Petra’s East Coast Tour What a week in DC! Between NPA Fly-In Day, the USP Forum, and the first East Coast SoCal Dietary Supplement Consortium event, I managed to fit three impactful events into one trip thanks to all of the schedules aligning perfectly. The conversations, collaborations, and people made the week so memorable. A […]
Category: Perspectives
NASC Reflections
Petra’s Reflections on 2026 NASC What a joy to be back at the National Animal Supplement Council (NASC) Annual Conference. In the great revolving calendar of Alkemist event coverage, I hadn’t won this lotto draw in eight years, with my last NASC appearance back in 2018. Wow, has NASC grown since I’ve been gone. The […]
ASTA Recap
Elan’s perspective on ASTA 2026 Petra and I recently attended the American Spice Trade Association annual meeting in beautiful Palm Desert, California. Not Coachella, though arguably there were fewer complex aromatics and fewer questionable hats. While Alkemist tests nearly 2,000 plants and fungi, we have not historically played a deep role in the spice trade. […]
Sports & Active Nutrition Summit Recap
Petra’s SANS Recap Last month, I had the opportunity to attend the Sports & Active Nutrition Summit for the first time. I was especially excited to attend given the strong reputation the conference has built over the years. It did not disappoint! SANS expanded this year with a larger venue and increased attendance, creating a […]
Expo West
Elan’s Expo West 2026 Recap Expo West this year was a strong reminder of why this industry matters and why I’m so proud to be part of it. My week began on Monday at the American Herbal Products Association board of trustees meeting, where I had the honor of delivering the president’s review. It was […]
Year in Perspective
2025 Reflections from Elan 2024 was about momentum. We expanded services, hit new highs, reorganized for scale, and turned quality transparency from an idea into something you could see on products around the world. It was a year of building and betting. 2025 was about whether those bets held up when the market stopped applauding […]
SupplySide West Recap
SupplySide West Recap Elan Sudberg: Reflections on the 2025 SupplySide Global Trade Show I hit the road at dawn to make it to the all-day American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) Board of Trustees meeting, where I had the privilege of contributing to real, positive change within the botanical sector of our industry. That early start set […]
Petra Erlandson: Thoughts on NSF/ANSI 173 Joint Committee Meeting 2025
Directly on the heels of SupplySide Global, I made a quick turnaround and flew to Detroit for the NSF/ANSI 173 Joint Committee meeting at NSF International’s headquarters in Ann Arbor. If you’re not familiar with it, NSF/ANSI 173 is the voluntary American National Standard for dietary supplements product quality and safety. Experts from across the industry […]
UNPA Retreat
UNPA Annual Retreat 2025 Elan shares his observations on the UNPA Annual Retreat: This year’s UNPA Annual Members’ Retreat brought us back to beautiful Asheville, North Carolina, at the nearly incomprehensible Biltmore Estate. Somehow, it felt even more special than it did when we gathered there 11 years ago. On the eve of the one-year […]
AHPA Botanical Congress
AHPA Botanical Congress 2025 Bryan Fine shared these observations on the AHPA Botanical Congress: Botanical Congress in Cincinnati, Ohio was a great educational and networking experience. This year’s event was unique because it was the first botanical congress not connected to a trade show. That format created a more focused environment for meaningful discussions on […]