Steve Demos, center, talks to attendees at the 2008 Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, Calif., on Friday.

Visit Alicia Wallace's blog from the Natural Products Expo West here.

ANAHEIM -- With an 11-foot-tall GoodBelly probiotic shot blimp behind him and a swarm of people throwing back multivitamin- and probiotic-laden juice drinks, Steve Demos just smiled.

"Right now, I'm a happy guy," he said.

The White Wave founder, who helped turn soybean juice into a

multimillion-dollar business, was at the first day of the 2008 Natural Products Expo West in his new role: chairman and co-founder of Boulder-based NextFoods.

The company was incorporated in 2005, according to state business records, brought on a team of people last year and has had its products on the shelves of Whole Foods stores for about two months.

NextFoods is one of the younger area businesses exhibiting at the trade show. But the startup appeared to be far from the stereotypical boot-strapped, starving, fledgling company.

The company's blimp-anchored exhibition space -- about six times the standard 10-by-10-foot booth -- was similar in size to that of Stonyfield Farm, an organic yogurt company that was celebrating its 25th year in business.

"We're rubbing two sticks together here," Demos said jokingly to a longtime friend and colleague who stopped by the booth.

NextFoods' space was a stone's throw from a large Silk soymilk display at WhiteWave Foods, the result of Dallas dairy giant Dean Foods' acquisition of Demos' Boulder-based White Wave vegetarian food company.

The booth for WhiteWave Foods -- which includes both the Silk and locally founded Horizon Organic brands -- showed off the newly launched lactose-free Horizon Organic milk and some new yogurt offerings.

While a lot of younger companiesuse the expo to build brand awareness and ink distribution deals, the more-established WhiteWave Foods said the show is an important opportunity to further relationships with customers, said spokeswoman Sara Loveday.

"Being such a big part of the community, you almost have to be here," she said.

NextFoods notched agreements with five large grocery chains, including Safeway, to sell its GoodBelly probiotic, multivitamin juice products. Growing at the rate it is now, NextFoods' products could be in half of the U.S. markets by the end of the year, Demos said.

Demos attributed the out-of-the-gate success to starting out in the natural products hub of Boulder and, especially, he said, to the team running the company. NextFoods' board of directors and the company's management -- well-represented by White Wave veterans -- have a cumulative 200 years of experience and 75 years of working together, he said.

The team includes Todd Beckman and Mary Adams, veterans of White Wave and the subsequent Dean Foods-owned WhiteWave Foods.

The day exceeded expectations, Adams said, adding that the company planned to only launch one product at the show -- its GoodBelly probiotic shot -- but ended up launching two.

Originally intended for the eyes and taste buds of a select group of retailers, NextFoods' probiotic, multivitamin fruit juice line was launched, and well-trafficked, by the masses.

"I just hope we have enough product for Sunday," Beckman said.