#93 - Expo West Preview & Booth Guide

Episode Highlights:

• 👍 Promising recent retailer interactions

• ✅ Whole Foods’ changing their regen standards

• 👉 Expo West preview and primer

• 👀 What regenerative brands are exhibiting + speaking?

• 🌎 Breaking down Climate Day, sessions, and interests

• 💰 Industry issues stemming from the federal funding freeze

• ❓ Is the MAHA optimism warranted?

• ⚖️ The pain and opportunity in political uncertainty

• 🖤 Introducing the “I ❤️ REGEN” campaign

• 👏 Kiss The Ground & Common Ground streaming on Prime

• Don’t have time for the full episode? 😵‍💫 

• Check out the recap! 🙃 

• Everything you need to know in less than 5 minutes. 🥳

🔥 ReGen Brands Primer + Booth Guide - Expo West 2025

Heading to Expo West?

We've got your one-stop guide to all things regenerative—58 exhibitor brands, must-see sessions, and where to connect with the ReGen Brands Coalition.

Check it out!

Now that we’re a non-profit, we need to show funders our “impact.”

Impact is the value that YOU are receiving from the content we produce.

• Have we helped you in any way?

• Exposed you to new people and ideas?

• Helped advance your work in regeneration?

If so, would you take 30 seconds to share how in the form linked below?

Regenerative brands are investing time and money into reimagining and reconstructing food and beverage supply chains while also enabling farmers to produce in a way that benefits our environment, nature and people.

Unfortunately, the entities brands sell to — retailers and distributors – have yet to meaningfully support regeneration.

We applaud retailers like Whole Foods, Thrive Market, Sprouts, and others for increasingly holding space for regenerative products on their shelves, but retailers can and need to do more.

3️⃣  Regenerative brands invest in transforming supply chains without receiving proper incentivizes or rewards

Our third takeaway for “Key Challenges Facing Regenerative Brands”

👉 Learn more in our inaugural report: The State of Regenerative CPG – Successes, Challenges, and Opportunities for Collective Action

🍯 This Brand’s ‘Hard Honey’ Is Bringing Mead Into The 21st Century

• LIXIR’s "hard honey" modernizes mead, making the world’s oldest alcoholic beverage more accessible with a crisp, lightly carbonated twist.

• LIXIR sources honey from a Brazilian farm that doubles as a nature preserve, pushing for Regenerative Organic Certification in an industry where no honey brand has achieved it yet. Their commitment to sustainable beekeeping could reshape the sector.

• With a growing presence in major retailers like Total Wine and funding from Sprouts Farmers Market’s CEO, LIXIR is riding the mead market’s projected boom—set to nearly triple in size by 2032.

🥃 Maker’s Mark has launched its first major ad campaign since 2023, titled “Perfectly Unreasonable,” which debuted during NBC’s Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special. The campaign highlights the brand’s dedication to craftsmanship, tradition, and regenerative agriculture as it expands its reach in the U.S. and international markets. (Forbes ↗)

🌾 Matthews Cotswold Flour is making regenerative agriculture more accessible by ensuring that sustainably farmed flour is both high-quality and affordable. Under eighth-generation miller Bertie Matthews, the company works directly with farmers to support soil health while keeping costs competitive, proving that sustainability doesn’t have to come at a premium. (Baker & Snacks ↗)

🥩  Force of Nature is hiring a Creative Director & Product Safety & Quality Analyst

🫘 SIMPLi is looking for an Accounting Manager

🐮 Painterland Sisters is hiring a Senior Events & Partnerships Manager, Social & Marketing Coordinator, Graphic Designer, & Customer Experience Manager

🍺 Patagonia Provisions is looking for a Digital Lead

🍚 Lundberg Family Farms is hiring a Finance Director