Wednesday, Oct. 13
The Organic Summit
When: 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; additional fee required
Where: Seaport Hotel
The Organic Summit is a forum for complex discussion and learning for all stakeholder groups in the organic industry. theorganicsummit.com

Supply Network Track
Where: All sessions—Level 2, Room 254A
Breaking Supply Issues
When: 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.
An up-to-the-minute look at breaking news affecting the global supply chain, good manufacturing practices implementation and enhanced regulatory enforcement of dietary supplements

Live from DC—It’s Make Your Claims Right!
When: 9:45 to 10:45 a.m.
Stringent and complicated rules exist on what claims can be made for foods, dietary supplements and cosmetics. Understanding these rules can give you a competitive edge and keep you out of regulatory hot water. Learn the rules directly from officials from the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission.

Crossing the Chasm
When: 11 a.m. to noon
In this groundbreaking interactive session, suppliers will connect with retailers to break down supply-chain barriers.

Retailer Workshop
The Retailer Workshop provides intensive education and training. Build your natural products retailer community at the keynote presentation, retailer lunch and wrap-up session. Fee includes all-day workshop plus networking lunch. $95 ($75 Natural Products Association East members). Preregistration recommended; class size limited.

Opening Keynote
Rafael Mael, president, Brand Launcher; The New Rules of Natural Product Marketing
Where: Level 2, Room 253B
When: 9 to 10:30 a.m.
In today’s hypercompetitive retail environment, “me too” marketing just doesn’t cut it. Come to this fast-and-furious keynote presentation and discover the new rules of retail marketing. This session is packed with fresh, innovative ideas and proven promotional strategies to smash through the clutter, bring in new customers and boost word-of-mouth referrals.

Perishables Track
Where: All sessions—Level 2, Room 251

Making Your Deli a Destination
When: 10:45 a.m. to noon
Are your foodservice sales flourishing or flailing? Learn from industry experts—a researcher in consumer behavior at supermarket delis and a former supermarket retailer and restaurateur—about how approaching your deli operation from a restaurant point of view can boost profits.

Retail Merchandising—When Center & Perimeter Collide
When: 1 to 2:15 p.m.
At its most effective, cross merchandising can show how the whole store interrelates to create a basic menu, a single recipe or a successful meal. What are some innovative ways to integrate center-store products into the perimeter? Come away from this session with cutting-edge strategies to directly implement in your store.

New Face of Your Dairy Case
When: 2:30 to 3:45 p.m.
Today’s dairy case is not what it used to be—instead of just milk and butter, it now has to house milk alternatives, coconut products, European-style butter and cheeses, and a multitude of yogurts. This session will teach you merchandising essentials and which products are dairy-case “musts.”

Nonperishables Track
Where: All sessions—Level 2, Room 252A

Navigating Sleep and Stress Supplements
When: 10:45 a.m. to noon
Every year, consumers spend hundreds of millions of dollars on supplements for sleep and stress. This session details what you and your staff need to know about these hot products. Learn which supplements are the most effective, and the key questions to ask customers to guide them to the right purchase.

Call of the Cleanse
When: 1 to 2:15 p.m.
Last year, consumers spent more than $100 million on cleansing and detox products, according to Schaumburg, Ill.-based market research firm SPINS. To help your customers hit reset safely and effectively, learn the science behind healthy detox plans, including herbs, supplements and lifestyle strategies that target top health concerns, such as losing weight, gaining energy and improving digestion.

Packaged Raw Food Revolution
When: 2:30 to 3:45 p.m.
As consumers seek out products that support health and wellness, they are purchasing more raw-food products from the center store. What are the latest raw-food products and how should you merchandise them?

Operations Track
Where: All sessions—Level 2, Room 252B

Motivating Front Line Staff For Better Customer Service
When: 10:45 a.m. to noon
Keeping your staff enthused and motivated is one of the most difficult challenges facing retailers, and employee-customer interactions hold a powerful and immediate sway in a retailer’s success. Learn an array of effective strategies and tools that will keep your staff motivated vis-à-vis the success of your store.

Online and In-Store Classroom—Implementing a New Strategy
When: 1 to 2:15 p.m.
Studies show an educated customer is more likely to become a loyal and engaged customer. Explore how to use in-store interactions and social media to engage your customers across a wide variety of platforms. Come away with a step-by-step process to target your existing shoppers, engage them in-store and reach out to them online.

