Issue 73 — Meet Expo West’s Cooler Little Sister, Snaxpo
'The People’s Expo' Hosted by Snaxshot
If you haven’t heard of Expo West, it’s a massive trade show in Anaheim every spring where all the new, organic, and sustainable brands come together to show off their latest products. Getting a booth is expensive — like $20,000 expensive. And that’s before you factor in travel, shipping, staffing, the product, plus all the extra stuff to make sure your booth doesn’t look lame af. To attend, you need to be part of the industry: a founder, buyer, supplier, journalist…
From this year’s show, recurring themes included protein, energy drinks, NA beverages, international flavors, women’s health, mushroom infusions, clean ingredients and sweeteners.
Heyday Canning 🫘 teamed up with Fishwife, Graza, Ghia + FlyByJing for their booth’s happy hour.
- of Strata Bites shared her Top 20 snacks from Expo here.
And, of course, there were some outrageous booths.
I’ve never seriously considered going to Expo. Tickets run between $200-$300 and I didn’t feel like I really qualified until recently. But I do love lurking around, checking out all the new stuff… I think I’ll go next year and report back!
In the meantime, I’ve been a part of the indie Pre-Expo event that Andrea (Snaxshot) hosts. Some call it the Snaxpo, or The People’po.
(If younot familiar with Snaxshot, it’s a food and beverage media platform by Andrea Hernandez. She covers new brands, buzzy product drops, and emerging trends. She’s on top of her business game, breaking stories in real time like the Demise of Foxtrot and spilling the tea on Coca-Cola’s latest brand grab. If nothing else, you’ve probably seen her memes.
For some start-ups and newer brands, the cost of a booth at Expo West is just too steep. So for the past few years, Andrea (Snaxshot) has hosted a free event in LA the week before, giving smaller brands a chance to showcase their products. Brands from all over show up, from Australia, Indonesia, UK, and Latin America, some on their way to Expo in Anaheim, others just in town for Snaxpo. Even those who can’t make it in person ship products for others to try and take home. It’s a true party! A lively, slightly unruly gathering where founders connect, sample each other’s products, and build relationships. A perfect example of how Andrea has turned her online influence into a real-life community.
This year, the event was held at the iconic Chain House. In the past, SNAXPO has always been free, keeping it accessible to everyone. This time, a $30 ticket was introduced to help raise funds for local businesses affected by the LA fires. Over $10,000+ was donated!
In addition to helping produce Snaxpo, I also am responsible for the annual Challahdad tablescape. (Thanks Anja for the iphone pics) This year’s featured Little Sesame + Nour. It’s been amazing to see some brands that were a part of last year’s tablescape, like Churn, and Sunny Fine Foods, are now rocking full-blown booths at Expo West - and debuting new lines!
After Snaxpo and Expo, Andrea shared her thoughts while at SXSW — which some are now calling the NEW Expo West. She noted that Snaxpo was the first place to try HYQ and Joon which have yet to officially launch, and the first place to try new SKUs from Bezi and Vuum. See the full list of 2025 vendors here.
“In the end, you’d be crazy not to want to be part of this next year.”
**Special thanks to Lauren Santos and Sophia Forino for volunteering their time to help! Could not have done this without them :)