CPG Week: Expo West Extravaganza!

[00:00:05] Monica Watrous: Welcome to the CPG Week podcast by BevNET and Nosh, your source for the latest food and beverage industry news. I'm Monica Watrous, Managing Editor of Nosh, here with my co-hosts, Brad Avery, Lukas Southard, and Jeffrey Klineman. If you're enjoying the show, please subscribe on your listening platform of choice. On the podcast today, we're discussing everything Expo West. So, Jeff, why don't you tell all of us, since you're our most seasoned Expo-goer, how do you prepare for the behemoth that is Expo West?

[00:00:39] Brad Avery: I really think that the best way to prepare is to fly into Anaheim and take a taxi to your hotel, put on clothes, and go to the show. I feel like we've spent a lot of time just concerned about survival and for some reason this year it feels like we're really fired up about the show. It's just, it feels pretty much like there's a lot riding on it for people this year. In terms of preparation, you just put on your shoes and go.

[00:01:25] Lukas Southard: It's a question of is it mental preparation or physical preparation because I feel those are also two different things because there's a physical side of it which is this is punishing if you're walking the floor especially like we do and you end up at the end of every day just in pain. Your feet are throbbing.

[00:01:44] Brad Avery: Yes, I'm wondering though how have you prepared spiritually Brad?

[00:01:49] Lukas Southard: Long meditation conversations with God. It is a lot of just sort of getting your schedule down and trying to know where you're trying to be at any given time. And I think that's where having a planner goes really well. I really love using like a sauna to organize which booths I need to hit and I could just check them off once I've done them. Or, you know, having specific interviews scheduled at a certain time, just paying attention to your phone in between your booth travel when you're walking from one to the next to make sure that you're on top of the time and you know you are in the right hall. Because when you realize you need to be from the North Hall to Hall E in two minutes, that's not going to happen.

[00:02:36] Brad Avery: Yeah, time does just disappear there.

[00:02:41] Jeffrey Klineman: In saying that, though, you have to make sure that you have all of your proper things with you for that kind of long day. I mean, I know I learned the hard way at my first expo to always have a charger, whatever, an independent charger, because my phone ran out of battery by like noon. And then you're kind of searching around for somebody to give you a charge while you have a conversation with them that you probably didn't want to have and your time could be better spent somewhere else. So, you know, making sure that you have a, and you guys talked about this as well in the guidebook, you have to be prepared with everything you need, whether it's your tums for your stomach, the proper shoes. Your battery charger, in my case, it's, it's important that you hit the actual convention center with a backpack full of stuff.

[00:03:35] Monica Watrous: But not too much stuff, because that gets heavy very fast, especially if you're collecting samples and cell sheets as you walk the show floor. That guide you're referencing, of course, is Nosh's unofficial guide to Expo West, which is a five-part manual that we posted on Nosh.com. And it covers everything from how to stay healthy to which social and professional faux pas to avoid on the show floor. And we also tap into the expertise of Adam Spriggs, the founding member of the Angel Group, to discuss how he approaches the floor and how exhibiting brands can capture the attention of investors. So there's a little something for everybody.

[00:04:22] Lukas Southard: I'll say one of my key tips for the show that I do every year is find out where the coffee brands are and go get yourself a can of cold brew for the next morning every single time, every single day, and then you just wake up fresh with a nice cold can of cold brew in the morning.

[00:04:40] Brad Avery: Yeah, and what Brad's talking about is a little different from Lucas's approach, which is bring everything. I think there's a lot of this idea of what you need the show will provide. Over the years, I've really enjoyed the collegiality of Expo West's attendees. I've been able to charge a phone at Rick's Picks in the past, or to actually scavenge cold medicine from MIMO's CMO Russ Barnett. There are people who are willing to help you in this massive city of natural. You just have to be friendly and talk with them. Let them know your needs. You know, from a more serious point of view, There have been issues with harassment at Expo West in the past, and I think it's important that people really look out for each other there. And if you see something, say something. And just be careful. Check your privilege. Imagine how what you're saying can affect someone. And be kind to each other.

