Colostrum martinis and protein sundaes-
Celebrating 5 years of "the people's expo".
"Recently found (do I live under a rock?) Snaxshot and it feels like the center of just journalism for CPG. "—Angie, a paid reader.
At one point I had to turn off RSVPs from our partiful because we had a 400+ waitlist on a party that already had 400 RSVPs, mind you this isn’t a convention or conference of sorts…it’s kind of the opposite of that. Feed Me’s Cami Fateh called it the “the anti Expo” while Thomas Shea from Adgile Media affectionately dubbed it “the people’s expo”—a gathering of the newest brands curated by me for the industry alongside actual consumers to partake in, at no cost. When I first started Snaxshot I had the intention of building something that would upend the dynamics of the current CPG industry using this platform I’ve built, whether it’d be online or offline.
5 years later, I can attest that I’ve been able to do just that—from being the launching pad for brands that have gone to become the hottest emerging snacks and beverages to creating a space that feels equalizing and not demoralizing, for founders to interact with buyers, investors, retailers, influencers and consumers alike—refer to my no name tag rule. The thing about expos in general is that it’s a constant pay to play, want a booth? You’d better have $20K to burn through. Want to scan someone’s badge? That’ll be another $500 dollars on top of what you’ve already paid. People won’t be inclined to talk to you if it’s not transactional on their end, and on the opposite of it, people will be hounding you if you’re a coveted retailer, buyer or VC.
The vibes were off, so I decided to start my own kind of event that I felt would bring everyone at the same level while making the whole experience an enjoyable one for all involved. It’s been a rewarding experience (even with all the work that goes into putting this together) and over the years I’ve had incredible partners who relate to the vision and have helped foot the cost of the events, I make no money from these events, and it’s more of a collaborative effort all around. Though many have insisted I’m stupid for not capitalizing on the curation of people and brands that I’m able to bring together, I still believe there’s ways that we can keep the purity of events like this, so far I believe the universe has rewarded me with good karma that allows me to not lose my mind when I’m planning these every year on the most stringest of budgets, as my late grandfather used to say “the universe can’t give you more if you’re hands are full” and so I see this as a constant way to pour back into this wonderful community, wherein we’ve uplifted each other across the years.
The “people’s expo” has brought people together from around the world, from as far as Indonesia, Singapore and Australia to die hard fans like the Monsoon Market women who have been to them all across the last 5 years, they’ve become an institution to me. I still remember when Leisure debuted at our first one ever in Hollywood Hills, and can recall Steve Michaelson asking me if it was ok to sample from jugs, they didn’t even have cans yet, today Leisure has expanded to retailers nationwide like Whole Foods, can be found at the offices and airport lounges and most recently launched at the most coveted retailer in the past few years, HEB, their brand is doing millions in sales a month, it truly is an incredible product and I’m glad I’ve been able to be there since day one.
This year we partnered with the increible people at Misfits Market, who are evolving as a retailer that is now focused in becoming an early partner in emerging brands as they scale. What I loved about working with them is how they allowed the essence of Snaxshot to remain true, this isn’t your typical networking or industry event, and it’s something that I also let the brands know so they can play around with their concepts that make it a more enticing experience from everyone all around, you’d be surprised how much more of an impact your product can make when it’s not confied to the usual demo.
Pistakio brought their iconic pistachio fountain, Natty partnered with Sprinkle Bites to create a high protein sundae, Brave Sauce, Monte’s and Jennie’s House created a whole club lounge featuring marinara cocktails, HYQ brought an airbrush artist to customize tote bags, Cassavida flew in from Bolivia to bring in traditional caporales to sample their snacks, and of course, no one could stop talking about the shirtless male models with bow ties going around serving Gato dates in silver platters.
Yasmeen from Ya Albi brought her iconic beach setup to debut the beautiful glass bottles they just released, her palestinian olive oil has become one of the hottest brands taking off from NYC popups to collaborations with Huda beauty, DOU had folks doing hot chili oil shots, Cowboy Colostrum partnered with Canyon Coffee to do colostrum espresso martinis and Yoshi matcha liquer was served inside a foamy Lalo margarita, for those not indulging in booze, Arrival had a bluebbery creatini. Zalt debuted their one of a kind, electrolyte pouches and Bezi premiered their labneh snacks with crunchy crackers.
We had Good Girl Snacks pickle shots with Holiday Vodka, and Pop Sips brought the prebiotic hard seltzers (yes, you read that right) St. Agrestis sampled out of a very italian looking red scooter and Pretty Tasty premiered the showcased the hottest tote bag at EXPO at our event first, the spoof Hermès is iconic. Shuug had a chef torching wagyu to sample with their incredible sauce lineup, and Sobo cooked up their latest dumpling flavors you could top with Woon sauces, Glonuts team previewed their latest pivot, Glodust in dime bags that could have been mistaken for something more controversial….
Wasted made it all the way from Copenhagen to sling pasta made from food waste while Cotto brought their newly launched cottage cheese dips all the way from New York. Affaire tequila debuted their upscale RTDs and you could have Yuzu Co. with either Cardenxe sotol or Agua Magica mezcal, Wa-Chaa! introduced their tasty peanut snacks featuring peppercorn and the dynamic duo that is Sourmilk let you sample their greek yogurt alongisde Pistakio. We were able to sample Rubato wines and for those non-alcoholic folk, Woody’s was the go-to but you could also have the latest from Bero’s selection of NA beers. Pulpito sent some of their dried fruit bites but for those looking for more old school sour candies, Rotten was sprinkled throughout our event. Our goodie bags were filled with Prima bars and Lexington Bakes, Bytem’s brownies was the kind of food porn anyone with a sweet tooth is waiting for and for the savoury heads there was Sunny Fine Foods’ latest drizzles.
NoIssue made our incredible “Yum Venture Capital” cups and we were blessed to have Challah Dad another year to serve as a vessel to scoop up all the delicious sauces and dips available, but you could also try the crunchy Mamame chips. Can’t thank all the brands and folks who made our 5th year celebrating this community a reality, shoutout to our photog Anna, Anja,Valeria, the incredible Kate from Bite Sized and the entire team at Misfits Market.
Here’s to another 5 years with you all!
If you want to partner with Snaxshot on future events, email me at andrea@snaxshot.com.