The Expo West experience is going East in 2020: What this means for you

After consulting with key partners within the natural products community, New Hope Network has decided that, due to the developing circumstances around the COVID-19 virus, we will not move forward with hosting a rescheduled Natural Products Expo West event in Anaheim in 2020. We are shifting our focus and resources toward making Natural Products Expo East 2020 (Philadelphia, Sept. 23-26) this year’s world-class innovation showcase and community gathering needed by the natural & organic products industry.

2020 will be the first time in 40 years that we will not host an annual natural & organic products show in Anaheim. We’re disappointed, and we know many of you will be as well. So, what are we doing about it? We are directing our attention to Philadelphia and are excited about the opportunities we can provide the industry via our increased exhibition and gathering spaces within the Pennsylvania Convention Center and the plans we have for showcasing the industry’s emerging brands, new product innovations and sustainability efforts in unique ways.

Our goal is to create the energy, experience and excitement delivered every year at Expo West. We hope you will join us in Philadelphia. To that end, the New Hope team will be working closely with all of our Expo West partners, exhibitors and attendees to find the best solutions for them in Philadelphia or through New Hope’s other products and platforms.

To learn more about next steps for you, please see our FAQ page. We have answers to your questions.

The $5M New Hope fund

New Hope established a $5 million fund to support emerging brands significantly affected by the Expo West 2020 disruption, ensuring we help many of our most vulnerable and impacted community members.

An independent advisory council has now been formed to help us establish criteria for how we best manage and most fairly disperse our $5 million fund.

In addition, this council will be advising how to ensure we make Expo East 2020 the most valuable innovation and community event possible for retailers/buyers and brands large and small and will provide input and ideas for how we best serve the industry in Philadelphia and beyond.

Led by industry veteran John Grubb, a former managing partner of Sterling-Rice Group and the current board president of Naturally Boulder, this group is comprised of leaders from across the natural & organic products community, including:

The advisory council convenes for the first time on March 16 and will aim to deliver guidance to the New Hope leadership team by the week of April 6.

Next steps and actions

With the community already rallying around our move to Philadelphia in 2020, we are looking forward to welcoming many of our Expo West partners and community to Expo East. New Hope’s account managers will be in touch with all Expo West exhibitors and sponsors to discuss their best options for Expo East and beyond. New Hope will also be in touch via email with Expo West attendees regarding refunds for their 2020 badge registrations, education upgrades, and training and tour registrations.

We have been in discussions with our 60 hotel partners and other event vendor partners in Anaheim and, while policies vary between companies, we will be providing updates on our FAQ page in relation to deposits and charges related to the March show.

As we look to bring more of the Expo West community to Expo East in 2020, we are committed to doing everything in our power to make our Philadelphia event the best it can be for the entire natural and organic products community.

Stay tuned for further updates and news of some exciting features and partner events to come in Philly this fall.

Connecting with us and the industry online

We also have digital resources that we encourage the community to use to help you discover the newest products that were slated to debut at Expo West, learn about industry news and trends, and make new connections and move your business forward. Check out our other online platforms at connect.naturalproductsexpo.com and nutritionbusinessjournal.com. You can also find more information about our digital resources within the FAQs.