This week, for Gluten Free Friday, we have a little something different for you. See, this past weekend, mom and I were invited as bloggers to the Gluten Free and Allergen Friendly Expo in Atlanta, Georgia. Gluten Free Expos are a great way for celiacs to find new brands to try and learn about cool new products from older, trusted brands. Although I have been gluten free for around five years now, this is only the second expo that I have been to!
Although the Expo was slated to start at 10 a.m. on Saturday, mom and I were asked to stop in a little early to attend the Blogger’s Breakfast, hosted by BFree Foods. At the breakfast, we were able to meet other influencers with Celiac Disease, as well as sampling some BFree Foods bagels. We’ve actually worked with BFree Foods in the past, so I was excited to see the blogger’s swag bag was full of foods I loved, as well as a few new surprises.
These Chips mean everyone in the family can have chocolate again! We use them in baking.
After the breakfast, we had the chance to scout out the brands before the rest of the crowd arrived. There were a lot of familiar brands there, like Ronzoni, Enjoy Life Foods, Daiya, Smart Flour, and Udi’s. We also stumbled across some brands we weren’t familiar with, like Abundtant Love baking mixes and Sonoma Flatbreads. My daughter, a toddler with FPIES, was excited to get a sample from the Perfectly Free booth. Perfectly Free bites are one of the only sweet treats she’ll eat!
Although it was a lot of fun sampling foods and talking to other celiacs, a few booths stood out to me. One of them was Enjoy Life Foods, which was set up like a giant allergy-free version of a board game. You walked through the board, which was divided into themed areas, like the “sweet and salty sea,” and picked up samples of Enjoy Life Foods. The Enjoy Life ladies also helped us figure out where to buy their chocolate morsels near us. Now the baby can finally have chocolate chip pancakes!
Another booth that stood out to me was the Ronzoni booth. Not for the design this time! At the Ronzoni booth, you had the opportunity to have your photo taken with pasta-themed props and get a free box of pasta. Before having our picture taken, I had mentioned that we eat a lot of the rotini because it’s easy for my toddler to self-feed. Well, when we got our photo taken and walked over to claim our pasta, they had a box of rotini waiting for me— I didn’t have to waste time deliberating over which pasta to take home. I thought this was a simple little touch that really showed that they connect with their customers!
Other notable brands include Sunbutter, who had the chance to win a case of Sunbutter for posting on social media, and Sprouts Grocery, who were giving out free apples. If you were feeling like all the samples were getting to you, you could take a break and get a free health screening! Justin and my friend Alex got their free health screenings done while I sampled pizza. Hey, it’s not every day that you can literally eat anything in the room!
Although all products at the expo were gluten free, it was easy to find products geared towards other allergens too. Booths that were tree nut and peanut free were red, so they were easy to find among the blue gluten free only tents. Each table had a blue card allowing the reps to mark the allergens present in their samples. This way, you could tell at a glance if it was safe for you! No awkward “does this have nuts? No, really…does this have nuts?”
In a funny turn of events, we also saw my mom’s next door neighbor, who also has Celiac, at the Expo. We traded talk about our favorite booths and our favorite gluten free restaurants in Atlanta! I was happy to send her over to the Abundtant Love baking mixes booth for a taste of real buttermilk biscuits, and she sent me to several booths I hadn’t been to yet. We left GFAF Expo with full stomachs and full sample bags. All in all, I would definitely say it was a major success for this gluten free girl and FPIES mama!
Connect with the Gluten Free Allergy Friendly Expo on Social Media:
Facebook: @GFAFEXPO
Instagram: @GFAFEXPO
Twitter: @GFAFEXPO
Have you ever been to a Gluten Free and Allergen Friendly Expo?
I’ve never been to an expo like this. It looks and sounds pretty awesome though. I have been really impressed lately by all the foods/products that are gluten free!
This is wonderful. A great way to really learn and connect with others who share the gluten free lifestyle
This is really great, especially as more people are finding themselves allergic to gluten. I thing it’s great to have good food options for all people. The expo sounds fun too!
It’s nice that you were able to go to this expo, I love going to expos simply because you get to know more about the brands that you enjoy plus new brands that you might want to try. I’m sure you had an amazing time there.
I love expos, especially the ones focused on food. It’s so awesome that you got the chance to attend this event! I’m sure you got to know more gluten free products and you got to try some as well.
