Expo West 2016 Full Recap! Trick-Or-Treating for Adults with some of my favorite companies!

April 4, 2016 -
11 comments, add yours

Happy Monday, friends! Hope you’re having a great start to your week!

Today I wanted to recap my awesome experience from Expo West 2016! For those that don’t know — Expo West (Natural Products Expo West) is a leading trade show in the natural, organic and healthy products industry, attracting over 70,000 industry professionals and 3,000 exhibits to the Anaheim Convention Center in California.

My girl from FitnessQuest10, Bailee, made the trip with me and she loved experiencing this world for the first time. I loved introducing her to everyone & she really enjoyed herself.

IMG_5504

A TON of companies are there and a few of them I am thankful to have awesome relationships with through blogging so it’s always fun to meet up! Not only is this like Trick-Or-Treating for adults and heaven for a foodie blogger — but it’s also an awesome time to learn more about new products coming out this year or next, learn about the companies, & make great connections.

IMG_5502

Fact: I’m really good at looking at the camera.

The morning started out with a fun run with my friends from Nutrex-Hawaii (you can use code PCTrue25 for 25% off)! These are the same rad people who I spent my time with while at the Nutrex-Hawaii Nutrition Summit a few years back and seeing them is just like reconnecting with family! Love their awesome energy.

I highly suggest checking out my recap’s to learn about Spirulina & BioAstin – two amazing things to add into your daily intake.

IMG_5499

They even have a NEW PROTEIN POWDER that launched and they mixed up some samples for us after the run — it was so good!

After the run we headed inside to meet up with one of my blog partners – NOW Foods! I signed on to work with NOW Foods for 2016 and I am so proud to be a partner with them. They truly care about their quality products and I wouldn’t align with a company that I didn’t believe in.

IMG_7770

We chatted with another NOW Ambassador, Amie Valpone (from The Healthy Apple) who was such a sweetheart! Loved connecting with them.

From NOW, we headed to VEGA to meet some of my favorite peeps in PERSON!

IMG_5571

Meet Trevor! He is one of VEGA’s employees that I’ve connected with over the years and is such an awesome guy. We were pumped to meet in person.

VEGA just partnered up with Ellen for their #BESTLIFEPROJECT where you can win VEGA for one year & $10,000! Check out this website to see all of the information on how you can enter their Instagram contest.

While at the booth, we chatted with a few other awesome lady bloggers…

IMG_7780

before getting ourselves into PLANK OFF with some neighbor booths.

IMG_5545

We literally all just started planking in the middle of the isles and ended up holding them for over 10 minutes! There were no rules as to elbow, 1 arm, etc. so I kept switching it up to rest certain parts of the bod. Some of the booths were super strong & showed off some skills —

IMG_7792

After the 10 minute plank-off, Bailee and I walked around to try some samples and see some of the different booths.

We came across PUMPKIN PUFFINS which if y’all know me — I love my puffins!

IMG_5522

I literally stood there and told so many people why they should love puffins too, ha! I just love cereal and these are one of my favorites.

We headed outside to get some vitamin D and also hit up some of the food trucks! How adorable is this So Delicious truck!? I would seriously drive this thing around.

IMG_5503

I love So Delicious and they are full of some awesome employees who I loved meeting.

Bailee and I headed back inside to see my friends from Crazy Richards! I absolutely love Crazy Richards and their team! I mean…nice people AND peanut butter? Perfect combo.
IMG_5548

IMG_5547

Kimmie and I connected a while ago and I’m so thankful for our friendship! They are super hard workers and it shows with their consistency of producing quality products.

I highly recommend their products and their CASHEW BUTTER is so amazing — just sayin!

From there I got to meet my girl Sarah Hoffman who I’ve connected with for YEARS through blogging! I was so excited when I found out that she was going to be there with Nutiva so we made sure to stop by their booth.

IMG_7796

With stopping by also included a taste test of Nutiva’s hazelnut butter — OH EM GEE let this picture speak for itself.

IMG_5620

I mean…yes. Dark chocolate hazelnut butter…yes.

Now, as if our bellies weren’t already full of samples  — it was time to have a private tasting with Arctic Zero and their new flavors!

IMG_5506

First of all – their booth was adorable and it took me back to working in an ice cream store for over 7 years as a teenager. We sampled their new flavors such as Snickerdoodle (our favorite!), Cake Batter, Chocolate Brownie, Banana Pudding, & Pomegranate.

IMG_5561

We chatted with the CEO and really enjoyed our time with them. PLUS – look at these little ice cream cones!! How cute!?

We walked around for a few more hours before getting hungry for a full meal and not just samples ;] so we met up with my friend Lauren from Pittsburgh who now lives in LA for dinner!

IMG_5563

INSERT BEST FOOD I THINK I’VE EVER EATEN — POKI.

Have you ever had Poki!? Basically it’s a deconstructed sushi bowl that you build yourself. We went to Pokinometry and I highly recommend it.

The word Poki actually means to “section” or “to slice or cut”. Poki comes in all different types of fish, ranging from different types of Tuna, Salmon, Shrimp, Octopus and more.

I got tuna, salmon, rice, veggies, garlic sauce, & extra avocado plus all the toppings.

Just looking at that picture is making me hungry ;]

All in all, Expo West was a total WIN. We got to meet some amazing people, taste test some new products that are launching, & truly enjoyed our day.

I hope you guys have a great Monday & keep an eye out for these products – you cannot go wrong!

Be true to you,

xo Kasey