The sun has set on Natural Products Expo East. Informa Markets announced on Sep. 20 that this year’s event, which took place in Philadelphia, PA, Sep. 20-23 under a theme of “Grow for Good,” would also be its last.

Natural Products Expo West will continue to be held annually, with the next event in Anaheim, CA, Mar. 12-16, 2024.

Informa will debut a new event called “Newtopia Now” Aug. 6-8, 2024, in Savannah, GA. Informa said the event “is designed to provide more opportunities for brands to meaningfully participate, regardless of where they are in their lifecycle.”

Top Trends: Mushrooms, Stress, Regenerative Organic

At Expo East, the power and potential of mushrooms continues to be a top trend. Exhibitors displayed mushrooms in an assortment of formats, like gummies, powders, chocolate, coffee, snacks, and more.

Dietary supplement companies also continue to focus on trending health platforms like sleep, stress, mood support, immune health, cognition/mental energy, women's health, and performance nutrition. Adaptogens like ashwagandha and minerals like magnesium were also in the spotlight.

More brands are marketing themselves with third-party validation of environmental efforts, with Certified Regenerative Organic and B Corp Certification among the highest bars.

Paul Stamets Lifetime Achievement

Paul Stamets, founder of dietary supplement company Fungi Perfecti, a Certified B Corp that makes the Host Defense brand of mushroom products, accepted the Nutrition Business Journal Summit Lifetime Achievement Award.

Stamets is also co-founder of MycoMedica, a life sciences company developing therapeutic drugs derived from fungi.

He challenged industry companies to offset emissions, including Scope 3, over the next 10 years. In August 2023 Fungi Perfecti announced it is “climate positive,” offsetting 110% of the carbon it emits.

Stamets also spoke about the power of mushrooms, including psilocybin under the right conditions and circumstances. “The verdict is out folks. We don’t need any more psilocybin studies on depression. There’s very compelling evidence that psilocybin can treat PTSD, anxiety and depression, which have increased significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

But Stamets also preached about the importance and value of simple principles like kindness, courage, strength, and wisdom, saying the return on investment to society is tremendous.