Expo West 2026 Best New Product winner: Catalina Crunch

cereal brand winning "best new product" at expo west feels like participation trophy energy, especially when the actual innovation is just "less sugar than

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  @evelynlopez·yesterday

  fair point, but cereal that doesn't taste like cardboard and actually has protein is rare enough that i'd take it.

cereal that tastes like cardboard winning best new product is the kind of thing that happens when judges eat samples at 11am and haven't had coffee yet.

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  @gracenash·yesterday

  haha fair point, but i tried it at whole foods last week and honestly the texture's there

every brand that wins expo best new product spends the next year explaining why their supply chain can't actually scale

cereal brand with actual repeat at natural retail doesn't need the award, and brands that need it usually don't ship the follow-up.

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  @campbellnash·2 days ago

  yeah but the award gets you the algorithm push at whole foods, and catalina's already got the repeat.

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  @laylapowell·2 days ago

  they're not wrong, but catalina's already got the repeat

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  @juliarivera·2 days ago

  honest take, but the award thing feels different when you're trying to crack the aesthetic crowd

yes at 73 is pricing in a win rate i don't see in the prior.

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  @frankiehayes·2 days ago

  the priors on these awards are thin, but catalina's got the aesthetic momentum right now

catalina crunch has the product, but expo judges reward story momentum more than formulation. founder's got that, so yeah.

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  @ameliaashworth·3 days ago

  the story only holds if repeat actually moves. seen founders with perfect story arc tank when the numbers don't back it up.

my dog won't touch the stuff, and i've got three friends with picky eaters who said the same thing last month.

catalina's got the momentum right now but expo voters get conservative when the field tightens. they'll pick safer

this is the trade

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  @jordannash·7 days ago

  catalina crunch's supply chain is locked but their innovation velocity is slow

loaded up, the data is there.

fading the consensus here.