Las Vegas, NV— The Natural Products Association (NPA), based in Washington, D.C., held its inaugural conference The Big Natural on June 7-9 in Las Vegas for members and non-members alike. The trade association partnered with Momentum to help put on and market the event. “We designed this event to address the issues that are keeping people up at night in our industry,” said Dan Fabricant, Ph.D., president and CEO of NPA in a press release. “Based on the feedback that we’ve received, we accomplished what we set out to do.”

The conference featured workshops and in depth education sessions and panels, covering some of the most important industry topics such as the regulatory atmosphere, particularly with regard toadvertising, the value of self regulation and transparency. On top of the valuable insight and information, The Big Natural also uses 100% of its profits to support further educational and advocacy initiatives.

At Big Natural, NPA honored the best and brightest in our industry with its 24thAnnual NPA Awards. The President’s Award went to Roxanne Greene who has spent 34 years as a member-owner/staff member of PCC Natural Markets, based in Seattle, WA, currently HBC coordinator at the retailer’s Redmond location.  The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Charles McClain “Mac” Haddow and John Haddow who are partners at Upstream Consulting, a government relations, public affairs, and management consulting firm in Washington, DC. and assisted in the passage of DSHEA. The Industry Champion Award went to Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) who was a chief architect of the DSHEA and has continued to be a fervent ally and advocate to the natural products industry. Finally, the Novel Ingredient and Science Award went to Nutrition 21 for their ingredient, Nitrosigine which has achieved FDA New Dietary Ingredient (NDI) notification status and affirmed Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) at the level of 1,500 mg per day for use in nutritional bars and beverages. The ingredient bonds arginine and silicate, designed to boost nitric oxide levels.

The Big Natural was also an opportunity for NPA to elect a newBoard of Directors, with Mark Ledoux, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Natural Alternatives International, serving as the chair. “NPA has turned a page, borrowing from its venerable past, and having the courage to look at the future with clarity and confidence in its purpose,” said Ledoux in a press release. “The Big Natural event marks a pivot point for NPA and the industry in many ways, by asking the tough questions of the experts and not being afraid to get the answers.”