The hemp-derived CBD market is growing rapidly, although many CPG brands and retailers are waiting for clarity from the FDA on the regulatory path forward for cannabidiol before piling in, but what will distinguish the winners from the losers in this...
Hemp-derived CBD is being added to everything from sparkling beverages and drink mixes to chocolate, and given the sugar reduction trend, many of these products also contain stevia. But what are some of the formulation challenges when you combine two...
With a pile of FDA warnings letters closely followed by a wave of class action lawsuits, the debate over how the FDA should regulate hemp-derived CBD is heating up, with some arguing that high-dose, high-purity isolated cannabinoids belong in drugs, while...
While penning 15 warning letters about CBD in one day (more than the FDA has sent in three years) attracted a lot of media attention, does it signal a change in enforcement priorities for the agency, which has repeatedly warned that cannabidiol is not...
Sparked by proposed US Department of Agriculture regulations that would drastically alter the certification process for industrial hemp, two lawmakers from Oregon want the agency to make several changes before it finalizes rules for the US Domestic Hemp...
Presence Marketing, the largest independent natural and organic food broker in the US, sees CBD as a massive "bankable trend" for the broader CPG industry with products such as tinctures and supplements - which consumers perceive to be more...
Defendants in a recent spate of lawsuits alleging discrepancies between the amount of CBD advertised on pack and the amount contained in the products, have hit back in motions to dismiss, with one arguing that such cases should be stayed until the FDA...
Layn Corp. has registered its hemp-derived CBD business based in Indiana as HempRise LLC, which will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the global botanical extracts and plant-based ingredients company.
The United States Department of Agriculture has issued its eagerly anticipated draft rule on hemp cultivation. The rule is viewed as largely consistent with many of the state rules already in place.
A rush to market for CBD has left the terpenes in hemp out in the cold. An expert in the space said there is much potential benefit yet to be discovered in these fractions of the plant.
The United Natural Products Alliance has announced a new policy on hemp extracts while at the same time announcing its first member engaged exclusively in the business.
FDA warned pregnant and breast-feeding women yesterday to avoid CBD, THC and marijuana in any form, including the proliferation of food, supplements and cosmetics containing CBD and other cannabis-derived ingredients that currently are flooding the market...
By Larry Levin, EVP market & shopper Intelligence, IRI and Jessica Lukas, SVP, BDS Analytics
Many consumers are on the hunt for the next 'good-for-me' health ingredient, as part of the $450bn trend in self-care. This trend has continuously evolved with consumers focusing on protein-heavy foods, botanical extracts, probiotics, and more...
Yesterday four trade associations representing the dietary supplement industry sent a letter to all 535 members of the US Congress urging them to make CBD a legal dietary ingredient and to give FDA the resources to regulate the sector.
As widely predicted, the plaintiff’s bar has turned its attention to the burgeoning CBD category with a series of lawsuits alleging that products contain “significantly lower levels of CBD than advertised.”
Hemp and CBD continued to reign as one of the top food and beverage trends at Natural Products Expo East in Baltimore last week, just as they did at the event’s counterpart Expo West last March – but also just like at West they were far from the only...
The US House of Representatives is expected to vote today on a bill that would clear the way for full banking services for companies dealing in hemp/CBD products.
While there is something of a Gold Rush mentality driving parts of the CBD market right now, “there will be a lot of winners in this space, if brands can create a credible product and tell the appropriate story,” predicts one new player in the space.
Interest in CBD is “off the charts,” but those mulling the regulatory path forward for the hottest functional ingredient of the moment might be well advised to consider how other cannabinoids will fit into the regulatory framework going forward, says...
Natural Hemp Company CEO Chris Clifford believes the next big category to hit the food and beverage market will be CBD-infused sparkling water. And the company is positioning its first CPG brand, Day One CBD Sparkling Water, as an everyday beverage that...
The rollout of New Age Beverages’ CBD-infused beverages has been delayed owing to the regulatory uncertainty over CBD, which makes navigating the territory “as murky as the Strait of Hormuz,” CEO Brent Willis told analysts yesterday.
Humming Hemp is on a mission to increase household penetration of hemp food products and is targeting mainstream consumers through conventional retail channels including a nationwide distribution deal with Kroger later this year.
The US market for foods and beverages featuring hemp-derived CBD – from relaxation drinks to gummies – could be worth $2.5bn by 2023, or 10.5% of an estimated $23.7bn market for CBD products (spanning everything from pharmaceuticals to petfood), predicts...
CBD-infused beverage brand Sweet Reason has raised $2.5M in a seed round led by New York venture capital firm Lerer Hippeau, with participation from RiverPark Ventures, Max Ventures, Subversive Capital, and angel investors.
