Meet the Expo West Virtual NEXTY Awards judges

The NEXTY Awards is an awards program that recognizes the pinnacle of excellence in the natural products industry, elevating impactful brands and products that inspire a healthy, sustainable future for people and planet. 

Winning a NEXTY can have a profound impact on a brand, offering newfound exposure to investors, retailers, distributors, media, influencers and more. The finalists and winners are chosen in a thorough two-tier judging process held in the New Hope Network office in Boulder, Colorado. 

In the preliminary judging round, the internal New Hope Network content, marketing, standards and NEXT Data and Insights teams come together to whittle down hundreds of nominees to approximately 75 finalists. For the final judging round, New Hope Network invites a panel of industry experts to help the internal team select a single winner in each of the 23 categories. The finalists and winners are evaluated through deep discussion and debate on several criteria. These include written answers to what the company and product's innovation, inspiration and integrity is, the product's taste, ease of use, social and sustainability missions, diversity and inclusion practices, environmentally responsible packaging, labelling, brand storytelling, clean ingredients, nutritional quality and more. 

Related:What every brand needs to know about the 2023 Expo East NEXTY Awards

While typically celebrated through Natural Products Expos in-person events, the winners of this edition of these highly coveted awards will be announced during Natural Products Expo West Virtual Week, held from May 24–27, 2021. Prior to this, the NEXTY finalists will be announced on April 13, 2021.

Interested in nominating? For the Expo West Virtual NEXTY Awards, any CPG brand in the natural products industry can nominate. The deadline to nominate is March 16 and the product delivery deadline is March 19. You can nominate here.

To help the New Hope Network team select the NEXTY Awards winners, an experienced group of six industry experts will weigh in with unique perspectives on which brands deserve a coveted NEXTY. With a wealth of experience in retail, investment, manufacturing, sustainability, branding and nutrition access, this year's judging panel uplifts the excellence of the NEXTY Awards.

Click through this gallery to meet the guest judges and learn more about the expertise they’ll bring to the Natural Products Expo West Virtual NEXTY Awards judging panel!