CPG Chatter

As I mentioned in last week’s blog post, I attended Natural Products Expo East this week in Boston.  Much like last year, there was a great deal of apprehension that attendance or activity levels would be down.  In fact, it had already been decided that this would be the last year of the show in Boston, as it would be moving a few hundred miles south to Baltimore for 2011.  As such, I expectations for this year were visibly tempered.

I did see some evidence that some exhibitors had paid for booths but subsequently pulled out.  Unlike last year, however, there were no noticeably vacant areas.  The numbering sequences for a few of the aisles were off, so perhaps the event coordinators just compensated better this year, but overall the show floor seemed full and vibrant.  Even so, many of the exhibitors showed up with fairly modest expectations.  A few told me they attend more to support the show, keep their brand visible, and support the industry even if they don’t expect to do a great deal of business at the event.

So perhaps the expectations were prematurely low, but almost every supplier I talked to reflected that they had seen much more activity and business than they had anticipated.  There was a good deal of traffic especially on Thursday afternoon that had most folks feeling like the show was a success.

On the topic of success, I heard a great story on Thursday when I met with Dale Kamibayashi, one of the natural and organic industry veterans.  Dale began his career as the store manager for very first Alfalfa’s market in Boulder, CO.  Alfalfa’s, originally founded in 1983, was one of the early organic supermarkets that helped start the trend, eventually growing to a dozen locations merging with Wild Oats (now Whole Foods) so Dale has been riding the organic wave since the early days.

The Alfalfa’s management team went on to become a bit of a who’s who in the natural organic industry.  Co-founder Mark Retzloff went on to found Horizon Organic Dairy and then served on the boards of a number of other firms.  Other core members of the team also went on to take leadership positions at many of the other leading natural and organic suppliers such as Horizon Organic, Rudi’s Organic Bakery, and Rapunzel Pure Organic.

In talking to Dale, he explained that due to the Whole Foods divestiture order from the FTC, the original Boulder store location would once again become available.  That was all it took to get the team back together.  The new group includes many of the original Alfalfa’s t team including Mark Retzloff, Barry Feinblum, Tim Overlie, Marcus Christopher, and Dale.  The store is currently undergoing extensive renovations, and is expected to re-open next Spring.

I thought Dale’s story really showed how important the people and relationships are in this industry.  The event goes beyond a typical business event, and actually reconnects old friends and acquaintances.  While this may be the last year of Expo East in Boston, it also marks the rebirth of an organic icon just a few thousand miles west.

ExpoEast