Last week, I hopped on a train to Philadelphia to take a quick spin through Natural Products Expo East. It was my first business trip since the shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. My last sojourn was to CES in Last Vegas in January 2020 to scope out the latest in beauty tech. Only a few weeks later, business travel in our industry—and so much more—came to a screeching halt.
 
For New Hope Network, which held its 2020 West Coast and East Coast shows completely virtually, this live show in Philadelphia was its physical event first since 2019.
 
Pandemic measures were place—masking inside the venue, vaccination proof or negative testing required, and increased spacing between seats inside meeting rooms set up for a slate of educational sessions. 
 

But handshakes were happening as well as plenty of sampling of the myriad food and beverages that historically are a large part of this event. The show floor offers mix of edible items, nutraceuticals, raw materials and ingredients, as well as personal care, wellness and home care products. 
 
On the show floor inside the Pennsylvania Convention Center, there were empty booths—as would be expected in our current environment.
 
According to New Hope, Expo East drew more 800 exhibitors and more than 15,000 registered attendees.
 
Show traffic seemed light but steady during my visit. Overall, the mood was upbeat—no doubt fueled by the thrill of a return to (any semblance of) normalcy by exhibitors and attendees. 
 
Personal care and home care companies at the expo were happy to show off their products, which ranged from waterless formulations to natural cleaners to beauty-from-within and wellness beverages and more. Exhibitors Happi spoke with shared stories of the ups and downs of the COVID-19 pandemic—think increased demand for their products; the online retail boom; staffing shortages in warehouses and production facilities that meant family members were called on to pitch in. Despite these hardships, exhibitors forged ahead with launch plans. Flexibility and resiliency were words I heard more than once.
 
As we hit October, more events in the household and personal care space are on the docket—virtual, in-person and some events offering both. Happi’s office at the Rodman Media headquarters in Montvale, NJ is officially reopening with a hybrid schedule starting October 7. Our team of editors is slowly getting back into the swing of covering in-person events. In fact, Tom Branna has been quite busy rebuilding his airline miles already. We have NYSCC Suppliers’ Day in New York City, and other venues, on our schedule for the Fall.
 
Let’s hope we are really turning the corner this time.