Every January, our New Hope Network team eagerly awaits the NEXTY Awards judging process. With Natural Products Expo West on the horizon, these awards allow members of our content team to get a sneak peak into what they will see in Anaheim come March. And based on what we saw during the NEXTY Awards this year, the forecast looks promising. Throughout the two-tier judging process, many themes arose in line with the core mission of the NEXTY Awards: To elevate products and brands that inspire a healthy, sustainable future for people and planet.
Brands exhibiting at Natural Products Expo West nominate their products for the NEXTY Awards in December and January in hopes of receiving widespread industry recognition. They send their product samples to our office in Boulder, Colorado, before being judged on our criteria of the Three I's: Innovation, Inspiration and Integrity.
The preliminary judging day had our team whittle down the 1,000+ product nominations to just 76 finalists across 22 categories. For the final stage of judging, we were joined by six expert judges to assist us in selecting the single winner within each category. Throughout this process, our team noticed themes such as more organic brands than ever before, mission-focused companies, a focus on transparency and more.
Click through the gallery to see some of the top trends our content team members spotted, along with NEXTY Awards finalists for Natural Products Expo West that exemplify the trend.
