This past weekend I went to Expo West 2018.  It was my first time going and I was lucky enough to spend the weekend with Erica, a seasoned Expo West goer.  I had an absolute BLAST and am so grateful for the opportunity.  If you have the Instagram app, check out my Instagram Stories for the highlights from Day 1, 2 & 3 to see a live experience.

I spent 3 whole days at Expo West and saw hundreds of vendors.  So I will try to be brief with this recap.  Keyword: try.  Leave a comment or send me a message if you want more details on brands or products!

Expo West Day 1

Late Wednesday evening, I landed in Orange County with a large empty suitcase and stuffed carry-on bag.  Erica had warned me of all the samples I would be getting and suggested that I pack lightly.  I woke up at 4am on Thursday (yay time change) and hung out in the hotel pool and hot tub until Erica picked me up.

First, we went to the Fresh Ideas Tent, which housed the organic products.  This was only open on Thursday, so it was packed.  Some of my favorite products were the new Justin’s cashew and almond butter cups, soy-free coco aminos from Big Tree Farms, crispy rice delights from Lotus Foods (try the Lemon Ginger!) and the most life-changing vegan smoked lox cream cheese I’ve had from Miyoko’s Kitchen.  Due to the crowds, Erica and I left pretty quickly.

We went to the “Hot Products” section of Expo West, which featured two levels of new and popular natural organic products.  Since the Main Halls were not yet open, it was also packed. Erica and I started off visiting a few brands together, which I found helpful because I was a bit nervous. I had never been to an event like this before! After learning from Erica, a pro at these Expos, I felt more confident when we split ways.

There were tons of products, but a few standouts: Snow Monkey’s vegan ice cream (give me all the passionfruit!), Unilever’s new Growing Roots gluten-free snack line (aimed at supporting urban farming), and From the Ground Up’s Cauliflower Crisps and Pretzels (brand new company!).  In 3 hours we were only able to get through one level of Hot Products!

That evening, I was lucky enough to be Erica’s plus one at LMS’s industry dinner party. Erica is fantastic at meeting new people.  Pretty soon we were sharing out table with other bloggers and influencers. It was a lovely evening – I was THRILLED to eat a salad after a day of sampling energy bars and snacks!  Here’s my day one haul:

Expo West Day 2

The following morning, Erica and I went for a quick run before heading back to the Expo. We made it for the tail end of the community breakfast for some smoothies and toast with the new Earth Bound nut butter flavors. Erica left to help her friend Kimberly set up her booth for Simple Squares, which I went to finish the first floor of the Hot Products Hall.

I tried way too many products to name.  On the savory side, the top of the list was the Good Catch’s vegan tuna (hitting stores in late 2018). It tasted identical to the tuna fish I remember and there was quite the crowd hovering around their sample booth!  On the sweet side, my favorites tied between Rule Breaker’s bean-based brownies, and Sorbabe’s gourmet nut-and-fruit-based sorbet (OMG pistachio!). For sports nutrition/energy bars, I loved the new dragonfruit chia bars from Health Warrior (check out their amazing Beauty Begins Within campaign) and the superfood energy bars from Redd Bars.  The Redd Bars founder is an avid athlete like myself and (spoiler alert) I ate their peanut butter bar before the Nuun race on Saturday and did really well!

After finishing the Hot Products, I went to Hall E to help Erica cover the Simple Squares booth.  Conveniently, the majority of the remaining brands I wanted to see were in Hall E too.  I was excited to finally meet Mike, the founder of Thunderbird.  You’ve definitely seen me post about their snack bars on Twitter and Instagram.  I can’t get enough of the pineapple papaya mango bar.

After making my way through a ton more booths, I met back up with Erica.  A PR firm took us around to meet specific brands and then we went home.  I was exhausted!  Probably from lugging around a tote bag filled with products and my Garmin said I walked over 15 miles!

Expo West Day 3

On Day 3 of Expo West, we drove out to Riverside Park for Nuun’s 5k.  I was excited to meet a lot of other Nuun Ambassadors and November Project LA tribe members too.  Initially, I was not going to run very hard because I was sore and tired from all the traveling.  But you know me and start lines.  I ended up coming in second female overall and won some free Brooks shoes!  Nuun, Honeystingers and Health Warrior sponsored the race and did a great job.

Then back to the Expo!  Today I tackled the large halls with big name brands.  The most exciting products were Sweet Earth Food’s new veggie pizza, vibrant superfood bars and oatmeal cups from Purely Elizabeth, and drinkable vegan probiotic yogurts from Califia Farms.  All will be available later in 2018.

Chicago companies had a good turn out too!  I knew most of the I Heart Keenwah team from other Chicago vegan festivals, but met the faces behind Dandies Marshmellows, Upton’s Naturals, and Kitchfix.  I also met the team from Maker Oats, a brand new Chicago company that has overnight oat mixes. Their banana coffee mix is great!  That evening, Erica and I joined Grandy Oats for lovely happy hour before heading back to the hotel.  Packing to go home was more exhausting than walking around all day!

Overall, Expo West 2018 was so much fun.  It’s really nice to meet the people behind the brands I love and use all the time.  Spending time with Erica was wonderful, I’m so grateful she was my guide through it all!  Currently, I’m unpacking and organizing all the products as well as catching up on actual work, BUT I want to share these finds with you!  Be on the look out for some giveaways soon – follow through my newsletter, Facebook, Instagram and back here on the blog for notifications.

What did you think of my recap from Expo West 2018?  Which product would you try? 

Disclaimer: This post was not sponsored by any company or brand mentioned.  I received some free samples, but all opinions are my own.

Happy running,

Becca