NOW Foods Immersion Event in Chicago

This post was sponsored by NOW as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

A few weeks ago I had the amazing opportunity to fly to Chicago with a handful of other Influencers to experience the NOW Foods 50th Anniversary Immersion Event. NOW Foods is a trusted natural products manufacturer, and is dedicated to providing customers with a comprehensive approach to wellness by offering more than 1,400 high-quality, natural and affordable products. From functional foods and supplements to sports nutrition and health & beauty products, as well as essential oils.

NOW Foods was a brand I loved before this event, but getting to learn the ins and outs of their company truly solidified my trust and respect for the amazing people and products that hold their name. 

The first night that we got there they divided us all up into teams and we competed in an Iron Chef competition where we had to come up with an appetizer and a mocktail using NOW Foods products. This was an awesome opportunity to test out their amazing line of flavored Stevia products, and their shelf stable items like their Sugarless Sugar, and their Quinoa. Our team actually wound up taking first place in the competition. It was so much fun. 

Before the Iron Chef competition we were led through a cooking demonstration by NOW Food's Chef and Product Developer, Suzy Singh. Her energy and love for the company was so contagious, and you could tell that she loved everything that NOW Foods stands for, and the work that she gets to do for them each day. She was totally inspiring, and I left feeling like I wanted to be her best friend. 

A funny side note, that night at dinner there were some chocolate chip cookies that she had made for everyone, but they ran out and my friend Bari and I didn't get to try them. The next day at our lunch we were having, there was an enormous plate of cookies waiting for us from Chef Suzy, just because we'd mentioned that we didn't get to try them and she'd made them just for us. It was incredibly unnecessary, but so thoughtful, and I feel like that is just the epitome of how all the NOW Foods employees are. 

On day two we woke up bright and early at 6am to participate in a cardio kickboxing class which was super fun, and we followed it up with a class on sports nutrition. This was one of my favorite parts since I'm always dying to learn about new supplements to work into my routine to enhance my running and get me to the finish line faster. I'm so excited to start using my new protein powders, and their Carbo Endurance powder to help fuel me through my next marathon. 

The pinnacle of the entire event was getting to walk through the NOW Foods production line. They do so much third party testing and quality control on all of their products so that you know what is on the label, really is inside of every bottle you get from NOW. 

Despite what many in the media are saying, the supplements industry is regulated, and NOW goes above and beyond what is required to ensure it brings pure and effective natural products to market.

When we finished the factory tour, we headed over to the NOW Foods headquarters where we got to make some fun bath products with their high quality line of essential oils. I have been a huge fan of essential oils for years and years, and when I found out about all the standards that NOW goes through to produce high quality oils, I was blown away, and fully converted to using them for our home use. If you want to learn more about their oils, you can read all about it here. 

The weekend was 100% not long enough. The relationships that we were able to make in just over 24 hours was amazing. I left feeling like each of the NOW Foods employees, and all of the other influencers were my new best friends. I'm so grateful to Influence Central, and NOW Foods for facilitating this event and for having me along. It's certainly an experience that I will never forget. 

To celebrate their 50th Anniversary, NOW is saying “thank you” to everyone who has made NOW a trusted partner in their wellness journey with the “Celebrate NOW” Instant-Win Game, where YOU can have a chance to win 50 - $10,000 prizes. How? NOW is producing one million supplement bottles across 50 SKUs with special gold caps. If you find a golden ticket inside one of these gold-cap bottles, you instantly win $10,000 (upon meeting eligibility requirements and prize verification). Check here for more details about the Game, including Official Rules, a list of eligible products, and alternate means of entry.