Natural Products Expo East

Who: VN Associate Publisher Colleen Holland, VN West Coast Sales Manager Lara Bradley, and VN East Coast Sales Manager Jill Petzke

What: Expo East, a three-day business trip to meet with ad partners and scope out new products

Where: Boston Convention Center, Boston, MA

When: September 23–25, 2009

Why: We love to discover new vegan products for VN readers!

VN columnist/baker extraordinaire Hannah Kaminsky with me

The Scoop: The VN team attends dozens of shows every year to promote the magazine, but nothing quite tops the intensity, energy, and excitement of the Natural Products Expo. At this trade show, where thousands of new products are launched, we walk the show floor for hours to discover the hottest new vegan goodies to share with VN readers. This past weekend, three staffers landed in Boston to discover what’s brewing in new loot. Here are some of our favorites—and you can count on VN to dish more in a future issue of the magazine or on VegNews.com.

French Vanilla Coconut Milk Creamer by Turtle Mountain

Coffee Biscotti hemp ice cream by Living Harvest

Thousand Island dressing by Organicville Foods

Coconut Sugar by Essential Living Foods

Rice Cheese (newly formulated) by Galaxy Foods

Raw Cinnamon Agave by Wholesome Sweeteners

Thai Red Curry by Helen’s Kitchen

Recycled dollar-bill toothbrushes from Radius

Naked Almond Fudge ice cream by Coconut Bliss

Recycled flip-flops by Okabashi

Raw cleansing kit by Garden of Life

Chocolate Chip Pancake Mix by Cherrybrook Kitchen

Double Layer Fruit and Nut Bars by Clif Bar

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies by Everyday Gourmet

Recycled eye glasses from ICU Eyewear

Sesame Garlic Marinated Tempeh Strips from Turtle Island Foods

Dinner at My Thai Vegan Cafe in Boston! From bottom left, clockwise: Long-time veg activist Lisa Shapiro, VegNews East Coast Sales Manager Jill Petzke, VegFund co-founder Zia Terhune, VegNews Associate Publisher Colleen Holland