Packaging Trends at Natural Products Expo West 2025

Flexible Packaging at the Natural Products Expo

Another year, another Natural Products Expo West in the books. Held March 4-7 at the Anaheim Convention Center, this year’s event delivered everything we love about the natural products and natural food industry—innovation, energy, and connections with lots of our existing customers. For our part, we had many discussions about stock and custom flexible packaging for specialty foods, but of course Natural Products Expo West goes well beyond just food. With more than 70,000 attendees and 3,200 exhibitors, the exhibition seemed full from the first minute to the last. We found ourselves talking to many non-food brands about custom flexible packaging solutions.

Shifting Trends: Beyond Food Fads

If there was one overarching theme this year, it seemed to be the return to real, high-quality ingredients. Ian Talbot, from our Revere Flexpak division, commented that “It seemed like the market is shifting from fads like Keto and getting back to just making good products with real, natural ingredients.” While past expos were heavy on diet-driven trends, this year felt like a celebration of straightforward, well-crafted food.

New Hope Network reported a surge in high-protein snack innovations. We saw the trend firsthand: “I saw a trend toward more protein snacks,” said Nancy Williams from our Revere Flexpak division. Meanwhile, “functional” beverages continued their rise, with brands incorporating superfoods and gut-health boosters into everything from teas to sparkling waters.

As in recent years, much of the conversation surrounded around sustainable packaging for specialty foods and confections. Sustainable options in food packaging, as well as non-food packaging, were visible in abundance. Brands looking for sustainable packaging solutions had plenty of custom and stock packaging options to explore.

A Better Show Flow and Experience

One big change this year was the updated show format, which allowed for a more evenly spaced flow of attendees across all days. Mark Revere, co-president of The Revere Group, noticed the impact, saying “the new show hours and format were more conducive to both exhibitors and attendees. I saw a steady flow of traffic across all show days and hours.”

Sally Revere, co-president of The Revere Group, was of a similar opinion. “The format of having all buildings open Wednesday through Friday was a really good change, with a steady and heavy flow on the first two days especially." She also sensed less window shopping from previous years. "It felt like there were more serious buyers this year—people with projects happening soon rather than hypothetical inquiries,” she said.

Inside our Revere Flexpak booth, as well as out on the expo floor, there were many conversations with new brands looking for custom packaging solutions for many products. “Lots of clients stopped by to say hello, which is always great. It also felt like more people were considering custom food packaging and other packaging projects. It was fun to connect with our many of our existing clients, some who were also exhibiting,” Sally added. 

Showing Off What We Do Best

As always, we were there to showcase our industry-leading flexible packaging solutions for specialty foods, confectioneries, and other markets. While that was our focus given our long experience in food-safe custom food packaging, lots of other companies attended the show, and we talked with many of them about flexible packaging for other products. Exhibiting under our Revere Flexpak division, we showed off many examples of custom-printed flexible packaging, offering a full range of options for brands looking to stand out on the shelf. We featured matte and gloss finish examples of compostable pouches, recyclable pouches, demetalized applications, windowed pouches, and box pouches in all sizes.

You can check out this video recap from the event to see highlights from the show floor.

The show proved once again why it’s the premier event for the natural food and beverage industry. From exciting product trends to valuable industry connections, this year’s expo set the stage for another year of growth and evolution. We definitely plan to exhibit again next year. In fact, we’ll be back at the same booth, N1520, in 2026, ready for another round of innovation and inspiration in packaging. We hope to see you there. 

If you need the perfect food packaging manufacturer for a custom application, please get in touch—we’d love to help bring your vision to life. If, instead, you're looking for stock packaging ready to ship today, we've got you covered. Call one of our packaging experts - 866-747-6871.