LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The 38th annual Natural Products Expo West & Engredea, the world's largest natural, organic and healthy products event, experienced another record-setting year, hosting more than 85,000 attendees including industry pioneers and a new generation of innovators shaping the future of healthy products.

The show, produced by New Hope Network, a part of Infoma, was held March 7 to 11 at the Anaheim Convention Center and brought together 3,521 exhibiting companies from around the world.

Among those exhibitors were three Lake County businesses: Aloha Bay, Apricot Power and NutriBiotic.

Aloha Bay offers unique, handmade and fair trade palm wax candles, Eco Palm Wax candles, Himalayan salt products, Feng Shui items, and other eco-friendly choices in green decor for homes and businesses.

This employee-owned company still hand pours candles at their Lower Lake location, which opened in 1993. You can find their products available at www.alohabay.com and in various natural food, grocery and gift stores in the United States. You can also visit the factory outlet store in Lower Lake at 16285 Main St.

Apricot Power has provided high quality bitter apricot seeds and B17-related products since 1999 in Lakeport. Two sons of the late Dr. John Richardson Sr. (Charles and John) started the company on S. Main St. with a simple mission to "get B17 back into every Body."

The company has grown the product line to include a full line of B17 rich foods, snacks, beverages, immune support products and skin care. They process bitter apricot seeds in Lakeport and ship around the world.

Visit their site www.apricotpower.com for more information and recipes or you can find their products at natural foods stores.

NutriBiotic was founded in 1980 on the principle “everyone deserves good health,” inspiring them to produce vitamin C products in various forms, plant protein, body care line and grapefruit seed extract (GSE) derived from the seed and pulp of grapefruit. You will find GSE in many of their formulas, including dietary supplements and body care line.

NutriBiotic has manufactured products in Lakeport for over 35 years. You can find NutriBiotic products online at www.nutribiotic.com and in natural food and grocery stores throughout the US and internationally.

Expo West was a great show this year bringing together the natural products community in Anaheim to gather round the big ideas that are feeding innovation in this industry.

It was especially exciting to see three very different local businesses that are a part of this change in our world moving back to real food, hand crafted, and a doing business in a small, sustainable footprint that is making a difference in how we view our food, our health and our world.