Natural Product Expo Postponed Due To Coronavirus Concerns

ANAHEIM, CA — Anaheim officials announced that the Natural Products Expo West, usually the second largest gathering in the city each year, is postponed. Organizers of that event decided to put the event on hold due to concerns over the novel coronavirus.

Though 3,600 companies were scheduled to exhibit at Natural Products Expo West, and 30,000 participants from across the globe were scheduled to attend, those plans were scrapped by midday, Monday. Many of the exhibitors were set in a tailspin by the announcement, while others were relieved their change in plans would be credited by the Expo.

Decreased attendance and a frenzy around the virus left the city and the event organizers little choice other than to postpone, they said.

The convention features organic food industry representatives from throughout the country and usually draws the second most visitors annually, Anaheim spokesman Mike Lyster said.

"There's no concern about visiting Anaheim or daily life here. We have zero known cases here, and generally there is a low risk here, so we are going about our daily lives here in Anaheim," Lyster said. "The situation with Natural Products was more a decision they had to make about the show."

Many of the participants who represented large national companies had decided to limit travel among their employees, Lyster said. "That meant a lot of them decided not to make the trip out here."

Many attendees and exhibitors expressed outrage and disappointment over social media, Tuesday.

"You are devastating the people involved in exhibiting and those services around it," Karen Roberts, an exhibits manager, wrote on Facebook. "Think about your customers, too!"

Many attendees mentioned that Disneyland remains open, as do other area theme parks and sporting venues.

Lyster agreed, emphasizing that the city is "more than capable of handling anything" because it has so much experience handling large gatherings related to significant tourist destinations such as Disneyland, the Los Angeles Angels, and Anaheim Ducks.

Though organizers discussed moving forward with a scaled-down show, they ultimately they decided to postpone it until a later date this year, Lyster said.

"We are looking forward to potential dates in the next couple of months," Lyster said. "Hopefully, by then, concerns will have subsided a bit about people traveling anywhere."

Natural Products Expos officials released a statement saying the show was in progress "when the views of the community started to diverge. Some of our partners strongly advocated continuing with the show as planned. Some of our partners wanted the show, but not now, and some just wanted a straight- forward cancellation."
Convention organizers aimed to decide on a new show date by mid-April.

"It is our intention to deliver a Natural Products Expo West event before the summer to serve the community, either in Anaheim or a suitable alternative location," according to the statement from the show's organizers.

City News Service, Patch Editor Ashley Ludwig contributed to this report.