Super-natural circus

Ahhhh.

I’m slouched on a large cotton-covered couch, head back, feet nestled in a Brookstone foot massager. A young woman so fresh-faced she could pass for a woodland nymph motions to a new line of botanic waters angled in a clear display case like Rolexes in a jewelry store.

“Would you care for a bottle?” she asks softly.

Don’t mind if I do.

As I sip Carpe Diem’s “harmonizing” blend complete with nine plant extracts including acai, birch leaf and elder flower -- naturally sweetened with fruit, of course -- all is peaceful, all is Zen. As Zen as is possible, that is, for a booth in a convention hall surrounded by the cacophony of 3,391 other exhibitors busy hawking their wares.

This year’s Natural Products Expo West 2008, held March 13 through 16 at the Anaheim Convention Center, attracted more than 52,000 retailers, manufacturers and industry professionals, an increase of 11% over last year.

The gathering -- part product-hunting safari, part food orgy -- is the country’s largest natural and organic products trade show. Now in its 28th year, it’s a four-day grip-and-grin exercise for manufacturers seeking exposure for their products and retail buyers looking for cutting-edge trends.

If a food or personal-care product is new, or semi-new, or even so-last-year, there’s a good chance it’s here and available for tasting, sniffing or slathering on. And as natural foods filter steadily into large and midsize grocery store chains, the character of the crowd is changing, says Fred Linder, president of New Hope Natural Media, which has produced the event since its inception.

“The scales have tipped, and we’re seeing less tie-dye and more suits,” he says. “The ratio has changed.”

Trends ebb and flow, as well. Good old kiwi fruits are “so three seasons ago,” jokes Sylvia Tawse of the Fresh Ideas Group, a marketer for natural and organic foods. Other stars are rising. One of the biggest trends this year is the emergence of gluten-free foods, adds Tawse, who’s been following natural products for more than 20 years. “Gluten-free is just exploding,” she says.

Other trends include just about anything organic -- organic cosmetics, organic pet food, organic meats, organic beer. The omega-3 craze continues unabated, with aisles stuffed with energy bars, cereal and eggs enhanced with the healthful fatty acids. Probiotics are on full display, and much is now made of a delicate subject once reserved for only the most intimate of conversations: elimination issues. “I don’t know quite how to say this,” Tawse says, “but people are really talking about their gut.”

After more than one hour in the Hot Products Hall, I’ve seen a dazzling array of exotic salts, teas and natural sweeteners and products with endless combinations of acai, yerba mate, mangosteen and goji berry. There are organic tapenade and dolmas to be sampled, cotton robes to caress as well as natural products with names such as Animal Snackers to consider for one’s eco-conscious pet.

And I’m only on aisle three. Of the first exhibition hall. There are four more to go. I snag some bits of sizzling organic meat for sustenance and press on.

More than ever this year both sides of the aisle are talking “green” -- environmentally conscious packaging, lessening the environmental impact of the manufacturing process and giving something back to the communities in which products are produced.

Jo Ann Issenman, a buyer for Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, a retail chain of 21 integrative pharmacies, was at the event. She says she rejects and selects products based on ingredients -- no parabens, artificial colors or fragrances -- and whether the products are manufactured and packaged in environmentally conscious ways.

“We’re riding the crest of a self-care revolution,” she says. “People are really aware of what they’re putting on their skin, and the impact of these products, and they want to take charge.”

Upstairs, the noise and activity in the massive exhibition halls is reminiscent of a Robert Altman film -- one long take, and nothing ever ends. News crews from a variety of outlets weave their way through the friendly crowd. It’s a diverse crowd too. At one booth are executives in European suits speaking French; at another, small business owners in Birkenstocks; at still another, an Amish grocer looking for new products.

As I amble the aisles, my pants are getting tighter. So far, I have sampled organic beef jerky (tasty); vegetarian jerky by Stonewalls Jerquee (spicy); and a gluten-free beef pot pie, the samples set out in little cups at the busy Twin Hens booth (very, very tasty).

