ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The sounds of hammers, staple guns, forklifts and human emotion filled the halls of this Southern California city's convention center Thursday as workers readied exhibition booths.

A couple of hundred feet outside the center, about 170 companies showed off their certified organic products to a hungry crowd of people at the Fresh Ideas Organic Marketplace.

As passers-by swarmed around the booths of local companies such as Third Street Chai and Justin's Nut Butter, a co-founder of Boulder-based Pixie Mate beamed with excitement at the reaction to his company's new bottled mate products.

"We're launching the ready-to-drink bottle, but it's a re-launch of the business in a lot of ways," said T.J. McIntyre.

But compared to what's expected to happen at the Anaheim Convention Center today, Thursday could be considered as the calm before the storm.

The Natural Products Expo West -- the industry's largest trade show -- kicks off today and continues through Sunday. The event will feature nearly 2,000 exhibiting companies and is expected to garner close to 50,000 attendees.

The trade show will play host to a variety of key players in the industry -- a good number of whom call Boulder home -- and is expected to be the stage for some of the newest ideas and progressive discussions that could shape a variety of industries.

The president of the nation's largest natural foods grocer lauded the show's energy and possibilities Thursday.

Strolling through the Fresh Ideas Organic Marketplace -- a one-day outdoor tent event that could be considered a microcosm of the larger trade show -- Whole Foods' Walter Robb remarked on how companies can have their fingers on the pulses of everything that drives the industry.

"It's a great opportunity," Robb said.

The make-up of the tens of thousands of attendees appears to be a reflection of the industry's evolution during the trade show's 28-year history. Robb could walk the same aisles as an independent grocery store owner, or the Boulder resident who developed Silk soy milk, or a product purchaser for Wal-Mart or a team of equity financiers.

Fred Linder, president of expo organizer Boulder-based New Hope Natural Media, noted the industry has grown thanks to a well-intended choir that heard the preaching during the past couple of decades. Shying away from calling the evolution "mainstreaming," Linder said the industry is going through a period of "non-niching."

"The choir today is just much bigger," he said.

Consolidation is a growing theme as is the increasing number of ventures by more-traditional corporations, he said. As that continues, the concern about losing the passion and ideals remains.

"I think that's one of the challenges that we will have in the industry, is keeping that focus," he said.