Natural Products Expo West 2023 NEXTY Awards finalists include five honey-sweetened products, including waffles with zucchini ingredients, a cocoa truffle bar, elderberry ginger fruit snacks, and more.

This year, New Hope Network received 850 nominations across 19 categories. After much deliberation, the judges narrowed down hundreds of nominated products to just 100 finalists across 19 categories. 

The New Hope Network team and top industry experts evaluate each product on three criteria:

• Innovation —The product demonstrates creative thinking and execution through the use of a newly discovered or rediscovered ingredient, flavor profile or process. The product fulfills a legitimate need or is likely to have a long-term effect on the natural products industry.
• Integrity —The brand employs a next-generation approach to clean ingredients, sustainable and equitable sourcing, transparency, traceability and safety.
• Inspiration —The company supports an unusual or little-known issue that is not widely addressed in the consumer packaged goods industry. While the company clearly communicates its mission, it also demonstrates its broad potential or provides evidence of its positive effects on people and the planet. 

The NEXTY Awards deliver recognition in the natural products industry for both finalists and winners. All finalists were featured in a showcase at Expo West and on the Expo West digital platform. The annual New Hope Network NEXTY award finalists include a number of made-with-honey foods and beverages. 

Honey-sweetened NEXTY finalists include:

• Best New Beverage: The Spare Food Company's Passion Fruit and Yuzu Spare Tonic
• Best New Condiment, Sauce and/or Dip: GloryBee Alan T's Sweet Heat Honey
• Best New Plant-Forward Product: Evergreen's Zucchini & Carrot Mini Waffles
• Best New Sweet Snack: Honey Mama's Cherry Hazelnut Cocoa Truffle Bar
• Best New Sweet Snack: Norma's Handcrafted Snacks' Elderberry Ginger Fruity Snacks