The two-day event also featured its largest number of exhibiting companies, which included beauty and personal care brands, together with VMS, superfoods, eco home living and food and beverage products.
Visitors comprised buyers, suppliers and retailers from across Europe and beyond – including decision makers all looking out for the best new brands for their customers.
On the beauty and personal care side, many retailers represented spa, beauty and salon companies, which encompassed major brands such as Amazon, Boots, Tesco, Neals Yard Remedies and BodyKind.
One in four cited higher show business spend
According to the organiser, one in four visitors (23%) cited a corporate spend of over £500k – up from just one in ten last year (11%). The number of top-level senior execs, including owners, CEOs, MDs and managers, with a spending power of over £100k also doubled for 2018 – up from 7% to 14%.
The event showcases some of the most cutting edge and newest product launches on the market, in particular highlighting what the fast-moving organic and natural beauty category has to offer.
“Newness is crucial to our business, and nowhere in the UK is there more innovation that is relevant to my business than this show,” said Al Overton, head of buying at Planet Organic.
Show features and Pitch Live
This year the show featured a number of specific focuses on the event floor space, including two New Product Showcases, The Organic Hub hosted by the Soil Association & Organic Trade Board, Soil Association’s Organic Beauty pavilion, Organic Peru, Demeter Biodynamic, as well as Demeter Italy, Austria, Armenia, Ecuador, Thailand, Spain (Galicia region) and Sri Lanka.
It also featured the Pitch Live to Holland & Barratt, which featured the company’s CEO and buying team listening to six pitches from shortlisted exhibitors and resulted in three companies being shortlisted for a potential distributor deal with the company.
Those companies were Fruu Cosmetics, Turmeric Vitality and Weed & Wonderful, which could all see there products being stocked in H&B stores across the UK at some point in the future.
According to the event organiser, hundreds of companies, including Fruu Cosmetics, BioCare, BetterYou and Beauty Without Cruelty have already booked up for next year’s show, which will take place at the same venue from 7 – 8 April, 2019.