Natural Products Expo West Cancelled Due to COVID-19 Outbreak

After initially announcing the show had been postponed due to concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, New Hope Network announced the cancellation of Natural Products Expo West 2020, set to take place March 4-8 in Anaheim, Calif.

In the days leading up to the event, a significant number of attendees and exhibitors announced they were pulling out of the event due to COVID-19, an infection transmitted person-to-person through respiratory droplets and for which there is no current treatment or cure. The four day trade show was expected to attract nearly 90,000 attendees and more than 3,000 exhibitors.

In a March 2 statement announcing the postponement, New Hope said it intended to secure a rescheduled date, set for sometime “before the summer,” for Expo West 2020 by mid-April. The goal was to keep the show in Anaheim, with city officials supporting the move. In a mid-March email, the group hinted at the possibility of an “Expo West Popup.”

However, on March 13, it announced the show was cancelled in favor of focusing on its next large show, Natural Products Expo East 2020, which will be held in Philadelphia on September 23-24.

New Hope had previously announced the creation of a $5 million fund to “support emerging brands significantly affected by the Expo West 2020 disruption,” and, in the email, also revealed the advisory board that would be establishing a criteria for administering the fund and providing input and ideas for Expo East.

On its website, the company also revealed that companies that planned to sponsor or exhibit at the trade show will receive a full credit that can be used towards other New Hope events and media solutions, including Expo East 2020 and Expo West 2021, the latter of which has paused its official re-sign process. All credits must be used by the end of February 2021.

All badges, tours and training or educational sessions that attendees purchased will be refunded, according to New Hope. Credit arrangements with other parties, such as hotels booked through New Hope’s travel partner onPeak, are still in flux. More information with hotel-specific status updates will be provided starting in mid-April.

As of press time, other “official event vendor partners” were also still determining refund and credit opportunities as well. For example, while Aramark, GES and CompuSystems will provide updates “soon,” PSAV will provide no refunds and Lowe Refrigeration is offering a credit or refund.

The loss of the show, one of the biggest food and beverage sampling and selling events of the year, came amidst a wave of other major industry event cancellations, including the Craft Brewers Conference, the Snaxpo, and many more.