The Natural List

Adrienne Smith has returned from Summer Fancy Food, and Jessica Rubino has returned from maternity leave! There’s a lot to celebrate on this episode of The Natural List Podcast. What did Jessica miss these last four months? A lot has happened in the CPG world, including a successful Expo West, plenty of protein products and so much more. Adrienne catches her up on the big industry events, and Jess...

This episode of The Natural List podcast is chock-full of information about the organic produce market! Host Adrienne Smith is joined by New Hope Network Sponsored Content Director Nancy Coulter-Parker to discuss industry trends in the organic market. Nancy is a longtime organic industry advocate who has also written the OTA’s State of Organic report for many years. The two discuss the exciting up...

Happy Pride month! On this episode of The Natural List, host Adrienne Smith talks with two guests: The Natural List producer Mattie Sims (they/them), and New Hope Network Community and Conference Content Manager , Josh Person (he/him). Though it was difficult to narrow down just a few to highlight, the trio shares some of their favorite LGBTQIA+ and Queer-owned CPG brands doing amazing work in our...

Welcome back to The Natural List! In this episode, we feature an interview from Natural Products Expo West 2026 where Adrienne chatted with ZEGO CEO Colleen Kavanagh to discuss the brand's purity testing. ZEGO i s an allergy-friendly food company that produces organic breakfast cereals, protein powders and fruit bars. Known widely for its "Purity Verification" and supply chain transparency, ZEGO e...

Salt, fat, acid and heat: There’s a reason salt comes first! On this episode of The Natural List podcast, host Adrienne Smith, a certified salt lover, talks with Gísli Grímsson , Salt Maker at Saltverk, about the brand’s origins and goals. Saltverk is an artisanal Icelandic sea salt company that is best known for reviving an 18th-century Danish method of producing flaky sea salt. This method uses...

On this episode of The Natural List podcast Sponsor Soundbyte, Nancy Coulter-Parker talks with Alicia Rosas and Chris Wolfe of Grupo Bimbo and Bimbo Bakeries USA to discuss the brand’s sustainability commitments, innovation plans and more. Alicia Rosas, vice president of the healthy products portfolio for North America, starts off the conversation sharing more about the brand’s history and commitm...

We’re back in the studio! This week on The Natural List podcast, Adrienne Smith is joined by NewHope.com Editor Meredith Kaufman to catch up on trends and treats from her time at Sweets and Snacks Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada. First, we break down some of the overarching trends we spotted, like bigger companies going all in on “better-for” products and how GLP-1 users and shifting consumer preference...

This week on The Natural List podcast, Nutrition Business Journal’s Content and Insights Director Bill Giebler joins us to talk about the $75B supplement industry! Our host Adrienne Smith talks with Bill about the fastest growing categories, news that could greatly impact the industry, which delivery formats are topping the charts and the surprising shopper behavior of younger consumers. Nutrition...

This week on The Natural List, John Coletta, CEO of Clover Sonoma , talks with Co-hosts Adrienne Smith and Meredith Kaufman about the booming organic dairy industry. But what’s behind this growth, and how does innovation impact it? Tune in to this week’s episode to find out! Thank you to our sponsors Bimbo Bakeries USA and OM Mushroom Superfood. Enjoy our vodcasts here or on YouTube . Prefer to tu...

Chocolate. Mmmmm. Even just reading the word brings a smile to my lips. On this week’s episode of The Natural List, we talk with Joe Whinney , the co-founder and CEO of Magic Chocolate , and it was a magical experience! Pun intended. Our co-hosts Meredith Kaufman and Adrienne Smith dig into the story behind Magic Chocolate’s evolution, from beginning as a partnership with Dr. Bronner’s , to how re...

“It takes two to make a thing go right! It takes two to make it outta sight.” – Rob Base and Dj E-Z Rock said it best in their hit song from 1988. This week on the Natural List, we’re highlighting two husband-and-wife-led CPG brands: Purplesful Snacking and Jam Packd. This week continues our interview series from the CPG Innovation Summit at Natural Products Expo West 2026. Adrienne sits down with...

Welcome back to The Natural List podcast! In this episode, we interview one of our sponsors, Om Mushroom Superfood. New Hope Network’s Content Marketing Director, Nancy Coulter-Parker, talks with the co-founder of Om Mushrooms, Dr. Sandra Carter, PHD, about how the brand got started and how the love of mushrooms is infused into new products. Thanks for listening! For more video content, subscribe...

