Show and go
I was invited to Holland & Barrett’s first dedicated Food and Drink Showcase last week.
In its bid to shed its old skin, Holland & Barrett is embracing the food-to-go market to attract the health-conscious consumer and take advantage of the popularity of the current -isms.
The purpose of the showcase was to interact with the people behind the brands, alongside talking to the businesses about ways to keep innovating in a highly competitive sector.
The event also gave us a chance to explore a vast variety of specialised products to see what smaller scale producers have to offer.
The showcase certainly highlighted a flexitarianist approach where you can adopt elements of veganism for a more flexible approach to ethical eating.
Sleep optimisation, mindful drinking and healthy nutrition took centre stage – from craft honeys and coffee to alcohol-free drinks, vegan snacking and Easter treats. Brands in attendance (and this is by no means an exhaustive list) included:
- Eloments with its natural vitamin tea
- Nix and Kix natural, low calorie, sugar free vegan adult soft drinks with Cayenne
- ISH low alcohol gin and rum
- Nomo vegan chocolate
- Roastworks coffee
- Doisy & Dam ethical chocolate from buttons to eggs
- Cheesies snacks
- Other Foods’ sustainably sourced savoury mushrooms
- Karma Bites popped snacks
- Kolibr CBD infused drinks – Dark Forest and Kolibri CBD Citrus Grove.
- Hatters Hemp Tea
- Divine Chocolate Easter eggs
There were many different, exciting and inspiring tastes from the brands on show with just as many unique stories of how product ideas became a reality and individual specialised manufacturing processes were shaped.
It will be very interesting to see if this offering attracts the younger, ethically conscious crowd Holland & Barrett seeks.
