up in Orange County so I am relative familiar with the Anaheim Convention Center but I was blown away by all the exhibitors they crammed into that place!
Highlights
Sunwarrior‘s New Protein Blend
This one is a blend of Rice + Chia + Amaranth + Pea Protein. It definitely tastes different from their previous blend, but I loved it!
Asian Pear & Ginger Kombucha Wonder Drink
SO SO SO refreshing! The Ginger was subtly spicy and the pear flavor was spot on.
Simple Squares
I loved these bars. They keep their ingredient list to a minimum, but what really stood out were their Rosemary and Sage flavors. It sounds a little weird but the herbs played on that Savory + Sweet combo and were actually fantastic.
Aquaponics Garden from the people at Back to the Roots
SO COOL.
Kind Bars
They are also doing a play on the Savory + Sweet combo. I really liked the Maple Glazed Pecan & Sea Salt Bar.
Love Grown Foods Hot Oats
Finally! I got to try Love Grown Food Hots Oats! I opted for the Blueberry Banana Walnut flavor because that is variety of oatmeal that I make almost every day and I am pleased to report that these oats seriously stood out! They tasted almost exactly like the oatmeal I make in my own kitchen, so these guys would be perfect to take when I am on the go.
I’m not sure what booth this was for, I want to say Clif Bar, but nevertheless it was an awesome tree.
Pumpkin Pie Larabar
Pumpkin Lovers can jump for joy, Larabar has officially released their Pumpkin Pie flavor! This is from their new line of ALT bars which use pea protein. The bar was pretty good, but I wished there a bit more pumpkin spice in there.
NutBurgers
After eating so many protein bars and sugary snacks these NutBurgers seriously hit the spot!
Vitatops
If you follow me on Twitter, you may have learned that I lost my VitaTop virginity. Those little things are awesome.
Gardein
Going along those lines, I loved Gardein‘s products and especially appreciated the courtesy of their moist towelettes
Chobani
Obviously I had to go visit the Chobani booth. I tried the Key Lime Pie Flip and while I’m not really a Key Lime Pie kind of gal, this stuff was ridiculously good. It wasn’t too sweet or too tart and the topping that you flip into the yogurt was crushed graham crackers and white chocolate chips! Seriously is this a joke? They also had replicas of the creations they serve at Chobani Soho and I found the cucumber + olive oil +mint + pita chip creation to be beyond exceptional.
tera’swhey GOAT Protein Powder
I thought this was an interesting concept, since goat products are all the rage these days. I definitely got more of a tangy flavor compared to cow’s whey protein, but I kinda liked it! I think the tanginess of the goat whey protein powder would go great in berry smoothies.
Beyond Meat
Loved it!
Enjoy Life
I tried their Sunflower Chocolate Bar yesterday and it was AWESOME! I also really appreciated that this company was free of ALL of the top 8 allergens because I feel like so many companies are free of gluten or peanuts or soy but rarely exclusively free of multiple allergens.
Califa Farms
I have already professed my love for Califa Farms, but they are coming out with an ICED COFFEE made with almond milk too!
Alright I think I have enough buttons and bars to last me awhile…
gah i want to try everything! so freaking cool.
It was seriously awesome! Man, I should have snuck out samples of everything and mailed them to you
I want to go to an event like this! Take me, Take me!! You found so many cool things at this expo! I need to get my butt to one of those.
I pick……YOU! Haha I think they actually have an Expo West! And you should totally go!
SO fun! I’m beyond jealous.
I can’t wait for all of these new products to start popping up in stores! I heard that Tofurky is releasing frozen “hot pocket” type meals and that Amy’s came out with ice-cream! So excited!
What? I totally missed those booths and now I REALLY want to try those products. Aw I guess I will have to wait for them to actually be released!
Oh you are too cool! That’s awesome!! How did you hear about it? I’m dying to try all of those products. My issue is that I don’t have much exposure to the healthy products or rather am so overwhelmed by what’s out there, that I have trouble sampling. So far I have on my list: vitatops (almost called them veggie tops, oops), pumpkin lara bars, chobani (as usual) and iced coffee! YUM! oh and that kombucha looks new and different!
Wait, we are totally going together next year! I actually first heard about the expo through food blogs a couple of years ago. I feel like the expo would be perfect because you would be able to sample everything and then decide what are your favorites! March 2014, mark your calendar girl!
OH. MY. GOD. Im dying right now. You must have had an amazing time. Im going to try and make it to the East Coast one this year! I dont think you’ll ever know how much I envy you.
Oooh you will have to fill me in on Expo East! It will interesting to see HOW MANY new food products will be out by then!
Why don’t they have these things on the east coast? How cool! A lot of the products I’ve tried but a lot I haven’t…would def be neat to have them all in one place.
Apparently there is an Expo East! It was definitely nice to try all these products before actually shelling out money to sample them.
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Expo West was seriously like heaven on earth. SO. MANY. SAMPLES! We had a field day walking around on our break.
Thanks so much for joining us at the breakfast…you’re a blast!
Amy, @Chobani
Ummm everything looks amazing! I would have been in heaven
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