Welcome back to The Natural List podcast, your place for what’s new and what’s next in the CPG industry! This week, host Adrienne Smith interviews Les Szabo, chief strategy and impact officer at Dr. Bronner’s and Michael Ham , president and founder of Wild Orchard Tea Company , about the newly launched Purpose Pledge. According to the pledge, the Purpose Pledge is a collaborative initiative anchor...

Meat, like other protein-packed foods, has seen a resurgence in the past year. From steaks and chicken thighs to eggs and cheese, consumers are adding these items to their cart more than ever. In this week’s episode of The Natural List, host Adrienne Smith talks with two brands making our baskets better with sustainable, organic and Regenerative Organic Certified meat. First we set the scene: New...

This week’s episode of The Natural List digs into hot topics in the natural products industry: ultra-processed foods and seed oils! Our host Adrienne Smith talks with Douglas Brown , senior retail reporter at New Hope Network and Sierra Forest, Marketing Director and part of the family who started behind Simply Sunflower Oil , to get the scoop. Digging into the facts, both of our guests highlight...

In this episode of The Natural List podcast, we bring in special guest Erika Craft, senior research analyst at Nutrition Business Journal, to discuss the fastest-growing condition that NBJ tracks: healthy aging. This condition is growing at 13%, a rate more than double the market overall. Host Adrienne Smith and Erika Craft discuss what exactly “healthy aging” means, and Erika highlights the real...

This week's episode is hosted by Nancy Coulter-Parker, Director of Content Marketing at New Hope Network. Nancy sits down with Emily Moose, executive director of A Greener World, to explore the impactful work of the organization. Since its founding in 2014, A Greener World has been dedicated to promoting sustainable agriculture. Emily shares insights into their mission to create a world where farm...

The Natural List is back with more interviews from Natural Products Expo West’s CPG Innovation Studio! Meredith Kaufman and Adrienne Smith, the duo behind our NEXTY Award program, share about our 2026 NEXTY Editor’s Choice Award winners: The Republic of Tea's Regenerative Organic Certified® Assam Black Tea, Papa Mountain's Sweet Potato & Herb Bread Rolls, and Ulu Foods' Chia & Sea Salt Bre...

This week’s episode of The Natural List shakes up our usual format! Co-host Adrienne Smith is joined by Meredith Kaufman to discuss two of our NEXTY Award winners, Bezi and Leaven Foods. On-site at the inaugural CPG Innovation Day Content Creation Studio, Adrienne and our team captured mini-interviews with brands attending Natural Products Expo West in 2026. These interviews were recorded before t...

Natural Products Expo West 2026 was a whirlwind of innovation, connection and trendspotting, and we’re here to unpack it all! The 45th anniversary of the show included thousands of brands showcasing the latest in food, beverage, beauty and supplements. This year’s event gave us a glimpse into the future of the natural and organic industry, from protein-packed products and clean beauty for teens to...

In this episode of The Natural List , Nancy Coulter-Parker, director of content marketing at New Hope Network, interviews Eric Rosenberg, business development manager at FrieslandCampina Ingredients, to discuss the company’s growing commitment to protein innovation and its efforts to elevate the dairy industry. Eric shares the story of FrieslandCampina Ingredients, a Dutch company with over a cent...

Are you ready to celebrate 45 years of innovation, growth and impact in the natural products industry? The 45th anniversary of Natural Products Expo West is just around the corner, and with it comes one of the most anticipated events of the show: the State of Natural and Organic keynote. This hallmark session blends cutting-edge data, emerging trends and expert insights to explore the forces shapi...

This week on The Natural List Podcast , we’re diving into one of the most exciting new activations at Expo West: The Snack Lab! Hosts Jessica Rubino and Adrienne Smith explore the latest evolutions in snacking, highlighting how this new pavilion brings to life many of the trends shaping the CPG space. Together, they discuss how the snacking category is transforming as consumers increasingly seek o...

In this episode of The Natural List , Nancy Coulter-Parker, director of content marketing at New Hope Network, sits down with Jeff Trippett, Vice President of Distribution Sales at Lakanto, to talk about their innovative sugar alternatives, commitment to sustainability and how they’re tackling America’s health crisis. Jeff shares the story of Lakanto’s beginnings in Japan, where monk fruit—a sweet...

This week on The Natural List, co-hosts Adrienne Smith and Jessica Rubino dive into one of the most anticipated episodes of the year: the Expo West trends special! Expo West is the premier event for the natural and organic products industry, where emerging innovations and transformative ideas take center stage. The trends that appear on the show floor influence the broader consumer packaged goods...