Expo West 2010 Recap

Over the past weekend, I headed out to Anaheim California for Natural Products Expo West, known as "the world's largest natural and organic products tradeshow." To sum it up, I nicknamed this show "The Academy Awards of Whole Foods." Every product you could expect to find at Whole Foods, or any other natural specialty store, or really even your everyday grocery store, was there.


Grease Monkey Wipes has been blessed in so many ways, especially after the Shark Tank aired. In this instance, we received an email from a most generous man in California who essentially offered to be our mentor in the grocery store and natural products industry. After numerous phone calls and emails, I finally found myself face to face with him after picking up my Expo West badge.


From there, he walked the entire trade show with me, introducing me to presidents, CEOS, sales managers, distributors, key players, etc... and taught me how the industry works. One word: Priceless!!!


One of the contacts I made was Ricky from Earthworm. First, I must recommend his products, which are earth-friendly natural cleaners. Next, I must say that this guy has serious energy and passion. He took just one product from an idea to national distribution. You can find these products all over the country (and you should!) - and it's all because of Ricky. He spent nearly an hour talking to me, teaching me the ropes, and answering my questions all while selling like a madman- awesome!

Here we are each showing off our earth-friendly products.
Here is an example of a company that I loved. I spoke with the president and national sales manager for a while, all while snacking happily on their freeze-dried fruits. (YUM!)


During the show, I was surprised that people actually recognized me. I will say it was probably our monkey logo that caught people's attention, however it was still cool that people knew about Grease Monkey Wipes.

One of those people who recognized me was Paul from Kor. Here we are standing in front of his very sleek water bottles. I spoke at length with Paul about how he formed his company and what his sales strategies look like. It was so cool to talk to another business owner about his experiences... and this was just one of many conversations I had like this.

As a cyclist, of course I know Camelbak from my cycling/running background - and it was so cool that people in that company also recognized Grease Monkey Wipes! Thanks for the new insulated bottle, guys - I appreciate it!

I spoke with so many companies, it's hard to keep track. But I'll try to remember some of my other favorites, including: Marzetti, dermaE, Miltons, Erin Baker's, Food Should Taste Good, Eternal Water, Frontera Foods, Red Leaf Water, fellow Austinites Beanitos and ThinkBaby, Kaia, Eat Cleaner, and fellow Shark Tankers Element Bars.

Overall, it was an amazing eye-opening trip. Many contacts were made. Much was learned. I am now even more confident in the success of Grease Monkey Wipes.

And... I am thankful to the kindness of a total stranger who is taking us under his wing. We will owe much of our future success to him.

Now it's time to hit the bike to work off all of the samples I got from these amazing companies! :)