Inside Six Major Trends From Expo West '23

Read Time

10 min

Inside Six Major Trends From Expo West '23
Share:

I woke up last Thursday dreading an hour-plus drive down to the Anaheim Convention Center (aka Disneyland) to go see the 3k+ brands exhibiting at Expo West for an audience of 60k+ people. Despite the sheer size of this conference, I was glad I made it. I spent most of my time in the North Hall viewing the "Hot Products," which I later learned did not refer to the temperature, but rather the fact that these were all startups. By the end of the day, I had consumed copious amounts of plant-based fish and eggs, fungi, and of course, regenerative veggies and meat snacks. All in the name of investigative journalism. Below is a summary of the key themes that encompass my favorite products I came across during my day-long journey.

@hngrytv Beta tasting future foods at Expo West ‘23 #alternativeprotein ♬ TikTok 90s house fashion Show(1279332) - Ninja Muzik Tokyo

Fungi-based protein

If one thing was clear, it was that Meati spent boatloads to make sure everyone knew that it had finally arrived. It had a food truck greeting everyone at the entrance, staircase ads in the Hot Products hall, and a booth sitting side-by-side with Momofuku Goods, the CPG line of its namesake restaurant. I sampled chicken and waffles, a carne asada skewer, a Momofuku Crispy Cutlet bao bun, and plain old Meati steak for good measure. Like most meat alternatives, Meati truly shines as a prepared ingredient rather than a center-plate protein.

Subscribe to continue reading

Sign up now for HNGRY Trends to read weekly stories like this and join the community of hundreds of food tech industry insiders from CloudKitchens, Uber, DoorDash, GoPuff, and more.

Already a member? Log in

Back to articles

Artboard 1

Email

info@hngry.tv