Naturally Network @ Newtopia Now 2025

Written By Parker Cho

As Naturally Network continues to grow its national presence and deepen its roots in the natural products ecosystem, Newtopia Now became a pivotal moment to be on the ground and feel the power of our community. Our community came together to celebrate – the first in-person national Naturally Rising pitch competition, the inaugural ConsciousCPG Awards, the Naturally Network pavilion – while we also began to cultivate the seeds for what’s coming next for us as an organization and industry.

Naturally Rising Show

Over the past year, each of our chapters hosted a Naturally Rising pitch competition, and 11 regional winners were crowned. The ultimate competition culminated on the stage at our national Naturally Rising show, where each of these winners pitched their brands before a panel of judges and a rapt audience. With just 2 minutes and 30 seconds to pitch, every finalist rose to the moment, and we couldn’t be prouder of the founders who stood in that spotlight. 

Our panel of judges brought an incredible breadth and depth of industry expertise, representing leadership across retail, entrepreneurship, and community: 

Their insight, experience, and perspective helped make the Naturally Rising show a truly special stage for our finalists. 

After the top 5 were announced, the judges conducted a lightning Q+A with each of the founders, and Huxley, led by Simon Solis-Cohen, emerged as the 2025 National Champion. Singing Pastures, led by Holly Arbuckle was awarded the Emerging Impact Award, and Loopini, led by Damiano Messineo took home the People’s Choice Award, as voted by the live audience. 

Congratulations to our Top 5: Chasin' Dreams Farm | Huxley | Loopini | Singing Pastures | Todo Verde

Congratulations to our Naturally Rising winners: 

This event and continued support of the finalists and winners was made possible by our generous partners. 

Our Mission in Motion table hosts: SPINS | NIQ for FMCG | Alyssa Vescio | Vdriven | TrewUp | Pachamama Coffee | Hanson Faso Sales & Marketing, Inc. | Madeline Haydon

Our event partners: New Hope Network | NIQ | Social Nature | Cambium Analytica | Brands for a Better World | Jordan Buckner (Foodbevy) | Mindful Goods | BeyondBrands

ConsciousCPG Awards

We proudly introduced the inaugural ConsciousCPG Awards, celebrating leaders from across the country who are driving meaningful change in the natural products industry.

These awards recognize those who embody the 5Ps: Passion, Purpose People, Planet, and Prosperity, and came straight from nominations from the Naturally Network community. Congratulations to our winners:

Thank you to everyone who nominated, as well our selection committee who selected our final recipients with care. Honorable mentions were: 

We are honored to continue doing the work with you all, who are inspiring others, creating opportunity, and moving the industry forward in a more inclusive and sustainable direction.

Naturally Network Pavilion

The Naturally Network Pavilion was buzzing with more than 25 brands exhibiting — with 60% as first-time exhibitors at a New Hope show. It was a hub for discovery, connection, and community. 

It was also a launchpad for exciting innovation, with several brands taking this opportunity to debut new products:

  • Projo* debuted their Power Coffee: a high protein, high caffeine RTD coffee (25g protein, 225mg caffeine). This low sugar, lactose-free drink will be available in October!

  • Singing Pastures debuted their rebranded & reimagined craft meat sticks: made with women’s wellness in mind, infused with grass-fed bone broth and collagen, slow-fermented and cooked for flavor and function.

All our Naturally Rising finalists were also given a booth on the show floor: 

“Being a part of Naturally Network’s Pitch Competition has created such a huge burst of momentum for my business. After winning the LA pitch’s judge and audience choice, the Gelson’s judge offered my business store placement at all Gelson’s Markets with a waived slotting fee.

My time at Newtopia got me lots of facetime with new and existing buyers and gave me space to ask for feedback on 2 new SKU formulations and artwork rebranding. Getting to the final 5 in the national pitch was an incredible experience, and helped gain so many new champions for the brand who are invested in my story and mission!”
— Jocelyn Ramirez, Todo Verde
“The [Naturally Rising] competition gave us a meaningful opportunity to share our brand story with industry leaders and connect with a passionate community of CPG founders. We’re truly grateful to Naturally Network for creating such an impactful platform for emerging brands like ours. Naturally Network created the space for Tierra Negra to shine, connect, and grow in front of national industry leaders—we left inspired, supported, and proud to be part of this community.”
— Ivan Gutierrez, Tierra Negra

Thank you to RSM and New Hope Network for partnering with us to bring this pavilion to life. The energy is truly irreplaceable!

Naturally Network Booth

Naturally Network also had a dedicated booth on the Newtopia show floor – and it served as a true gathering point for members, partners, board members, and visitors to connect and engage. 

Benji Fitts, Director of Customer Education at SPINS, held 1 on 1 meetings with pavilion brands and generously lent his time and insights on consumer data and behavior. We’re proud to offer that as a value to our pavilion cohort and we are grateful to Benji and SPINS for their collaboration with us. 

We also had office hours with Kate LaBrosse, the course creator of Retail Launch Lab, our first course on the CPG Academy, and it was a special moment to see the excitement from brand owners who could bring their products to Kate directly for feedback and questions related to the Academy. We’re working to continue fleshing out the CPG Academy to bring even more value to our members and we were encouraged by everyone’s energy and enthusiasm! 

Throughout the week, the booth became a natural hub for connection, and we were so happy to participate in our community’s strength in person. 

Chapter Presence

Our chapters are the on the ground materialization of our community at work. Several of our chapters brought their community spirit to life across Newtopia Now and we’d love to highlight some below:

  • Naturally Boulder was the first ever chapter in this network and expanded to become Naturally Colorado last year. We were able to celebrate their 20th anniversary on stage at our Naturally Rising show!

  • Naturally New York hosted a Par-Tee & Connect where over 100 brand founders and industry leaders from across the country gathered.

    “[The event] was a true reflection of what makes this community so special… Events like this remind us that meaningful connections often spark in casual moments over shared experiences.”
    – Adrienne DeLisio, Executive Director, Naturally New York

    See their recap here.

  • Naturally Seattle hosted an intimate coffee meet up, bringing PNW brands, founders, and natural product professionals together!

  • Naturally San Diego recently welcomed new Executive Director Renee Solares and we were able to meet her as a community at Newtopia. We’re thrilled to have her on board and look forward to her tenure.

    “Being part of Naturally Network is a true privilege—the community inspires me every day! Newtopia Now is a truly special gathering where our shared values come to life and new possibilities emerge. I’m grateful to connect, build, and grow alongside so many incredible people.”

    – Renee Solares, Executive Director, Naturally San Diego

We also gathered our national board for a pivotal meeting in person to reflect on our shared work and look ahead towards a brighter future for our national community. We’re doing lots of future gazing at the network, and we’re so excited to continue to do the work to make this organization and the industry a greater place to be.

We look back at this show and feel so much energy and heart. Thank you all for joining us and being part of this incredible community!

See our full photo album of Newtopia Now here 📸

Parker Cho
Next

Naturally Network @ SFA Summer Fancy Food 2025