The Natural Foods Industry is Not Safe for Women

The Natural Products Expo West returned to Anaheim last week after a two-year pandemic-induced hiatus. (The March 2020 show cancelled at the last minute.)

The largest trade show of its kind by far, with 2,750 brands exhibiting and tens of thousands in attendance. Reporting from the event has celebrated the growing sales figures, an impressive $274 billion in 2021.  

But recent posts to social media tell a darker story of women being sexually abused.

The stories started coming on LinkedIn on Saturday, the second day the exhibit hall was open. Food company founder Mariam Elghani (Mariam’s Garlic Goodness) posted that she “was asked to have sex 5 times” at the event, “and one man tried to force himself on me this morning”.

Her post has gone viral, at least within the natural foods’ community on LinkedIn. As of Wednesday, it’s at over 750,000 views, 848 comments, and 289 shares.

Just as disturbing, Mariam added: “3 of my female Founder friends were advanced in a sexual manner as well while on the [trade show] floor- men saying their success was only because they are beautiful with big luscious lips. A man last night asked me and my friends if we are dominant or submissive in bed.”

I have been to the show many times and experienced first-hand the frat-house party atmosphere at night. Alcohol flows freely, which can often put women at risk. But I had not heard about problems like this on the show floor before.

Then on Monday, Expo attendee Kati Phillips (inspired by Mariam’s story) took to LinkedIn to share (over five pages) her awful experience as well. The details are too disturbing to repeat but suffice to say she was sexually assaulted at an evening event. She also knows others who suffered similar violations.

As awful as these experiences are, they signal that the natural foods industry has lost its way. Kai Nortey, founder of kube, painted the larger context for these assaults saying: “the whole hyper-capitalism-white-patriarchal-Bro-culture” at Expo West needs to change and become more restorative and humane.”

That is the crux of the problem.

What was once a hippie industry based on meaningful values has evolved to one that places profits over people and is largely driven by white men with money and power. The natural foods trade shows have become playgrounds for white men with money vying for the next “hot product” start-up to invest in.

In an industry where all that matters is the fast track to making a lot of money off the next turmeric-flavored potato chip or coconut-infused water, everybody becomes a means to an end, and women have become roadkill.

The horrific experiences that are coming out of The Natural Products Expo need to be understood within this toxic soup. A woman of color promoting foods based on her family recipes and true values hardly stands a chance.  

In an atmosphere where start-ups are led by former hedge fund managers, bought by private equity firms, and eventually sold to global food conglomerates, the culture of an entire industry changes. Sexual abuse is about power, not sex. And the rapacious quest for power is impacting women in this industry in numerous ways. Here are a few other sorts of abuses that women have told me about in confidence.

Work is being stolen. One woman I know started a brand, worked her butt of for ten years to make it a national success, only to have her company stolen from her by investors who pushed her out. She is devastated.

Women are being demoted. In another company, the founder and CEO was demoted and is hardly involved any more. This is an accomplished leader whose skills are being wasted, not to mention the mental health toll on her.

Women are not getting credit. A woman helped a brand create an organic line to great success, only to be fired two months before she was vested in her stock. She experienced numerous forms of abuse.

The red flags have been there for years now, as anyone who has attended these shows can attest: The walls of white men standing in front of the booth representing the C-suite executives while women are behind them serving the food samples; the impossible crowds at the latest “hot start-up” food booth; the (mostly white male) retail buyers walking the aisles; the lavish invite-only parties and morning breakfast meetings hosted by investors or other monied interests.

Some women skipped the Expo this year, realizing this. Anita Shephard, Latinx founder of Anita’s Yogurt (made with fair trade coconuts) said, on a post about the abuse, she “ chose not to attend Expo this year. Honestly, I couldn’t bring myself to be objectified as a brown face in a sea of white pretending there’s a level playing field for us.”

So in sum, who is most likely to be at the Expo?

1.     Start-ups that are led by white men who hire their buddies

2.     Companies that have replaced founders by mostly white men

3.     Investors who are mostly white men with a lot of cash to deploy

4.     Retail buyers who are mostly white men

5.     Large corporations on the hunt for brands to acquire, led my mostly white men.

Most of the women at the Natural Product Expo are in service roles, either literally serving the food or handing out samples, or in company support roles. Sure, some women are founders or high-level executives, but they are few and far between.

The entire natural foods industry has been handed over to venture capitalists, private equity, and global food conglomerates that don’t care about what they are selling, only that it sells a lot. They certainly don’t care about the people who sell it. Especially women.

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