The Natural List podcast – Thrive Market on how to stand out at Expo East

Thrive Market's Jason Bidart and Christine McNerney reveal the ins-and-outs of a highly curated product catalog and how emerging brands can make the right retail connections.

3 Min Read
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Thrive Market, a B Corp certified online retailer, is on a mission to make healthy living easy and affordable for everyone. In this episode of The Natural List, New Hope Network’s Director of Content Adrienne Smith joins Jason Bidart and Christine McNerney—both VPs of merchandising at Thrive Market—to discuss consumer education, building community and what they’ll be looking for in new brands at Natural Products Expo East this September.

In this episode:

  • 5:45 - What’s new at Thrive Market?

  • 7:20 - How do you find brands that are aligned with your values?

  • 8:20 - Partnering with brands on consumer education.

  • 9:50 - Onboarding brands to the Thrive community.

  • 12:30 - What attributes, values and commitments are important to Thrive Market?

  • 13:15 - Shifting gears to Expo East—big trends and more!

  • 18:00 - How can brands stand out at Natural Products Expo East?

  • 21:20 - Christine's tip for perfecting your pitch to retailers.

  • 24:20 - Jason and Christine's insights on natural products innovation.

  • 26:40 - How much messaging should go on your label?

  • 28:30 - As a former NEXTY finalist judge, Jason recalls the excitement behind the NEXTY Awards. 

  • 29:30 - It’s time for The List with Jess and Adrienne! Jason and Christine share their top product picks.

Brands featured in this episode’s segment of The List ...

Jason Bidart’s Product Picks: Philosopher Foods Sprouted Almond Butter; Good Culture Organic Double Cream Cottage Cheese; Thrive Market Organic Colombian Coffee; OLIPOP Root Beer; Seven Sundays Sunflower Cereal; and ALOHA Kona Bar.

Christine McNerney’s Product Picks: Semaine Health PMS and Period Support; Indie Lee COQ-10 Toner; f.a.e. Beauty Collagen Latte in Matcha; Mad Hippie MicroDermabrasion Facial; Thrive Market Spice Jars; and Food Huggers Reusable Food Savers.

Enjoy this new episode here and wherever you listen to your podcasts, including Spotify, Apple and Google.  

Interested in being a guest on The Natural List? Email us at [email protected].

Our guests

About Jason Bidart

Vice President of Merchandising, Food at Thrive Market
Thrive Market

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About Christine McNerney

Vice President of Merchandising Ops + Home, Health & Beauty
Thrive Market

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Your hosts 

About Jessica Rubino 

Jessica Rubino

Jessica Rubino is a natural products industry expert and content strategist with more than 15 years experience in media, events and natural products. As New Hope Network’s vice president of content, Jessica oversees digital and print content, conference programming and branded content for CPGs, retailers, investors and service providers. Jessica is passionate about using innovation as a force for good and leveraging content to spark the changes we want to see in the world.  

About Adrienne Smith 

Adrienne Smith

Adrienne Smith is the director of content for newhope.com and the editor-in-chief of Natural Foods Merchandiser magazine where she helps ideate and produce content for natural products retailers, brands and entrepreneurs. Before coming to New Hope Network, she spent nearly two decades writing about food and beverage products and trends for the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Trade in Madrid, Spain, as well as for publications including the International Herald Tribune/New York Times and El País.

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