Help
Frequently asked questions
Questions for retail buyers, for brands, and about Beacon and its partners. Search them, or jump to a group.
For retail buyers
Banned ingredient templates are part of what makes Beacon unique. Choose the template that matches your store's standards, and Beacon hides every product that contains those ingredients.
Ingredient template options:
- New Hope Network Standards: the default. New Hope Network's ingredient standards apply to every product you see on Beacon.
- Retailer Standards and Retailer Standards Plus: stricter templates based on lists published by leading retailers, plus our Standards team's expertise.
Ingredients marked with "*" are banned only if genetically engineered. If a product contains one of them and has no Non-GMO or Organic certification, Beacon does not show it.
Exceptions:
- Nail polish may contain artificial colors in every template.
- Hair color may contain paraphenylenediamine (PPD) in the New Hope Network Standards and Retailer Standards templates.
- Products in the Home and Miscellaneous categories are not filtered against the templates.
The number of ingredients in each template counts every way an ingredient can appear on a label, including alternate spellings and abbreviations. Some ingredients are grouped under one name in the templates (for example, PEGs).
Beacon brings together, in one place, the metrics and tools to find products that meet practical and mission-driven goals: avoiding prohibited ingredients, sustainability impact estimates, processing transparency, regulatory compliance, distributor and broker details, velocity and sales metrics, and more than 100 filters aligned with SPINS shelf categories.
Beacon matches brands with buyers on New Hope Network's standards and the transparency retailers ask for. It connects them by ingredient preferences, values, mission and more than 100 other filters, including a HowGood sustainability impact estimate, and buyers reach out to brands directly. Beacon is also part of the Natural Products Expo West and Newtopia Now show experience, so buyers can find brands on the show floor.
Informa lets these brands exhibit at its shows and appear on Beacon to support innovation and discovery, balanced with labeling compliance. International brands see how the US market responds to their products, and US buyers see what is available internationally. Many of these brands meet labeling requirements in their home markets.
Book a walk-through of Beacon with our retail engagement team, or email beacondiscovery@newhope.com.
For brands
Start at Get Started on Beacon (opens in a new tab) and apply through the New Hope Standards application (opens in a new tab). Once your brand is approved, you manage your brand and product data in Informa's product information system (PIM), and our Standards team reviews products for approval and placement on Beacon Discovery. Questions: beacondiscovery@newhope.com.
Beacon is included in every booth contract for Natural Products Expo West and Newtopia Now, with unlimited products at no extra cost. Brands that don't exhibit pay $2,000 a year.
Exhibitor listings run January through December each year. Beacon-only subscriptions run for a year from the date you subscribe.
Brands manage their brand and product data in Informa's product information system (PIM), which feeds Beacon Discovery. Changes appear on Beacon once they're approved. If you'd rather we make the changes, email beacondiscovery@newhope.com and say "I want Informa to update my brand/product data for me."
Every food and beverage brand on Beacon receives a sustainability impact estimate from HowGood for its products, at no extra cost. Retailers value this transparency when choosing what to stock, and you choose whether the estimate shows on Beacon.
HowGood is an independent research company with the world's largest food product sustainability database, drawn from more than 600 data sources and certifications. Estimates cover food and beverage products.
The estimate measures a product across eight metrics: greenhouse gas emissions, soil health, water use, land use, biodiversity, animal welfare, labor risk and processing, and rates it Good, Great or Best.
About Beacon Discovery
Beacon Discovery is the product catalog of Natural Products Expo, run by Informa. Brands share their ingredients, values and mission; retailers search them by SPINS categories, attributes and sales data. Retailers use it year-round, and at the show it helps them find brands on the floor.
Beacon lists consumer packaged goods brands that meet Natural Products Expo standards, whether or not they exhibit, and business providers that serve them. Retailers, ingredient suppliers, investors, distributors and other Expo attendees search for brands and products.
With the growing diversity of natural products and new products in every category, clear information about ingredients, sourcing and manufacturing matters. Every brand is reviewed by New Hope's Standards team before the show, so all products meet our criteria and buyers can make informed decisions.
Beacon gives brands the information and tools to make affordable improvements in sustainability and transparency, and to stand out for them. It makes discovery faster, more reliable and more transparent, using the metrics that matter.
Navigating integrity in the natural products CPG industry (newhope.com) (opens in a new tab)Transparency on Beacon
When a natural products business joins Informa's shows and Beacon, we review its labels to make sure ingredients and claims meet our standards. Some brands make the corrections themselves; others use MarketReady Insights' regulatory help to bring their labels into show and federal compliance. The MarketReady Verified badge tells retailers a product's label has been reviewed and revised for FDA labeling compliance.
SPINS is a wellness-focused data company that works with natural and organic retailers and brands. Its product data powers the filters, shelf categories and sales metrics on Beacon Discovery.
A sustainability impact estimate from HowGood, the world's largest sustainable ingredient database, that food and beverage brands on Beacon receive for their products. Retailers value this transparency when choosing products, and brands can show their estimate on Beacon.
Still have a question?
Email the Beacon team and we'll get back to you.