The Week Ahead: China’s future could sway markets
Boulder-based Expo West trade show organizer looks forward to getting back to in-person event
It’s been more than a year since the natural and organic product industr y has been able to gather in person for a major trade show, and there’s another half-year to go before the Natural Products Expo East 2021 is set to kick of f in September.
For Carlotta Mast, who was recently promoted to a senior vice president position overseeing all operations for Expo West and Expo East organizer New Hope Network, the fall can’t arrive soon enough.
“The community wants to be back together,” Mast said.
September’s Expo East event in Philadelphia will represent the first opportunity for that in-person connection since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out last spring and resulted in the cancellation of the in-person Expo West and Expo East in 2020 and 2021’s Expo West scheduled for this May in Anaheim, California.
“I have felt so much support and positive energy from the community, even though there was disappointment that we canceled the in-person Expo West,” Mast said. “… It feels good that the community wants to be back and to be par t of .”
In the weeks leading up to the 2020 California trade show, international attendees — particularly those from China and other Asian countries — began canceling,
“but we were not hearing of many impacts from U.s.-based companies,” Mast said.
That changed the week Expo West was scheduled to kick off as more and more large firms began implementing travel restrictions for employees.
New Hope held out until the last moment, postponing Expo West just hours before the event was to star t amid a #Cancelexpo social-media campaign by natural-products companies concerned about the virus. When the event was ultimately canceled, it marked the first time in 40 years that New Hope did not host an annual natural-products event in Anaheim.
“We’ve had some significant headwinds,” Mast said. “As an events-organizing business, COVID has had an extremely significant impact.”
Despite those impacts, Mast said she has no regrets about the decision to cancel the event.
“I truly believe it was the right decision because that could have become a superspreader event,” she said.
“As painful as it was and as disruptive as it was … having a safe and comfortable environment for our attendees and exhibitors is of utmost importance.”
In lieu of an in-person event, New Hope shifted to a vir tual framework called Spark Change, which will be used again for the Expo West show in May.
“A vir tual trade show is not the same type of experience, but it comes with a lot of its own benefits,” Mast said.
“It’s a great platform delivering content and education, a great platform for connecting people. But we also learned that there is a big learning cur ve for all of us … and we’re really applying that learning to what we’re going to do in 2021.”
One of the things that New
Hope is focusing on for the upcoming show is improving its platform for how retailers discover new products and connect with brands.
“We’re really leaning into how to make product discover y easier,” Mast said. “A main reason retailers and others come to our shows is to see all of the innovative products. … You taste the products and talk to the entrepreneurs — it’s what makes in-person so wonder ful for this type of event.”
New Hope’s upgraded vir tual product discover y platform allows attendees to search and sort brands to help retailers identify which products “are most interesting or valuable to you,” Mast said. “You can request samples and connect with those companies one-on-one.”
This technology will be available during future inperson events to improve ef ficiency for attendees and to provide participation oppor tunities for those unable to attend in person.
The product discover y platform “will only strengthen our shows moving for ward,” Mast said. “We don’t think in-person shows are going anywhere, but we believe that this technology can help us reach more people.”
Looking ahead to Expo East in September, Mast said the Philadelphia event will feature some of New Hope’s programming that is usually saved for the much larger Expo West show.
“I feel like this is an oppor tunity to write a new stor y for Expo East,” Mast said. “It doesn’t have to always be the smaller show that’s in the shadow of Expo West.”
Mast, a former journalist and natural foods entrepreneur who’s been with New Hope’s parent company Informa PLC for 13 years, takes over the organizational leadership role there following the departure of Fred Linder in December 2020 and the retirement of Scott Owen.
“Scott and Fred took vision for what the natural and organic industr y could be and expanded on it,” Mast said. The industr y is a ver y generous one where people really want to help others. We ascribe to a ‘rising tide lifts all boats’ philosophy.”
If the industr y as a whole is one characterized by compassion and collaboration, that’s doubly so for companies operating in the Boulder area, for years a proving ground for natural and organic brands.
“Our local natural and organic ecosystem here is so collaborative” and Boulder represents a “microcosm of what we’ve seen grow throughout the entire industr y,” Mast said. “… Ever ybody is willing to take your call, have cof fee with you and share knowledge.”