I know quite a few of my family members are now eating Gluten free. I would love to visit an expo like this to know the best foods to get for them
I’ve tried those vanilla creme cookies before and I’d have to say they were very tasty… yum! I’m happy there are gluten free options out there that taste good because there’s pretty much nothing worse than allergies!
Looks like you had a great time! So many great brands!
What a great expo. I have two friends that would be very interested in this so will share it so they can be aware of it. They both have allergies and it makes it tough to cook.
Sounds like a great expo. I do eat some foods that are gluten free because I enjoy them. These are great for those that do have allergies.
This would have been a great expo for me. I have allergies and asthma and I have to watch what I eat. I would have learned to love more about these allergen friendly food.
Oh wow!! I wish I would have known about this. We eat gluten free and this would have been an amazing event to attend.
I am a fan of the companies working towards more gluten-free foods.
We are trying to work in a diet with less sugar and processed flour in my household.
It is so healthy, and a delight to see the gluten free products. I really like this new trend of giving us more gluten free foods to keep us away from diseases and active always. What a great expo.
What a fun expo! I would have loved those goodies!
I would have loved to attend this expo. My daughter lives in Atlanta and we visit often, but not enough to grab fun event like this.
This sounds like it was an amazing time for you all indeed. It would be awesome to see and try all these gluten free allergy friendly foods. My son has food allergies and would have loved this expo. Thanks for sharing your amazing experiences and the foods.
I love the first photo LOL. I am not Gluten Sensitive, but I do enjoy Gluten Free products from time to time. You showed several good products from the expo.
What a great expo. I love going to one location and being introduced to so many great products that I need. Some stores make it hard to find specific things and now you’ll know what brands to be in the lookout for. The Glutina cookies are speaking to me!
That’s a great snack. I need some of these. This is what my child needs. I hope it’s available in any stores.
oh I wish they would have this in Chicago! I need some help with what to purchase and what actually tastes good. My daughter and myself have some weird allergies and trying to figure out what is “ok” to eat can be challenging.
I love going to expos. You can always find so many cool and new products. This one looks like it was great.
This would be such a helpful expo to attend if food allergies are in the family. I am sure so many new brands and products would be found out. I know how limiting foods can be when their is allergy restrictions.
What a great expo! A great place to learn about all about gluten free products. Looks like you met with a lot of great vendors.
Oh wow I totally didnt know they had a gluten free expo. Such great wealth of knowledge and resources. So intriguing. Sounds like an awesome event.
So so fun!! Lots of great gluten free resources here.
Oh, how I would love to sample everything there! And then tell my gluten free niece all about it, cause I am that helpful Uncle!
I love food expos! Looks like you got to experience and try all these delicious food! What a wonderful event.
I love food expos thanks to all the samples and I am sure you scored big in that department. We do not have any food allergies in our family, but are still fans of many gluten free brands you mentioned.
Trying out some new gluten free samples must have been great. I bet everyone that went to this expo found some new favorites!
This looks like such an amazing expo. I love that allergy friendly options are growing daily.
Oh wow what an awesome sounding expo I love that you got to find out so much about gluten free brands.
What a great way to learn and find all the gluten free food under one roof. I have a dear friend with celiac disease and I’ve seen her struggle to eat daily.
This looks like it was a great expo. I know if feel a lot better when I cut gluten out of my diet. I need to see if I can find an expo in my area.
Gluten free has come a long way and I never heard of the expo. I feel like I’m learning more about gluten everyday and it’s amazing how many people it affects
That is amazing! My gluten-free friend was just there, and she said it was amazing. It looks like it was.
I have a couple of friends with Celiac’s and they have to be extremely careful when eating out. This blog conference, I feel, would benefit those that don’t require gluten-free, so they can learn different aspects of gluten-free
I have friends with kids that have Celiac, it’s scary. I have nut and food dye allergies and if I have any doubt about a food, I don’t eat it. Food allergies are difficult.
Wowzers! I never heard of an expo that showcased only gluten free products. That would be something that I would love to do here in Florida. So interesting!
This looks like a great event for people with gluten allergies. My cousin and her son both are allergic, so these would be perfect.
My friend is celiacs disease and she is always on the lookout for good tasting gluten-free food. I think should be excited to see what is out there for this expo.
That is so great! Gluten free has come such an amazingly long way from the days of “everything tastes like cardboard”.
I have never heard of a gluten free expo before! I’m so glad that more and more companies are catering to those who are gluten-free. It’s refreshing to see so many great gluten-free friendly foods!