Promos Through the Year—A Retail Calendar
When: 2:30 to 3:45 p.m.
Are your promotions the same week after week? Do your demos lack flair? Learn how to simply and easily implement a promo strategy that can help you move merchandise, engage customers and keep your business fresh. Leave this session with a usable promo calendar and ideas to get you started.

Closing Session
Retail Strategies To Go
When: 4 to 5:15 p.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 253B
Join this informal wrap-up of the Retailer Workshop as featured speakers from previous sessions come together to discuss key takeaways and strategies you can immediately implement in your store.

Product-to-Shelf Workshop
Where: All sessions—Level 2, Room 254A
The Product-to-Shelf Workshop provides the fundamental knowledge necessary for launching a new brand, product or private label in the naturals industry. Workshop fee includes all three sessions. Registration: $95 (attendees) or $75 (exhibitors).

Financing
When: 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Where do you find the funds to launch your new product or brand? Experts will help you navigate the ins and outs of financing and accounting.

Marketing
When: 3:45 to 4:45 p.m.
Marketing experts describe best-practice strategies for launching and growing a brand in the naturals industry.

Distribution
When: 5 to 6 p.m.
Learn the basics of working with brokers, distributors and retailers, as well as tips for entering the North American market.

Thursday, Oct. 14
Featured Speaker: Gary Hirshberg, president and CE-Yo, Stonyfield Farm
When: 9 to 10 a.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 253BC
Gary Hirshberg is “CE-Yo” of Stonyfield Farm, the largest organic yogurt company in the world. He has overseen the growth of Stonyfield Farm from its infancy as a seven-cow organic farming school in 1983, to its current $350 million in annual sales. This growth has been fueled by innovative marketing techniques that often combine the social, environmental and financial missions of the company. Stonyfield’s mission is to promote healthy food, healthy people, healthy business and a healthy planet so that all stakeholders—family farmers, employees, shareholders and future generations—win dividends.
Book signing directly afterward at the bookstore at the Show Floor Bistro.

Business Track
Social Media Trends and Tools for Sales and Branding
When: 8 to 9 a.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 251
Experts believe social media is in many ways the most sustainable and impactful form of marketing today, and an opportunity to grow your brand and expand your customer reach by implementing efficient and strategic web tactics. We’ll discuss the latest tech trends for leveraging Twitter and Facebook, as well as the how and why behind YouTube and geolocation apps. 

Women In Naturals Track
Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office
When: 8 to 9 a.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 252A
This session is for every professional woman in the natural products industry who wants to get ahead but feels she is at an impasse. Learn how to identify ingrained habits you learned as a girl that may be holding you back, and discover how to leverage your power in the workplace.

Consumer Trends Track
Catering to a Multicultural Palate
When: 8 to 9 a.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 252B
Demographic shifts in the United States are bringing more diverse customers and more flavor demands to natural products stores than ever before. Mediterranean, Latin and Indian are the three fastest-emerging cuisines, according to the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade. This session will uncover the hottest multicultural trends and help retailers and manufacturers bring these products to grocery and foodservice.

All Things Organic Track
Organic Private Label Beyond the Recession
When: 8 to 9 a.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 254A
One of the big winners early in the great recession was organic private label. Now, as the economy begins to recover, the organic private-label market appears to be softening in some retail and product segments. Get in-depth quantitative data from the Organic Trade Association and market research firm SPINS, and hear the perspective of companies that do business in both branded and private label.

Organic Personal Care Products: A Lay of the Land
When: 8 to 9 a.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 254B
What’s organic about organic personal care products? Stay on top of the ever-evolving landscape of products that aren’t currently covered by the National Organic Program’s Final Rule. Panelists will bring you up to speed on both public- and private-sector efforts at regulation, U.S. marketplace initiatives and international developments.

Organic Integrity: A Global Look at the Public-Private Partnership
When: 10 to 11:30 a.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 254A
What role does your company play in maintaining the integrity of the organic label claim? The National Organic Program’s “Era of Enforcement” is just one part of what many believe must be an international public-private partnership throughout all levels of the supply chain. This session will take a global look at organic integrity, examining issues such as grower group certification in Latin America and sourcing from China, in an ongoing effort to explore the business community’s responsibility in upholding the organic claim.