[00:06:05] Monica Watrous: I started attending Expo West in 2014. I've learned a lot in the past decade about what not to do, which includes not eating too many samples, not picking up too much stuff on the show floor.

[00:06:21] Brad Avery: I always love seeing ways that brands try and draw attention to themselves, not necessarily from the booth. Folks are always being very clever and I wanted to share from one of my sources her particular way of setting up her booth to make the right contacts. Step one, find the team member with the best eyesight You can print out an eye chart and have an office competition. Step two, plant them out in the aisle four feet from the booth to spot the retailer or other key badges from 15 feet out. and gently funnel them into your booth with sweeping arm movements and a great three to five word pitch. Step three, have the person at the booth ready with samples and a compelling intro to the product using the language that your consumer and buyers care about.

[00:07:30] Monica Watrous: I don't like it. I have a number of, of Expo West peeves and that's one of them stay behind the booth. There are enough people in the aisle. We don't need to add to that traffic. I could go on. I know I sound like a curmudgeon, but.

[00:07:44] Jeffrey Klineman: I mean, all's fair in, uh, you know, CPG and strategy, you got to set the pick when you need to set the pick and, you know, screen off when you need to. I think it's just, that's good coaching. You talk to any college basketball coach and that's just the, you know, the ones and twos that you need to be teaching your, uh, your team.

[00:08:03] Lukas Southard: I'm just imagining, from Jeff's example, though, some brand coming with a, you know, brands go all out in the booths, and I'm now just imagining a guard tower with, you know, the poor sales guy on the top there with his little fold-out telescope looking through, watching for the buyer. Spyglass. The spyglass, yes. It's a spyglass. Yes, thank you. Looking for that buyer that they can then, you know, lasso and rope around and force him in.

[00:08:31] Jeffrey Klineman: Yeah, is there height regulations for your booth? Could you build like a crow's nest on a booth to actually try and seek out the retailers and the different people you wanna talk to?

[00:08:42] Lukas Southard: Well, in reality, there is a height restriction, but I still think my idea is great.

[00:08:47] Monica Watrous: You know, a lot of these buyers don't necessarily wanna be found. Sometimes they hide their badges so people can't pull that little stunt that you described.

[00:08:56] Lukas Southard: The classic flip your badge around so no one knows your name.

[00:09:00] Monica Watrous: Except now badges have your name on both sides.

[00:09:02] Lukas Southard: I love that. I love that they got you with that.

[00:09:08] Monica Watrous: There's a lot of celebrities who attend Expo West, whether they are involved with a brand or investing in a brand. Brad, you've had a few celebrity encounters at Expo in the past. What has been your most memorable?

[00:09:20] Lukas Southard: Oh yes, I've had a number. I think the first or second year I went, it was an off-site interview with Will Smith and Young Jaden as well, talking about Just Water. We put that on YouTube. Scary what happens to a comment section when a video starts getting north of six-figure views But that was that was a fun one that was early, but you know otherwise. I believe was actually Expo West I talked to Katy Perry about apple cider vinegar for about 15 minutes non-stop

[00:09:55] Monica Watrous: How do you have a conversation about apple cider vinegar for 15 minutes?

[00:09:57] Lukas Southard: Well, she's on the board of directors at Bragg. So I wanted to know, why are you on the board of directors at an apple cider vinegar company? What are you doing, Katy Perry, selling vinegar?

[00:10:07] Brad Avery: Brad would talk to Katy Perry about anything for 15 minutes. Let's just be clear.

[00:10:13] Jeffrey Klineman: Yeah, I don't blame you on that one, Brad. I mean, Katy Perry, apple cider vinegar, sure.

[00:10:19] Lukas Southard: I mean, I also talked to Vanessa Hudgens last year. She was at the Caliwater booth. Did a quick interview with her there. I'm not sure if there's anybody planned for this year or not yet. Sometimes you find out very last second. I mean, the Katy Perry interview, that was the night before I got a text being like, do you want to interview Katy Perry tomorrow? I'm like, yeah, sure, yeah.

