Expo East

With this year’s Natural Products Expo East less than a month away, brands have started to announce what they’ll be featuring on the show floor. While some trends (low fat) have started to fade away, and others (ketogenic foods) are just starting to rise, a few (protein, paleo and comfort foods) are clearly here to stay — at least a bit longer.

At the just-finished Natural Products Expo East show, Project NOSH stopped by Veggie Fries for a chat with founder David Peters about the overall changes taking place in the frozen foods section, as well as the way he hopes to attract a new generation of consumers with revamped versions of a much-beloved side dish.

While at Expo East 2015, we had to wonder, what’s the next kale chip? Editor-in-Chief Jeff Klineman takes a look at the newest chip to hit grocery aisles, Jica Chips.

After a recent investment of $2 million, Back to the Roots (which started by selling culinary mushroom growing kits, then transitioned to aquaponic kits that could grow herbs and greens) have decided to expand with herb growing kits, cereal and cereal toppings lines — all of which are designed to bring the formerly produce oriented brand into center aisles.

Project NOSH editor Carol Ortenberg speaks with neat co-founder, Philip Lapp about how the product (a line of meat and egg replacements) got its start, how it differentiates itself, as well as the current state of meat replacements and how a recent Hampton Creek FDA warning letter and controversy are affecting the industry.

What is the future of Indian food in America’s grocery stores? Project NOSH spoke with a pair entrepreneurs (Maya Kaimal and Shiraz Noor of The Chaat Company) at Natural Products Expo East to try to figure it out.