>U Mom Knows Best: My Expo West Experience

Thursday, March 16, 2023

My Expo West Experience

 Expo West is the event to check out all the newest products in the health and wellness field, It is where brands, buyers, and other folks in the health product industry come together to check amazing products that are all about healthy living.


 Last week I had an amazing time in California at a huge healthy product expo. It was 4 days of stuffing my face with healthy food, sampling new beauty products, and learning about new supplements. I had so much fun connecting with natural brands that I already love and meeting new brands that I will be adding to my shopping list.

 What I love most about this natural food event is the transparency of the ingredients in the products. The brands want you to know what ingredients are in their products and expect you to ask questions. So this girl with multiple food allergies felt safe trying the food samples that were offered. Most brands had their ingredient list right next to the food and if they did not, I felt comfortable asking questions if the food containing dairy, soy, wheat, and mushrooms. The brands knew right away if their products did not contain these ingredients except mushrooms. The mushroom one had folks giving me a puzzled look as they are not on the top 15 allergy list. Mushrooms can hide in foods under many names and I have to be careful. 

So many brands so little time

 This year Expo West had about 3100 brands showcasing their products and I was determined to see every booth and stop at the ones that I wanted to know more about. This is where my need for speed fitness routine is a good thing. With a song in my head and a determination to see everything, I made sure to get to the event, every day, as soon as it opened. 


 This healthy product event has over 60,000 folks in attendance, so it can be quite crowded. So, like an experienced Walmart shopper, I felt like I was playing frog hopper, as I weaved in and out of the crowds. I put in an insane amount of steps and miles every day. Most days my step count was 20,000 steps and 10 miles, which also include my morning run. One day, I took the bus to Walmart and walked the 2 miles back to the hotel, so my miles for the day were 21 miles! I slept well that night and no my legs did not hurt. 

My favorite brands and products from Expo West Press Room

The day before the event started with a visit to the press room to grab samples from brands like Boiron, PKN, Small Farms, Path, Vina, Rodelle, Tru Earth, Verb, Gunna, Jackson’s, Unbound, and Zena. There were a couple other brands in the press room that I did not grab samples from as they had my food allergy ingredients in them. I was thankful that PKN came out with a plant-based creamer made from pecans, so I had creamer for my daily coffee. 


 I was also glad that I grabbed a sample of the Boiron Arnicare Arthritis cream, as it came in handy the next day after I wiped out running. I was so excited to be able to run outside in a place where I am not allergic to the plants and have a lower altitude that I may have been going too fast. I had zero asthma issues and a need for speed. I did not notice the bump in the sidewalk and fell hard on my left thigh. Thankfully all I had was a huge bruise and moderate pain. The Boiron Arnica cream took away the pain and helped with the bruising. I applied this pain-relief cream on my leg every time I went to the bathroom for the next three days and had no pain issues while walking the expo floors. I admit that I used up the whole tube of the product as it did such an amazing job on my pain.

Discoveries at the expo

Expo West was 4 days of discovering new healthy products. From delicious food to beauty products to natural safe cleaners all the way to supplements, I discovered so many wonderful products.

Expo West covers all the healthy meal plans

~ Vegan

~ Gluten-free

~ Dairy-free

~Paleo

~ Keto

~ Allergy-friendly

 Some of the brands that I discovered was a plant-based hard-boiled egg from Wonder Eggs. These eggs were amazing and not only looked like real hard-boiled eggs but also tasted just like them. 

Then there was this amazing celebration cake from Better Bites. This cake was free of the top 9 food allergies and was so delicious. I enjoyed every bite of the cake with creamy frosting and sprinkles. 


Other products that I enjoyed at Expo West were:

~ OCA ~ natural energy drink( gave me amazing energy for my morning workout in the hotel gym), The Prickly Pear and Lime was so delicious.

~ Garden of Life ~ creamy oat milk protein powder. This plant-based protein powder combines protein and oat milk to make a delicious creamy drink with 20 grams of protein.

~ OCHO ~ plant-based caramels. Finally a vegan option for creamy caramel chocolates. These were so yummy.

~ DeathWish ~ while this world's strongest coffee is not new to me, I got to sample their pumpkin and espresso coffee blends. They have the most delicious coffee. Check it out and save 10% sitewide with code DWCAFF10

~ Lettuce Grow ~ I so want this indoor growing tower so I can grow fresh vegetables year round. When I saw this plant-growing system it was filled with fresh greens. I just wanted to pick the fresh chard and eat it.