Cross Agency Integration: An Update from NOP and USDA
When: 2 to 3:30 p.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 254A
Under the guidance of the Obama administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has incorporated organic into its program areas beyond just the regulatory arena. USDA National Organic Program representatives will address the fine balance between enforcement and market stability that is so critical for organic businesses, as well as market surveillance, labeling and the “made with organic” category. Panelists will also address the nascent national organic farming plan; efforts to integrate organic throughout the USDA; and opportunities for cross-agency integration in economics, trade and regulation.

Health Benefits of Organic: More Than Eating Well
When: 3:30 to 5 p.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 254A
Two major studies released this summer recommend avoiding foods produced with the use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, antibiotics and growth hormones in order to reduce the risk of cancer and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Choosing organic is the only way to ensure the foods you eat are produced without the use of these substances. Get a front-row seat to a discussion with prominent pediatricians and researchers from the breakthrough organophosphate pesticides study published in Pediatrics, and from the original organophosphorus study from 2006.

Retail Resource Center
Retailer to Retailer
When: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: Level 2, Hall A
Today’s Retailer to Retailer session is hosted by Dan Segal, owner of Healthy Thymes Market in Vernon, N.J. Bring your questions and conversation topics to this informal roundtable opportunity. 

NBJ Summit Extension
Where: All sessions—Level 2, Room 251; additional fee required

Going Global—Taking Your Business Overseas & Getting It Right the First Time
When: 2 to 4 p.m.
Breaking into a new international market can be extremely challenging from regulatory, operational and cultural standpoints. Receive a breakdown of nutrition-industry sales by country/region and product category, and hear from industry CEOs with firsthand experience working in the most attractive emerging global markets—including China, Brazil and India—on what’s really required to successfully navigate the unique regulatory and cultural roads within these regions.

Leadership Secrets from Top CEOs—Growing Your Business (and Your Career) in 2011 and Beyond
When: 4 to 6 p.m.
Join a panel of successful nutrition-industry CEOs and hear how they rose to where they are and how they’re staying put. The session will focus on how to identify emerging trends, integrate them into your business and capitalize on them. Panelists will also discuss how they’ve built businesses in the highly competitive and convoluted nutrition industry. Supplements, food and personal care CEOs on the panel will answer questions in a very interactive session.

Friday, Oct. 15
Keynote Speaker: Alicia Silverstone—Author, Actress, Activist
When: 8:30 to 10 a.m.
Where: Level 3, Grand Ballroom
As a well-known actress, Alicia Silverstone leverages her fame to promote key issues regarding health and the environment. Her fame gives her a unique opportunity to educate a nontraditional audience on these issues, and her advocacy may be just one reason that Americans are increasingly flocking toward natural, organic and healthy products. Away from the screen, Silverstone is the accomplished author of The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet (Rodale, 2009). In The Kind Diet, Silverstone shares the benefits of a plant-based diet, from effortless weight loss to clear skin, increased energy and smooth digestion. She explains how the foods regarded as the cornerstone of good nutrition are actually escalating rates of disease and causing potentially permanent damage to our ecology. Book signing directly afterward at the bookstore at the Show Floor Bistro.

All Things Organic Track
Retail Differentiation through Organic Activism
When: 10 to 11:30 a.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 254A
Through community engagement, some forward-thinking retailers are applying global themes locally and building a loyal grassroots consumer base. Hear from three retailers who’ve taken different approaches—voluntary retail certification, supporting and sourcing from local organic cooperatives and start-ups, and growing their own organic farm—to supply their stores.

The Sustainability Spectrum: Philosophy to Metrics
When: 10 to 11:30 a.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 254B
Can sustainability be defined and measured, or is it a philosophical ideal? Where does your organic company fall on the sustainability spectrum—is it a guiding principle you strive toward, or do you quantify your progress and report on your efforts? Hear from panelists on both sides of the continuum—those in support of benchmarking and metrics, and those who believe sustainability is a core value that guides us but is never fully achieved.

Organic Market 2010
When: 1 to 2:30 p.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 254A
Get the most current data available on the organic market in the United States, Canada and—new for 2010—the rest of the world. Highlighting the key findings and trends of the Organic Trade Association’s 2010 Organic Industry Survey, speakers will elaborate on the new enhanced subcategory on inventory levels and sales, and the expansion of private label.

Organic and Natural: Finding the Way Forward
When: 2:30 to 4 p.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 254A
In this provocative, debate-style session, panelists will get to the heart of the organic vs. natural issue. The organic industry already knows this is a major issue, so what is the road forward? What is the business community’s role and responsibility? How can organic compete and succeed? We will begin by defining each label claim, and then panelists will engage in a discussion around consumer confusion and misconceptions.

