There’s only room for 500 words on this page, and there’s simply no way I can do Expo East justice in that space. Over 29,000 attendees made their way to the Baltimore Convention Center, there to get info on over 1,550 brands—from companies that have been trusted brands for decades to the 537 companies making their Expo East debut and the 261 international brands. The WholeFoods team was there in full force, and we covered a lot of ground (shout out to my team—you did a great job!). We’re reporting on the information we gathered in this issue and there is more (seriously, so much more!) on www.WholeFoodsMagazine.com, including:

• Watch for the video of my interview with Katy Perry of Bragg Live Food Products—she shares her goals for Bragg, plus her cool uses for ACV and the sweet story of how she and Orlando Bloom bonded over their love of ACV.

• Stay tuned for our podcast, The Natural View—Todd Pauli of 24 Stories and I will be discussing highlights from the show, with a focus on the topics that came up again and again: RegenAg, Organic, Sustainability, CBD/Hemp, Plant-based...and more! (Follow us on Facebook @thenaturalview for updates).

• The WholeFoods team sampled our way through the aisles and identified 7 Grocery Trends.

• Assistant editor Julia Peterman reports on Expert Insights from the educational sessions she attended and talks on the show floor.

Kurtcia Collazo raises a glass with Naturade.


• Kurtcia Collazo, who handles Audience Engagement, snapped shots of the action in the Expo Hall, including the edible Selffees at the ChildLife booth (so fun!), the champagne toast at the Naturade booth (cheers to the vision of CEO Claude Tellis and CMO Kareem Cook), the presentation of trophies to the 2019 Natural Choice Award Winners (check out the winners, including Bluebonnet Nutrition, NOW Foods and more, here). Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to get a glimpse of all the action.

Rachel Appleton was non-stop smiles at the WholeFoods booth.


• Editorial assistant Rachel Appleton blogs about her first Expo East—plus what she learned from retailers and her favorite celeb sightings!

With Expo East in the books, it’s time to shift our attention to SupplySide West. Go here for an overview of that show. We’ve also loaded this issue with supplier-focused features: Suppliers talk trends and sustainability in raw materials, experts pinpoint 15 key Qs to ask before signing with a contract manufacturer, we explore what’s trending in flavors and colors in the age of clean label and the “Instagrammable boom," and we take a look at the need for a sustainability shift in packaging.

Editor-in-Chief Maggie Jaqua