Natural Products Expo West is the world's largest natural, organic, and healthy products trade show, held annually at the Anaheim Convention Center. The 2026 edition ran March 3–6, drawing thousands of exhibitors across categories including food & beverage, supplements, personal care, and ingredients. This report covers booth visits across three days of the show, with special attention to companies relevant to Tastermonial’s focus on functional foods with blood sugar, gut health, and metabolic claims.
Key trends observed: protein fortification in every conceivable category (chips, rice crisps, yogurt, coffee); Korean and Japanese functional foods going firmly mainstream (ginseng shots, matcha, natto enzymes, sea moss); Mexican-inspired flavors (chamoy, Tajín) showing up across snack aisles; and exogenous ketones / BHB emerging as the next major sports nutrition ingredient.
March 3–4 • Categorized overview of 50 exhibits across beverages, snacks, protein, mushroom foods, supplements, spirits, and food service.
Full-day coverage from 10:19 AM to 5:20 PM. 62 booths with photos, spanning beverages, dairy, snacks, supplements, and emerging international brands.
Morning session from 10:28 AM to 11:52 AM. 28 booths including PepsiCo portfolio, Korean/Japanese brands, ghee, ketones, and electrolytes.
Companies from the Tastermonial leads spreadsheet that were also visited at the show, ranked by Tastermonial score. HOT tier companies have the highest relevance for CGM-validated functional food claims. CGM score (1–5) reflects the strength of blood-sugar / metabolic relevance.
| Rank | Company | Score | CGM | Claims | Day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | HOT SweetLeaf & Drizzle Honey | 27 | 5 | Blood sugar / Glycemic, Weight management | Mar 5 |
| 5 | HOT Kefir Lab | 27 | 4 | Blood sugar, Gut health, Energy, Immune | Mar 5 |
| 12 | HOT Twin Peaks Ingredients | 26 | 5 | Blood sugar / Glycemic, Protein / Muscle | Mar 4 |
| 10 | HOT Ancient Nutrition | 26 | 2 | Gut health, Protein, Energy, Weight, Immune, Sleep | Mar 5 |
| 14 | HOT GLG Life Tech (Life Cykel) | 25 | 5 | Blood sugar / Glycemic | Mar 5 |
| 19 | HOT Ketone Labs (goBHB) | 25 | 4 | Blood sugar, Energy, Protein, Weight management | Mar 6 |
| 20 | HOT Melting Forest | 25 | 4 | Blood sugar, Energy, Sleep / Stress | Mar 5 |
| 21 | HOT Monk Fruit Corp | 25 | 5 | Blood sugar / Glycemic | Mar 4 |
| 36 | HOT Just Date | 24 | 5 | Blood sugar / Glycemic | Mar 5 |
| 37 | HOT Krack’d Snacks | 24 | 5 | Blood sugar / Glycemic | Mar 4 |
| 40 | HOT Wedderspoon Manuka Honey | 24 | 5 | Immune, Anti-inflammatory | Mar 5 |
| 47 | HOT Octonuts | 23 | 4 | Blood sugar / Glycemic, Protein / Muscle | Mar 4 |
| 52 | HOT SmartSweets | 23 | 4 | Blood sugar / Glycemic, Gut health | Mar 5 |
| 67 | HOT Nancy’s Probiotic Foods | 22 | 3 | Gut health, Immune, Protein | Mar 6 |
| 70 | HOT SUKU Vitamins (KAL) | 22 | 4 | Blood sugar / Glycemic, Skin / Beauty | Mar 5 |
| 77 | HOT URVI | 22 | 4 | Blood sugar / Glycemic, Sleep / Stress | Mar 5 |
| 81 | HOT Bulletproof | 21 | 4 | Blood sugar / Glycemic | Mar 4 |
| 91 | HOT Mooala Brands | 21 | 4 | Blood sugar / Glycemic | Mar 4 |
| 92 | HOT Chargel (Morinaga) | 21 | 4 | Energy / Cognitive | Mar 4 |
| 110 | HOT Hearthy Foods | 20 | 2 | Gut health, Protein, Anti-inflammatory, Skin | Mar 4 |
| 114 | HOT Mission Meats (4505) | 20 | 4 | Blood sugar / Glycemic | Mar 5 |
| 116 | HOT Nordic Naturals | 20 | 2 | Gut health, Heart, Anti-inflammatory, Sleep | Mar 4 |
| 131 | HOT Four Sigmatic | 19 | 2 | Gut health, Energy, Sleep / Stress | Mar 4 |
| 140 | HOT Power Crunch | 19 | 3 | Protein / Muscle | Mar 5 |
| 151 | HOT Culture Pop Soda | 18 | 3 | Gut health / Prebiotic | Mar 5 |
| 163 | HOT Snap Supplements | 18 | 2 | Protein, Energy, Sleep / Stress | Mar 4 |
| 167 | HOT Vine to Bar | 18 | 3 | Gut health / Prebiotic | Mar 4 |
| 202 | HOT Chimes | 16 | 2 | Anti-inflammatory, Sleep / Stress | Mar 5 |
| 207 | HOT GoMacro | 16 | 2 | Protein / Muscle | Mar 5 |
| 250 | HOT Fiji Water | 15 | 2 | Energy / Cognitive | Mar 5 |
Additional companies from the leads spreadsheet with moderate Tastermonial relevance (WARM tier or score ≤ 14).
| Company | Score | CGM | Type | Day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WARM Good Culture | 14 | 1 | Dairy/Alt-Dairy | Mar 5 |
| WARM Queen Street Bakery | 14 | 2 | Baked Goods | Mar 5 |
| WARM Pan’s Mushroom Jerky | 14 | 2 | Meat/Seafood | Mar 4 |
| WARM ALOHA | 14 | 2 | Plant-Based Protein | Mar 4 |
| WARM Catalina Crunch | 13 | 1 | Bars/Cereals | Mar 4 |
| WARM Venture Pal | 13 | 1 | Supplements | Mar 6 |
| WARM Lýsi Omega-3 | 13 | 1 | Supplements | Mar 4 |
| WARM Ketone-IQ | 12 | 1 | Supplements | Mar 4 |
| WARM DryWater | 12 | 1 | Beverages | Mar 6 |
| WARM The Ginger People | 12 | 1 | Beverages | Mar 6 |
| WARM Liquid Death | 12 | 1 | Beverages | Mar 5 |
| WARM Taki Mai | 12 | 2 | Beverages | Mar 5 |
| WARM NutriBiotic | 11 | 1 | Supplements | Mar 6 |
| WARM Truvani | 11 | 1 | Ingredients | Mar 4 |
| WARM Chomps | 11 | 1 | Meat/Seafood | Mar 4 |
| WARM BetterAlt | 11 | 1 | Supplements | Mar 4 |
| WARM L Cell Longevity | 11 | 1 | Supplements | Mar 4 |
| WARM Joolies | 10 | 2 | Sweeteners | Mar 5 |
| WARM Boba Tea Protein | 10 | 2 | Beverages | Mar 4 |
| WARM Mooski | 10 | 2 | Bars/Cereals | Mar 4 |
All 140 companies visited across 3 days, organized by product category. Red = Tastermonial HOT lead. Amber = Tastermonial WARM lead.