In collaboration with Nutrition Business Journal, NewHope360 recently released the 2015 Natural Foods Market Overview.

This report releases 2014 sales statistics from 340 respondents who answered questions about their operations. It also provides up to date market information from the natural foods sector, to help you understand today’s trends and grow your business. 

The FDA website consists of thousands of pages on food regulations, news, events and new law announcements, food safety tips and resources, answers to frequently asked questions, and other helpful information for both consumers and food business owners.

The problem that many food producers have with the FDA, especially those just starting out with their business, is that the website seems endless and requirements for proper food labeling are very complicated, sometimes even ambiguous. The advice to all food businesses is to consult experts prior to labeling their product.

At this years Natural Product’s Expo West, New Hope’s team of editors and analysts identified five nationwide trends that are influencing the natural and organic food marketplace.

These trends are having a strong influence on the emerging foods and brands, and were seen all over the aisles of Expo West.

Here's their top 5 (plus 2 more I thought deserved to be on the list).

In a recent interview with Rachel Zemser, Justin Hall gets to the root of the basics you need to know if you’re growing a young food brand. 

Rachel brings years of experience as a food scientist to the table working for big brands, and she knows how a new product is brought to market.

Even more importantly, she knows how the retail food industry works; how a food is accepted into a grocery store and how their terms can affect the ingredients that you choose and the market that you go after.

Your natural food brand needs more eyes on it.  It needs more shares.  More likes.

We can all agree on that, because that's part of marketing now.

But it's in your hands to begin marketing your products and get the chain reaction started.  It won't happen without you, young business owner.  If you're not a marketer in the food industry, it can be hard to do (much less make time to do it!).

You're not alone in this struggle.  Most people that start food brands are not marketers-- they're entreprenuers!  

For those of you that need a boost expanding the reach of your brand, here's a list of my favorite marketing tools for growing food brands that are selling directly to consumers.  

I was a newbie at Expo West this year. Luckily, I got some expert advice from some fast-made friends who are quite familiar in the industry.

I talked to Rachel Zemser, an R&D consultant, who weighed in before the show. Customers gave me insight. And I rode from the airport with an experienced employee of KeHe. All in all, I got some great prep advice that helped my show go smoothly.

If you’re attending any trade shows over the next year, this advice from the pros will come in very helpful!

I have a friend who is convinced coconut oil is the oil of the gods — the be all end all of healthy food.

Others that I’ve talked with are absolutely positive that olive oil is the one and only, healthiest oil.

Period.

[Picture Spartacus of the health foodies.]

Right now, there’s a number of different cooking oils that are battling for the title of “The Healthiest Oil”. Depending on who you listen to, you could be convinced either way. But that’s not what’s important for you and your food brand.

What’s key for you in the natural food industry is to understand what your specific customers actually want to see in their food. Usually when you’re talking about the typical Whole Foods’ customer, this answer is the healthiest ingredient that still tastes good”.

I wanted to get an idea of what people really thought, so I did a quick survey.  

Trust is a major factor when choosing suppliers, as well as deciding to stay with them for years. In fact, trust, follow through and understanding of your industry were some of the top factors you all shared when choosing and staying with your suppliers.

I’ve been intrigued by this insight, that I wanted to dig deeper. On Procurious, I recently asked a question of your procurement peers:

So how do you define trust? And what components of trust are most important when it comes to setting up your supply chain?

The answers I got back on the definition of trust were interesting and perceptive. Best of all, they told the story of HOW all of your ingredient suppliers need to PROVE their trust to you as a customer.

This March, I (excitedly) attended Expo West for the first time. I would agree with many that this show is an absolute must for anyone in the natural food sector.

All kinds of brands exhibit, from the smaller budding names to the top dogs. All of the delicious samples made me excited for some new products that I will be able to get at the grocery store this next year.

Walking around, it was quite clear that there were a few very popular trends, repeated aisle after aisle. Young and old brands were climbing upon the trend bandwagon, staying on top of the latest and greatest.

And you… how will you stay ahead of the game? Well, to start, you should know the emerging trends! Here they are, in no particular order.

 Want to advance your career?  We all do.

Part of growing and advancing to your next role requires learning.  Go to school, master a new skill.  Naturally, the more experienced you are, the more valued you become-- in your current job and in your next.

The other part of professional development all comes down to networking.  When it comes to landing that perfect job, sometimes what matters more is who you know, not what you know.

Whether you're on the job hunt or just looking to continue to grow professionally, these resources are a must for anyone in the procurement field.  

Learn what you want to know and connect you with who you want to know.

... Why Leaders Lack Emotional Intelligence

... What I Have Learned About the Demand-Driven Journey

... How Starting a New Job Is Like Dating

Of course I’m interested in those articles! They all are in my field, they help me do my job better and manage my time in the work place.

They also were all served up to me on LinkedIn Pulse, because LinkedIn knows exactly the topics that I want to learn more about. And just how do they know? Because I’ve followed the right LinkedIn Pulse channels.

Today, I want to help you find and follow articles on LinkedIn that you’re going to love reading every day.

A few years ago, the owners at Centra Foods and I started going to food shows.

Lucky for me, I got to choose which shows to go to. Unlucky for me, I had no knowledge of food shows.

In typical Hannah fashion, I turned on my search skills, reached out to colleges, talked to customers and spoke with the show’s event leaders.

I ended up with about as much information as one person could compile. I had charts and comparisons, but most helpful was Rachel Zemser’s insight, a food consultant who reviewed these shows for people like me (and maybe you too). She spoke about the heart and soul of each event, which gave me a feeling of what it really felt like to attend. In the end, her insight helped me make the best decisions.

Sometimes you just need a little pick-me-up during your day; a reminder that today is awesome.

Like with all jobs, if you work in the world of bulk oils, sometimes it's easy to forget that you work in a really cool industry.  The food industry is awesome.  And just in case you feel kind of blah this morning...

Here are 3 infographics that will remind you why olive oil is so great.  Be inspired!  

If you have customers that would enjoy these, share away!

The “fliers” in cheerleading are the girls that fly through the air, demonstrating great acrobatics and agility. They are the highlight of cheerleading-- the life of the party.

But these girls don’t fly on their own. They have four other cheerleaders on the ground, working in perfect coordination to support them and toss them in their air. These four team members are the foundation, the support system that makes everything run smoothly and the flier fly, well… higher.

Think of your business as the flier. And think of your vendors and suppliers as your foundation of four on the ground; the cheerleaders in the background who help you do what you do better. It’s true, your business relies on a variety of vendors to work smoothly, to succeed and to fly high. The better relationship and communication you have with them, the higher you can fly.

As a purchaser, you’re responsible for fostering these vendor relationships, and establishing good communication so that your business can keep growing and improving. Want to keep doing your job better?

Here’s 5 ways to keep improving your relationships with your bulk oil vendors and be even more successful in your purchasing role.

If you are a new business that's decided to start a food brand, the development of your label will play into your branding.  It will connect you  with your target market, and eventually will affect your total sales. The label creation process is incredibly important.

As important as the design comonent is, it's also key to make sure that you include specific information on your labels; both information that your customers want to see and that the government requires for food sales.

As the key marketing person in our own company, I am responsible for designing and developing our own Bella Vina labels.  Part of this job involves making sure that all of the key components are listed.

Want to make sure that you're including everything on your labels that you should be?  Here are the most important label components so that you can market your new food brand as strategically as possible-- and still meet all of the FDA & USDA labeling requirements.