Retail Resource Center
Retailer to Retailer
When: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: Level 0, Hall A
Today’s Retailer to Retailer session is hosted by Sue Bennett, owner of For Goodness Sake Natural Foods in Leesburg, Va. Bring your questions and conversation topics to this informal roundtable. 

Exhibitor-Presented Seminars
Forget Everything You Think You Know about Calcium
When: 10 to 11 a.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 259A
This myth-busting lecture crushes the common misconceptions about calcium supplements. Concerned about our environment? You will be shocked by calcium’s sources. Do they all build bone alike? Bioavailability is a big nonissue. Prepare to rethink your calcium choices.

Presented by AlgaeCal

“Ancient Remedies, Modern Medicines,” by Mark J. Kaylor, PhD
When: 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 260

Presented by Mushroom Wisdom

What Drug Companies Won’t Tell You Part II
When: 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 257A
In this all-new presentation, Michael Murray, ND, will expand on last year’s talk on what has created our current health crisis, as well as provide practical solutions to common ailments through the use of natural products.

Presented by Natural Factors

Food Intolerance: Revealing the Hidden Epidemic with Dr. Marcus Laux
When: Noon to 1 p.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 259A

Presented by Naturally Vitamins

Norwegian Legacy of Omega-3: From Pioneer to Perfection
When: 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 260
Presented by Nordic Naturals

Probiotics: Behind the Scenes of the Marketplace
When: 2 to 3 p.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 259A
Presented by Yakult U.S.A.

Exhibitor-Presented Seminar Hosted by Almased USA
When: 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 260
Presented by Almased USA

Healthy Is Not What You Think—How Women View Shopping for Healthy Foods
When: 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 257A
Presented by Delicious Living

Saturday, Oct. 16
Featured Speaker: Dara O’Rourke, founder of GoodGuide
When: 9 to 10 a.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 253BC
Consumers no longer simply accept manufacturers’ claims about their products being “natural” or “sustainable.” GoodGuide.com’s 5 million users analyze products and make purchasing decisions based on detailed health, environmental and social-performance ratings. Founder Dara O’Rourke will share insights into the key preferences exhibited by consumers, discuss how a much more transparent marketplace is impacting purchasing decisions and analyze best practices from companies leading the way in becoming more transparent and ultimately more sustainable.

Business Track
Surviving a Recall
When: 8 to 9 a.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 251
Do the words contaminated peanut butter strike a chord of panic within you? Have you responded to a product recall but barely survived? Hear the Food and Drug Administration’s perspective, learn from a retailer that developed its own recall response protocol and get your product-recall questions answered.

Women In Naturals Track
Hot, Rich & Green
When: 8 to 9 a.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 252A
Rebecca Harrell Tickell delivers a motivational session for any budding environmentalist based on her book, Hot, Rich & Green: The Secret Formula Women are Using to Get Rich and Save the Planet (Living Well, 2010), which demonstrates how women can be environmentally friendly while achieving monetary success and personal satisfaction.

Consumer Trends Track
Consumer Trends in Natural Beauty
When: 8 to 9 a.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 252B
Growing consumer concern about health and wellness is showing up in the purchases they make in personal care products. This session explores consumer preferences and awareness of specific ingredients and claims, and how shoppers perceive “natural” and “organic” in personal care. It also will examine how life stages and degrees of “healthfulness” play into consumers’ shopping choices when selecting personal care items.

All Things Organic Track
Nanotechnology: Implications for Organic
When: 8 to 9 a.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 254A
Come hear the latest on nanotechnology and its implications for organic production and handling. Canada has prohibited nanotechnology in organic food production, and in the United States the National Organics Standards Board will be taking up the issue. There continue to be more questions than answers; this is a slippery issue that savvy organic businesses will want to stay on top of.

Food Safety Developments: A Regulatory, Legislative and Supply Chain Update for Organic Companies
When: 9 to 10:30 a.m.
Where: Level 2, Room 254A
The panelists in this session will update the organic business community on legislative, regulatory and quality-assurance issues related to food safety. Hear about tools designed for small growers, learn from the experience of some of the organic industry’s most mature brands and leave with an understanding of this critical issue.

Retail Resource Center
Retailer to Retailer
When: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Where: Level 2, Hall A
Today’s Retailer to Retailer session is hosted by Donnie Caffery, owner of Good Foods Grocery in Richmond, Va. Bring your questions and conversation topics to this informal roundtable.