Natural Products Expo East 2007 is an opportunity to network, see old friends, learn about new products and scope out business and health trends shaping the industry. This year, our featured speakers will take on some of the hottest topics: the science behind organics, the efficacy of holistic health, the factors that make a product hot or not, and the growing influence of gourmet products.

Dr. David Simon, medical director and co-founder of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing in Carlsbad, Calif., is one of the nation's foremost authorities on effective use of holistic health care, including Ayurvedic medicine. Simon began working with Deepak Chopra in the 1980s, and has made it his mission to transform the American health care system into one that heals people emotionally, spiritually and physically. He has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the mind-body connection, and has written several books, including his most recent, The Ten Commitments: Translating Good Intentions into Great Choices (HCI, 2006). At Expo East, Simon will speak about various healing traditions and how people can incorporate them into their lives. His seminar is from 9 to 10 a.m. Thursday in rooms 307 and 308.

Kevin Coupe is known for his shrewd analysis of grocery-retailing trends and events on MorningNewsBeat.com. In addition to his persona as the "Content Guy" on MNB, Coupe also runs Coupe Communications, which produces business videos that define and share big ideas with clients and their employees and customers. Coupe will offer his insight from 12 to 1:15 p.m. Thursday in the New Products Theater, where he will collaborate with researchers from the Hartman Group and Avero Research to discuss what makes a product hot. At 3 p.m. Thursday in the Retail Resource Center, Coupe will also be answering specific retailing questions about the changing face of the naturals consumer.

Dr. Alan Greene, founder of DrGreene .com, is a renowned pediatrician at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University's School of Medicine. He is the author of several books, including From First Kicks to First Steps (McGraw-Hill, 2004). He is also the president of Hi-Ethics and is on the Organic Center's board of directors. Earlier this year, on his Web site, Greene released "Dr. Alan Greene's Organic Prescription," a list of the top 10 foods that it's most important to consume organically. From 8:30 to 10 a.m. Friday in rooms 307 and 308, Greene will discuss the latest research on organics and the science behind the list.

David Kamp, a longtime contributing editor to Vanity Fair and GQ, is the author of The United States of Arugula: How We Became a Gourmet Nation (Broadway, 2006), as well as the upcoming Food Snob's Dictionary and Wine Snob's Dictionary (Broadway, 2007). Kamp will bring his droll brand of dietary dishing to Expo from 1 to 2:15 p.m. Friday in the New Products Theater, where he'll discuss how we've become a culinary nation and why that's important to your business.

Editor's note: Paul Hawken, the keynote speaker for Expo East 2007, will be profiled next month.

Natural Foods Merchandiser volume XXVIII/number 8/p. 16