~ Elmhurst ~ had lots of new flavors of their plant-based milk products. I enjoyed their Maple Almond Barista in my cup of Death Wish coffee.

~ Kibo ~  these plant-based chickpea chips were so crunchy and tasty. They came in lots of delicious flavors.

~ Babybell ~ had a delicious plant-based snack-size cheese wheel and they tasted so amazing.

~ Dole ~ I enjoyed their vegan pineapple whip ice cream and their pineapple bites with chili. The chili in the pineapple bites was very mild and this New Mexico girl wanted more heat.

505 ~ This pineapple salsa had plenty of heat as they are based out of New Mexico.

~ Sea Tales ~ I got my salmon fix at this booth and I was so happy on the last day of the event as they gave me some smoked salmon to take back to my hotel.

~ MALK Organics ~ is a dairy-free and plant-based milk. With only 3-5 ingredients in each of their organic products, it is made with clean ingredients. Unlike other plant-based milk, MALK products have no dairy, gums, fillers, or carrageenan. Products include Unsweetened Almond and Original Oat, Vanilla Almond, Vanilla Oat, Chocolate Almond, and Chocolate Oat.

~ Gimme Seaweed ~ is an umami-rich roasted seaweed snack that are USDA Organic, dairy-free, gluten-free, and Non-GMO Project Verified. These seaweed snacks have only 30 calories per serving and are rich in vitamins B12 & K and iodine. Products include Sea Salt & Avocado Oil, Teriyaki, Chili Lime, and Non-Dairy White Cheddar.

~ Maria and Ricardo’s Tortillas ~ is a baker of high-quality, wholesome, and delicious tortillas. While not all their tortillas are gluten-free, they are all dairy-free. This company has 2 options for gluten-free tortillas ~ gluten-free and almond flour with several flavor options. All the tortillas are made with Non-GMO ingredients. 

~ Jornad’s Skinny Mixes ~ is a leading manufacturer of low-calorie cocktail mixes, zero-sugar coffee syrups, sauce toppings, and on-the-go flavor bursts. All the products are dairy-free and gluten-free. Jordan’s Skinny Mixes come in a ton of flavors from fruity to salted caramel, vanilla, mocha, and more.

~ (re)zip Reusable Storage Bags ~ are the original food-safe, lightweight, leakproof, freezer-safe reusable storage bags. These bags are made of 100% food-grade PEVA. These bags come in many sizes and are great for food storage, traveling, gym stuff, baby gear, pet supplies, and more. 

These are just a few of my favorite products. As I try the samples that I brought home with me, I am sure that I will have so many more healthy favorites. I will have to create another article to showcase these products.

13 comments:

Tammy said...

Anything that will help with my arthritis, I'm all for that.

AiringMyLaundry said...

I always love checking out expos. You can find the coolest things. I'd like a lot of these!

LisaLisa said...

WOW, so many cool brands, the Lettuce Grow really piqued my interest.

Marysa said...

Other than the Dole, I am not familiar with any of these products. It would be nice to be able to check out all these products at the Expo. Sounds like fun!

Kathy said...

Looks like an amazing experience. I always love being able to go to expos. You get to learn so much and see so many amazing products.

Melanie Edjourian said...

It sounds like you had a great time there. Arnica cream is great for bruising, I use it myself.

Anonymous said...

This expo sounds like a great experience. I always learn about so many awesome brands by attending events like this.

Christy G said...

I want to try the arnicare for arthritis. I’ve heard good things about this brand but I haven’t tried it yet.

Richelle Milar said...

Experiencing to go to an Expo is so cool! There’s a lot of amazing and awesome things to see there

Rose Ann Sales said...

DOLE is the only product that I’m familiar here! This would be a really wonderful experience

Cher said...

Wow what a great expo! My son has multiple food allergies that this would be great for me to attend for more ideas for him.

Anonymous said...

Wow! You really got to taste the world, didn't you? I need to try Death wish coffee, and I have been interested in these lettuce growing towers. And I am totally into this Gimme Seaweed! Maybe I need to go next year. Thanks for sharing!

Lavanda Michelle said...

Attending expos is something I always enjoy. It's fascinating to discover the latest and greatest products. I would love to get my hands on many of them! It's an incredible experience overall, as you can learn a lot and get to see a plethora of innovative and impressive items.

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