That’s right. After all of the hype these past few weeks the BevNET and Nosh team is finally badged up and ready to go in Anaheim. On the way we used up all of our free time (in the TSA line) to do some reflection and analysis on what’s about to come. Considering that the BevNET and Nosh editorial team has been fielding Expo-related news since late January, we feel like we have a solid sense of what we will see, smell and sample in the days ahead. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t any room left for surprises… (Remember, you can always submit news here!) Now, let's get a read on what on everyone’s looking for: Jeff will be sniffing out all the Cash Clues. There’s been a fairly steady drumbeat of capital infusions in the past few weeks between brands as varied as Sanzo, Serenity Kids, Liquid Death, Momentous and more. But these are brands on the rise: at the same time, we saw a well-funded company like Flying Embers folded into a bigger competitor. So what’s Expo West going to show us with regard to capital availability? And for brands that haven’t gone to the trouble to call their friends in the trade media to say they’re going out of business – will they be conspicuously absent from Anaheim this week? We're on the lookout for more clues about cash. Monica is expecting to see more brands positioning around "blood sugar friendly" and "low glycemic" to appeal to the growing number of consumers seeking to prevent glucose spikes, whether or not they have diabetes. She believes we will see more appetite suppression and craving elimination claims, not just in the supplements category, but also in food and beverage as popularity (and prescriptions) for GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic continues to mount. She’s also interested to see whether companies using allulose will point to research showing the sweetener's potential effect on GLP-1 secretion to make their case for alt-sugars. Shauna is also keeping a lookout for allulose and Ozempic allies. To that end, she will be scouring the show floor for anything BFY candy-related (and not just because of her insatiable sweet tooth – confectionery sales hit an all-time high of $48 billion in 2023!). As the industry shifts away from a narrow focus on keto-friendly and sugar-free candy, she is wondering which sweeteners have become formulation favorites. Taking it a step further – whether that favorite is low levels of cane sugar or naturally occurring alternatives like allulose – how will sweetener sources influence future innovation? Adrianne is looking to spot environmentally sustainable packaging innovations. She will be on the hunt for brand's tapping into this additional pillar of food-related, sustainable innovation and wants to know: what’s trending, how much does a switch to sustainable packaging really costs and how aligned are those hot new packs with what the consumer wants? Beyond the pack, she is also keeping an eye on fats. Cooking fats, that is. We’ve seen new CPG brands selling novel takes on butter, ghee and oils as environmental sustainability enters the category conversation (and as consumer sentiment around seed oil continues to sour). CPGs are also calling out their clean fat of choice as if it's a nutrition claim. Are the lingering effects of Keto to blame? Who is steering the cooking fats category and what direction are they heading? Brad will be looking to follow the latest moves among the macro trends we’ve seen over recent years. Will there be a flood of new prebiotic sodas? Plenty more aluminum-packaged waters? Have beverage brands exhausted the powdered sub-line set, or will we see new entrants (how about extensions into RTD cocktails too)? The show floor is always the best place to get a pulse on which trends are dominating, who’s looking to break in and what tools they are using to do so. Lukas is also on a trend-tracking mission, but he’s looking at Beef and Breakfast. Are grass-fed and pasture-raised meat brands massaging their messaging to appeal to new consumers in the better-for-the-environment protein segment? Be it new varieties of breakfast sandwiches or frozen waffles, he has been watching the explosion of clean comfort breakfast foods from afar (and is seeking samples in Anaheim!) to understand the true appetite for variety in convenience-oriented morning meals. There is one big question Marty is contemplating at this upcoming Expo: How will consumers’ near-endless thirst for innovative CPG products reconcile with their desire to stretch the budgets amidst persistent, new-normal grocery inflation? He is looking forward to seeing how brands and products can thread that line by showcasing value, quality and purpose in that competitive environment. We’re seeing premiumization across beverages like oat milk and low-calorie sparkling drinks, where free-from claims and functional ingredients have become table stakes. As emerging categories graduate into full-blown shelves, there’s no place safe from Darwin’s law; may the best brands win… So if you see our smiling faces on the show floor – stop us, say hello, and show (and tell) us all about what you are sampling. Before the day begins, don’t forget to review our Unofficial Expo West Guide and check out our pre-show coverage on what’s new in sweets and supplements. For your morning stroll down Katella Avenue, hype yourself up by listening to the latest episode of CPG Week. And with that, we hope to see you all there – have a great show! | 
