Natural Products Business School: An insider’s look at the NEXTY Awards

Winning a NEXTY Award comes with a range of benefits for more established companies and emerging brands alike. From direct exposure to a large group of industry experts including New Hope’s editorial team, retailers, distributors, investors and others, to extensive coverage in Natural Foods Merchandiser magazine, on newhope.com and other media outlets, winning one of these coveted industry awards can have a long-term impact on both the brand and the industry at large.

Beyond nominating a newly launched natural CPG product, brands are asked to provide in-depth answers to a long list of questions that touch on attributes including sustainability, ingredients standards, diversity, supply chain and sourcing. Additionally, the program focuses heavily on the “three I’s:” Inspiration, Integrity and Innovation.

That’s all great. But what does it actually take to win a NEXTY Award? What do the judges really talk about during the judging process? Do they really read all the responses? Is taste important? What can a brand do to improve its chances of winning a NEXTY Award?

These questions and more will be the topic of the Natural Products Business School session, NEXTY Judges Tell All: How to Win Industry Awards, at 2:20 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, on the Natural Products Expo Virtual Community platform.

This panel discussion will be led by New Hope Network’s content director and NEXTY program manager Adrienne Smith, who will be joined by longtime NEXTY judge and Nutrition Business Journal senior industry analyst Claire Morton Reynolds, along with former NEXTY guest judge Holly Adrien, the natural and organics strategy and innovation manager for The Kroger Co.

Together, these panelists will discuss what attributes and values make a NEXTY-nominated product truly stand out to the judges, as well as how preparing for these programs can help support a brand’s retail and investment strategies.