[00:10:37] Monica Watrous: Jeff, what about you? You have any celebrity encounters at Expo?

[00:10:41] Brad Avery: It's interesting, Monica, like, at these shows, people will trot out celebrities pretty regularly, and they're really just part of a marketing push. And when I'm there, I'm much more interested in the health of the companies, I'm much more interested in hearing strategies, like, I love a good celebrity encounter as much as the next person. And, you know, we've certainly done our fair share of them, but I just, I would much rather honestly talk to the VP of sales.

[00:11:16] Monica Watrous: And we have a whole army of reporters, as well as our marketing team, social media team, our business teams, everybody from BevNET and Nosh are going to be at the show. Jeff, what are the stories that you're interested in pursuing at the show?

[00:11:33] Brad Avery: One of the cool things about Expo is that it gives you, in many ways, a read on where the industry is as a whole and its health. One of the things that came up as we were planning yesterday was, who's going to stop by the Ocho booth? Well, there probably isn't going to be an Ocho booth.

[00:11:57] Monica Watrous: Why is that?

[00:11:58] Brad Avery: Because they're out of business. And what I'm wondering is, how many other brands aren't going to be there even if they'd signed up ahead of time? And I think the issue there is people are running out of money and they're running out of money fast. They don't necessarily write in to us and say, hey, I'm out of money, I'm out of business. So there are certain indicators, and one of them is, we just didn't show up. And it's, you know, it is a joyful demonstration of new products, but also a read on the health of many of the companies and their ability to raise funding and their ability to maintain themselves overall.

[00:12:50] Monica Watrous: Brad, what about you?

[00:12:51] Lukas Southard: I'm always curious to see what trend brands start chasing. You know, last year I remember seeing an explosion in the prebiotic and probiotic sodas. And so I do want to know, you know, do we see more of that? Do we see innovation going after some other rising brand? Are there more, I don't know, Celsius copies for lack of a better word? Are there more companies going for these other types of trends? And I think it's always fascinating to see what is the barometer of the industry pointing towards in terms of who is everyone looking to as the leader? Because I think with the prebiotic sodas, you can start seeing, hmm, Ollie, Pop and Poppy seems like their trend setting. So what is it going to be this year?

[00:13:37] Brad Avery: It beats the year of the butter coffee. That was a, that was a rough year. Rough on the gut, I'm assuming.

[00:13:48] Monica Watrous: I think the trend that I'm interested in is how brands are positioning themselves against this new interest in blood sugar and non-diabetics even monitoring glucose and the impact of certain foods on their blood sugar, trying to avoid spikes. I saw a few brands at Winter Fancy Food talking about allulose in their products, mimicking the same effect on the body as GLP-1s. So I'm curious to watch this trend of brands marketing products as having appetite suppression benefits or a lower glycemic impact on the body.

[00:14:31] Jeffrey Klineman: It's a great point to bring up. And I'm, I'm actually, uh, interested in following that as well, Monica. So we can, uh, we can pow wow later about what you find out. The one thing that I've been interested in kind of piggybacking off of the conversation you had with Mason Dixie last week is this focus on clean comfort food. especially in the frozen space, but also how a lot of brands seem to be pivoting into that, especially in the breakfast day occasion. I think there's more and more breakfast foods coming out that are either frozen or leaning into, again, this clean comfort idea where it's not necessarily fully better for you ingredients, just a cleaner ingredient list. So I'm going to keep my eyes out for that.

[00:15:22] Monica Watrous: That's a good one. Well, thank you all for your insights and perspective. I'm excited to see you all in Anaheim. That wraps up this edition of CPG Week by BevNET and Nosh. Thank you to our audio engineer, Joshua Pratt, our director is Mike Schneider, and our designer is Aaron Willette. If you enjoyed the podcast, please subscribe on your listening platform of choice, and we will see you next time.