Behind the scenes at NPA MarketPlace 2012

Natural Foods Merchandiser: What’s your role with NPA MarketPlace?

Candy Campbell, Marketing Manager, Natural Products Association MarketPlace: As the show’s marketing manager, I’m part of every aspect of putting on the event, from matching attendees to the education sessions and manufacturer booths that best suit their needs to offering retailers my take on which products are hot at the show.

NFM: What do you predict will be a big draw this year?

CC: Our education program is particularly stellar. I’m really looking forward to hearing our keynote speaker, Mimi Guarneri, MD. Her book, The Heart Speaks: A Cardiologist Reveals the Secret Language of Healing (Touchstone, 2007), details how understanding the heart can help heal mind and body. She’s absolutely fascinating. 

NFM: What product categories tend to be the focus of the show?

CC: Before New Hope Natural Media acquired NPA MarketPlace, it was one of the largest supplement shows in the country. Supplements are still a primary focus, but retailers also will find natural food and personal care companies when they come to Las Vegas this summer. Because the show is smaller than Natural Products Expo East and West, it’s a great opportunity to make personal connections and learn more about the passions and motivations that compel new companies to enter the market. NPA MarketPlace fosters a real sense that the industry is all in this together.

NFM: Any tips for how retailers can make the show a success?

CC: Introduce yourself to everyone. If you need a nudge, look for me on the show floor, and I’ll be happy to make introductions. With health care practitioners, independent natural products retailers, grocers, e-tailers, drugstores, pharmacies, supermarkets, manufacturers, industry professionals, advocates and even a U.S. senator in attendance, there are lots of people worth getting to know.