PROGRESSIVE GROCER: NATURAL & ORGANIC: Key Trends Highlight Expo West March 26, 2008 -By Jenny McTaggart Being at the recent Natural Products Expo West Show was kind of like being at a sold-out concert. It was hard to walk through the trade show aisles without bumping elbows with other attendees. Certainly this is a testament to the fact that the buzz around organic and natural products isn't going away any time soon. More than 52,000 retailers, manufacturers, and other industry professionals gathered at the Anaheim Convention Center in California March 14 to March 16 to check out the latest trends. That was record attendance for the show, which is now in its 28th year, and an 11 percent increase over last year's attendance, according to New Hope Natural Media, a division of Penton Media and producer of the show. While out-of-the-box ideas were few and far between on the show floor, there were plenty of new products that aligned well with the latest major trends in organic and natural foods, including better-for-you kids' options, healthy snacks, and the merging of gourmet and organic. Here's a recap of some of the more noteworthy new products introduced at the show: The Tea Room (www.thetearoom.biz) has created a dream product for tea and chocolate lovers: chocolates infused with tea. All of its items are organic. New on the market is the Distinctly Dark truffle line, complete with seven tantalizing chocolates that offer between 50 percent and 72 percent of cocoa content. Full story on (copy and paste into your browser) http://www.progressivegrocer.com/progressivegrocer/content_display/features/health-wellness/e3iceb5a4c7a2685f32cb37db4aaf6eb6ba