On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of traversing 14k steps around the Anaheim Convention Center for the annual Natural Products Expo West conference in (rainy) SoCal. Over the course of eight hours, I weaved past protein and pre/pro/post-biotic soda clones, wannabe AG1 powders, “sparkling waters that aren’t beer,” smoothies in baby pouches, salmon/chicken “meat sticks,” and protein-packed pastas to give you my top picks. I have to say, this was no easy task given that the majority of the products felt like major traps– using cute branding like “Happy Coffee” or “Be Amazing” juice and plenty of adaptogenic buzzwords to lure buyers towards what would normally be considered commodity products. But out of the noise arise a few trends and brands that I stand behind, so let’s get to it…