Natural Products Expo West 2026
Published 16 March 2026
Protein remained an A-list ingredient at this year’s Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California (March 4-6), with launches across food and beverage categories mirroring its hold on consumers. Brands packed in other key functional ingredients and responded to the turn against seed oils – but also looked beyond nutrition, playing to a rising craving for pleasure and indulgence.
Protein & New Functional Priorities
Free-From Focus: Seed Oils & Sugar
Indulgent & Extra Flavourful
While it was just three years ago that Expo West innovation largely centred on plant-based foods, that category has been swept aside in the clamour for protein, particularly among younger people (see Key Stats) and GLP-1 users (23% of American households now have at least one). Brands are also packing products with extra sought-after functional ingredients, including fibre, collagen and creatine.
While it was just three years ago that Expo West innovation largely centred on plant-based foods, that category has been swept aside in the clamour for protein, particularly among younger people (see Key Stats) and GLP-1 users (23% of American households now have at least one). Brands are also packing products with extra sought-after functional ingredients, including fibre, collagen and creatine.
While seed oil suspicion isn’t yet mainstream – 11% of Americans say the ingredient is among their top concerns regarding the foods they eat (The New Consumer, 2026) – it’s prevalent enough to become the new free-from star, increasingly replaced by avocado oil and tallow. New products also respond to enduring concerns about sugar content.
Food and beverage launches with indulgent claims are rising globally (Innova, 2025), and Expo West also revealed a growing inclination towards indulgence – as a pleasure-centric counterpoint to the heightened focus on tracking macronutrients – as well as fun, flavour-boosting condiments.
Natural Products Expo West 2026
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