The Natural List

In this episode of The Gist, co-host Adrienne Smith recaps her weekend in Chicago, IL and shares some highlights from her panel discussion at the 2024 National Restaurant Association Show. Tune in to hear all about it, as well as for a quick review of the show’s natural and organic pavilion and one of the standout trends from the show. She'll also offer a look into what opportunities can come from collaborations between CPG brands and the restaurant and food service industry. 

Whether on the shelves of your favorite neighborhood retailer or on the menu at popular restaurants like Chipotle, consumers are “seeing green” in more places than ever; and no, we don’t mean green with envy!  

In this episode of The Natural List, co-host Adrienne Smith is joined by HowGood’s SVP of Growth and Innovation Rachel Calomeni and Director of Retail Growth and Innovation Lauren Porter to explore the history of HowGood, success stories and sustainability frameworks adopted by companies in the food system and methods used by CPG brands and retailers to present product sustainability information to consumers. 

Why is this important? Calomeni and Porter explain that 75% of millennials are changing their purchasing habits based on environmental factors. Additionally, consumers are willing to pay ~30% more for products marketed with sustainability data and attributes.  

Tune in to learn about the ROI of a solid sustainability strategy, why carbon dioxide (CO2) emission ratings are the nutritional data of 2024 and how simple ingredient swaps can reduce your family’s meatloaf from 19.7kg CO2 down to ~10-12kg CO2. 

In this episode of The Gist, co-host Adrienne Smith is joined by Natural Products Insider’s Content Director Todd Runestad for the latest and greatest in supplements. From functional fungi and the continued rise of “biotics” to the dethroning of statins and the boom in women-centered research and the resulting products, Runestad discusses the ingredients, conditions and delivery formats currently driving today's market. 

In this episode of The Natural List, co-hosts Jessica Rubino and Adrienne Smith are joined by Start-Up CPG’s Founder and CEO Daniel Scharff to discuss popular innovations in natural CPG and their potential “shelf-life” with consumers. From CBD (anything) to spicy flavors and adaptogenic baked goods, we’re peering into our CPG crystal ball and offering up our industry predictions and the rationale behind them. 

Listen in and play along with “Fad or Future” and compare your forecast to ours!  

Headed to Newtopia Now? Don’t miss our Buyerside Chat with Whole Foods Market–led by Daniel Scharff.  

We are four months out from the launch of Newtopia Now, and one question remains top of mind: what is Newtopia Now? 

You might recognize her from Natural Products Expo’s popular video series What’s Up Expo, but today, New Hope Network Marketing Director Hannah Price joins co-host Jessica Rubino to drop some deets about Denver’s hottest new CPG extravaganza. Designed to deepen relationships, spotlight the latest innovations and complement the foundations laid at Natural Products Expo West, this groundbreaking event offers a more boutique experience and thoughtful activations across four neighborhoods: thrive, glow, regenerate and represent.  

From cooking demonstrations spotlighting global flavors to an interactive salon, our team pulls back the curtain to reveal “what’s up” with Newtopia Now. Tune in for the latest scoop!

Newtopia Now | Aug 25-28 in Denver, CO

A new event in conscious CPG. Deepen the connections between buyers and brands. Continue product discovery | Explore new trends | Strengthen partnerships

In a shocking move, Dom's Kitchen & Market and Foxtrot—two Chicago-based retailers comprising two and 33 stores, respectively—announced that doors would be closing at noon on Tuesday, April 23rd at all of the stores' retail locations. The two retailers merged five months ago under the parent brand Outfox Hospitality, which is filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Hear from Food and Beverage Insider's Content Director Audarshia Townsend what's happening on the ground in Chicago, plus what this means for other retailers and the emerging CPG brands that were on these stores' shelves. 

In this episode of The Natural List, co-hosts Jessica Rubino and Adrienne Smith are joined by Registered Dietitian at The Real Food Dietitians Jessie Shafer and Founder at Original Strategies and Kitchen Cabinet Chair at PLEZi Nutrition Deb Eschmeyer.  Since we just put their titles in the subheading, this feels awkward to me. What if we just say, “joined by children’s nutrition experts…. Jessie Shafer and Deb Eschmeyer?”

According to Eschmeyer,two out of three children on average drink a sugary beverage every day. Moreover, children consume approximately fifty-three pounds of added sugar per year. To combat this acclimation to extremely sweet products, many CPG brands are starting to reduce added sugar and natural sweeteners in children’s products and increasing nutrients like fiber and protein. Bottom line: when it comes to sweetness, less is more.

Tune in to this week’s episode to learn all about Gen Zalpha, taste bud therapy and the power of flavor. 

In this episode of The Natural List, co-hosts Jessica Rubino and Adrienne Smith are joined by esteemed food ethnographer June Jo Lee. With studies in both medical and cultural anthropology from Harvard, June Jo explores the relationship between people and the foods they eat to “nourish the modern hungers of disconnection and dislocation.”  

Is “regenerative” a fad or a cultural shift? What patterns emerge from countless founder stories? How does “caring more” relate to Gen Z and their connection to food? And what would a Michelin star restaurant serve on Mars? 

Catch this week’s episode to enjoy a masterclass in food as a progressive reflection of who we are and how Gen Z are defining who we become. 

Brands featured in this episode’s segment of The List: For Bitter or For Worse, OEM, Mila, Chamberlain Coffee, Mela and Hot Jiang. 

Welcome to The Natural Gist – a new biweekly series featuring hot takes in a short and sweet format. Each episode explores current questions and industry issues with your favorite co-hosts and notable guests.  

Our first question is: where’s the data on women? 

While the CPG industry is championing the long-neglected category of women’s health, female-centric research is scrambling to catch up with the times. Though researchers continue to expand the foundation of women-focused research, gender parity in the research world is still an aspiration.  

In our inaugural episode of The Natural Gist, co-host Jessica Rubino and guest Dr. Susan Kleiner of High Performance Nutrition highlight the wealth of opportunity in today’s market women’s health market. Catch this compact conversation to discover key areas of innovation and potential formulations for a more equitable future.

Forget the hushed tones and awkward silences. The women’s health category is having its much-anticipated moment, now celebrated as the darling of CPG by retailers, investors and, most importantly, consumers who crave accurate information and effective solutions.

In this episode, co-host Jessica Rubino, guest co-host Robyn Lawrence of New Hope Network’s Nutrition Business Journal and NielsenIQ Vice President Total Wellness Sherry Frey explore the trends and opportunities defining the future of women’s wellness. Dive into this exciting conversation about how women-centric science, marketing and education are challenging the CPG paradigm and bringing to market products that authentically address women’s needs at every stage of life.