I’ve chowed on organic chicken nuggets; a blue-green algae energy bar laced with dark blue agave nectar; Modmix’s refreshing organic cocktail mixer, available in five flavors including Pomegranate Cosmopolitan (delicious).

Strolling past denture adhesives, various types of organ cleansers and metabolic activators, I have pretty much lost all sense of direction when I stumble onto something promising: chocolate. I stop to sample delicate little nibs of Wei of Chocolate’s organic fair-trade confection (with mood enhancing chai herbs and spices) while a young woman with a Mona Lisa smile sprays the top of my head with Lotus Wei’s Blissful Mind, a mist infused with vibrational flower essences (designed to clear cellphone and computer radiation).

The pitches from vendors come fast and furious. Back in the Hot Products Hall, standing in a crush of people, I am approached by an immaculately dressed older gentleman who asks, with intensity, if I’ve ever considered organic tampons and pads.

The growing popularity of all of these products is reflected in sales at natural foods grocery stores, says Lara Christenson, director of natural products research for SPINS, a market research and consulting firm for the natural products industry.

According to the Natural Foods Merchandiser’s Market Overview 2007, sales of U.S. natural products grew 9.7% in 2006, to $56.8 billion.

“We’re seeing a tremendous number of new ingredients coming on,” Christenson says.

Moving off the grocery shelves are probiotics; nondairy, nonsoy milks such as oat, nut and hemp milk; agave sweeteners; and, of course, exotic fruits.

“Acai is probably the most established,” Christenson says. “Mangosteen is an up-and-comer. Pomegranate and some of the traditional fruits, blueberries and cranberries are still very strong.”

Indeed, as the day winds down, I start to worry that the human body may not be adequately engineered to sample every product ever produced in the rain forest, and I am mulling the possible medical implications, good and bad, of consuming so many of them in one sitting. What, exactly, does one tell the paramedics in a case such as this? It may have been the acai colon cleanser, but then again, the yerba mate frappuccino looked dicey.

Many of these health food trends are moving so fast that science hasn’t had a chance to catch up, says Joy Dubost, a food scientist and nutrition expert for the Institute of Food Technologists.

“With these exotic fruits, we have emerging evidence to indicate their function, but not in human populations, per se,” she says. “The evidence is emerging, and we’re strongly investigating.”

Which perhaps explains the enduring popularity of products such as plain, old-fashioned granola, says Aaron Anker, co-owner of GrandyOats in Maine.

Standing in front of an image of the rustic barn where his company makes organic granola in small batches -- no acai or mangosteen allowed -- Anker looks out over the vast showroom and smiles serenely.

“We kind of joke every year when we come here, ‘What’s going to be the new fad?’ and every year there is one,” he says. “I guess cacao is pretty big. It used to be goji berries. But blueberries and cranberries never die.”

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janet.cromley@latimes.com

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Hot health products

The array of merchandise at Natural Products Expo West reflects broad trends seen not only in small health stores, but also in supermarkets and big-box stores such as Costco, Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart, says Fred Linder, president of New Hope Natural Media. The biggest trends seen by Linder and others who follow natural foods and products include:

* A staggering proliferation of gluten-free products, not only in breads, cereals, brownies and pasta, but even in dog food products.

* Increased attention to certified fair trade. Consumers are seeking products from manufacturers that meet economic and environmental standards in support of the communities in which they do business.

* Whole and sprouted grains are continuing to sprout up, not only in breads and rolls, but also in pizza, snacks and desserts.

* Omega-3 fatty acids are taking off as consumers seek to boost brain power. They’re turning up in supplements and culinary oils as well as energy bars, cereals, milk, eggs and pet products.

* Reflecting greater consumer interest in gut health, probiotics are increasingly turning up in vitamin supplements, drinks and snacks.

* Not content with merely eating “natural,” consumers are also purchasing natural and organic personal care products such as mineral cosmetics.

* Exotic “superfruit” ingredients such as acai, mangosteen, goji berry, yerba mate and newcomer yumberry are making their way into beverages and snacks.

* Small, on-the-go sizes for natural drinks and snacks are growing.

Source: New Hope Natural Media

-- Janet Cromley