Secaucus, NJ—Natural products distributor Threshold Enterprises is growing, most recently with its first-ever East Coast Brand Expo. Held at the Meadowlands Expo Center in Secaucus, NJ, in late June, the tabletop show hosted numerous vendors spotlighting key natural brands for East Coast retailers to learn about.

The East Coast show follows Threshold’s first foray into tabletop shows, which was held in Puerto Rico in October 2012. “Puerto Rico is a great territory for us. We are the top distributor in Puerto Rico,” says Joe Andros, vendor relations manager for Threshold. “It was a wonderful show for us. The people are very involved in natural products, remedies and strategies.” In April of this year, Threshold held a follow-up in Puerto Rico. “Everything was going so well, we decided to roll out the rest,” Andros states.

The NJ show, says Andros, was of great value for retailers because it enabled one-on-one discussions with educators who could offer important insight about brands. “Tabletops give retailers a chance to have direct contact with vendors,” he believes. “There were a few minor quirks and glitches, this being our first big show. But overall, the feedback from our vendors was very, very positive in terms of traffic and positive energy.”

On the calendar for later this year is the first West Coast Brand Expo, which is slated for October 25 in Long Beach, CA. The next East Coast show will be held in 2014, and Andros expects it to “keep getting bigger and better.”

Published in WholeFoods Magazine, August 2013 (online 7/3/13)