The Natural List - NEXTY Awards: Do's and don'ts for Expo West submissions

Ever wonder what it takes to win a prestigious NEXTY award? In this episode of The Natural List, co-hosts Jessica Rubino and Adrienne Smith are joined by New Hope Network's Douglas Brown, senior retail reporter, and Nancy Coulter-Parker, content marketing director, to discuss the essential dos and don’ts for submitting nominations leading up to Natural Products Expo West. With the final submission deadline on Dec. 2, the team divulge can't-miss tips and insights to help brands make the most of their applications. 

Judges from diverse backgrounds, including retailers and investors, will assess entries based on the "3 Is"—innovation, inspiration and integrity. To set themselves apart from the competition, brands should think holistically about their scalability, financials and long-term goals when submitting their application. Plus, don't forget to share your story!

The New Hope Network team shares the importance of explaining your brand's mission on your application. While NEXTY judges expect great taste, they’re equally drawn to a brand's unique narrative and potential impact. Want to hear more tips? Tune in to this week's episode. 

In this episode:   

Enjoy our vodcasts here or on YouTube. Prefer to tune in via podcast? Join us on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.   

Ready to submit to the 2025 Natural Products Expo West NEXTY Awards? Learn more here.

Our guests

Nancy Coulter-Parker, Director of Content Marketing
New Hope Network

Nancy Coulter-Parker is the director of Content Marketing for New Hope Network (Informa Markets), a role which draws on her 20-plus years as a content and research specialist in the natural products industry. At New Hope, Nancy works with and creates content assets for clients across the natural products space, including dietary supplement, personal care and food and beverage companies. She also oversees the Inside Organic program, which aims to bring USDA Organic brands, ingredient suppliers and companies across the supply chain together to elevate organic products and educate the public about organic's benefits. For more than a decade, Nancy also has authored the Organic Trade Association’s annual industry survey report. 

Douglas Brown, Senior Retail Reporter
New Hope Network

Douglas Brown worked as a full-time journalist for daily newspapers and magazines for more than 20 years, including six years covering the White House and Capitol Hill and a decade writing about food and agriculture for The Denver Post. He now serves as New Hope Network's senior retail reporter, covering a broad range of industry sectors.

Your hosts 

About Jessica Rubino  

Jessica Rubino is a natural products industry expert and content strategist with more than 15 years experience in media, events and natural products. As New Hope Network’s vice president of content, Jessica oversees digital and print content, conference programming and branded content for CPGs, retailers, investors and service providers. Jessica is passionate about using innovation as a force for good and leveraging content to spark the changes we want to see in the world.  

About Adrienne Smith  

Adrienne Smith is the director of content for newhope.com and the editor-in-chief of Natural Foods Merchandiser magazine where she helps ideate and produce content for natural products retailers, brands and entrepreneurs. Before coming to New Hope Network, she spent nearly two decades writing about food and beverage products and trends for the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Trade in Madrid, Spain, as well as for publications including the International Herald Tribune/New York Times and El País.