CBD and other cannabinoids produced via fermentation can deliver the purity and reliability that the market is looking for at a lower price, claims Amyris, which is aiming to introduce its first products next year following a partnership with a newly...
Natural products online marketplace Thrive Market has temporarily halted sales of hemp-derived CBD products after its merchant processor demanded it cease selling them amid uncertainty over their legal status, but says it is in conversations with a new...
While not everyone was on the same page about the legal path forward for hemp-derived CBD during Friday’s marathon FDA hearing, multiple speakers made clear that the current situation is untenable, with one predicting a wave of lawsuits, and others demanding...
We’re no longer in the ‘Wild West’ when it comes to hemp-derived CBD, but buyers can still get burned if they don’t do their homework, says Colorado-based BBB Labs, which has launched a quality assurance seal for its hemp extracts to reassure partners...
The FDA recently reiterated that it’s unlawful to introduce foods or supplements containing added CBD into interstate commerce, but also said enforcement action would focus on brands making "egregious" claims, providing some comfort to firms...
Fermentation: A pathway to 'superior cannabinoids at significantly reduced cost'?
CBD (cannabidiol) produced via fermentation could hit the market early next year following a partnership between synthetic biology expert Amyris, and LAVVAN, Inc., a newly-formed company committed to “providing the market with superior cannabinoids at...
'What we're wrestling with is whether CBD is an ingredient play, or something huge brands can be built around'
The fact that CBD is not a legal ingredient in foods and supplements - at least not yet - did not deter scores of exhibitors at Expo West, who added it to everything from soda to protein bars (absent any claims), with some opting for isolates, but most...
US sales of beverages infused with hemp-derived CBD are predicted to reach $600m in 2019, and approach $1bn in 2020, with water accounting for two thirds of the market, predict analysts at Cowen, which believes that “US CBD can conservatively generate...
Canadian cannabis specialist Tilray is to buy Manitoba Harvest – the world’s largest hemp food manufacturer - from Compass Group and other shareholders in a deal that could be worth up to C$419m (US$317m).*
While some retailers are more cautious than others about using the term 'CBD,' many leading food and drugstore chains are actively exploring building dedicated segments in store devoted to hemp/CBD following the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill,...
CBD (cannabidiol) isolates are off the menu for food, beverage and supplement companies until the FDA lays out some kind of regulatory pathway. But are ‘broad spectrum’ hemp extracts legal in all 50 states following the passage of the Farm Bill? And if...
Launching online and in Erewhon and Lazy Acres stores in Los Angeles this month, Lumen hemp elixir is a HPP (high pressure processed) superfood shot with a 60-day shelf life featuring cold pressed hemp juice and on-trend ingredients such as ashwagandha...
New Age Beverages has unveiled CBD-infused beverages under the Marley brand, which it believes will give it first-mover advantage in the segment with a globally-recognized brand consumers already associate with relaxation. But it won’t be making any claims...
The FDA recently reiterated that adding CBD to foods or supplements is illegal, regardless of the new hemp provisions in the Farm Bill, as it was first investigated as a drug. However, it is now “taking new steps to evaluate” whether to issue regulations...
While some commentators predict hemp-derived CBD (cannabidiol) could burn brightly and then fizzle out if consumers lose interest and plaintiff’s attorneys challenge product claims, the fact remains that consumers are buying it, and coming back to buy...
There is good news in the impending* Farm Bill for industrial hemp – which will be removed from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act - but this does not suddenly make the on-trend ingredient CBD (cannabidiol) legal in foods, beverages and supplements,...
'Ignorance is amok... not even the investors are asking the right questions. It’s total anarchy'
If you ask the FDA or the DEA if CBD (cannabidiol) is permitted in foods, beverages and supplements, the answer is a pretty unequivocal NO. If you ask the scores of companies currently selling it in everything from CBD-infused soda to smoothie kits, the...
A move announced yesterday by US Attorney General Jeff Sessions to allow federal prosecutors to pursue marijuana enforcement cases further unsettles the regulatory underpinning for those companies seeking to use hemp derivatives for nutritional products.
Nutrition-packed, environmentally sustainable and already notoriously well-known – although partly for the wrong reasons – hemp is well positioned to become one of the next big superfood superstars in the US.
The Hemp Industries Association (HIA) has filed a motion to hold the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in contempt of court for disregarding a 2004 ruling that hemp fiber, stalk, sterilized seed and oil are specifically exempted from the definition...
The supply of industrial hemp is ramping up quickly, as a company formed by growers in Kentucky reported $2 million in payments to farmers for the 2016 crop. But demand for CBD still far outstrips supply, a company officer said.
With 28 US states now allowing farmers to grow industrial hemp – a crop that stubbornly remains on the DEA’s controlled substances list although it has no psychoactive effects – it is only a matter of time before the federal ban on its cultivation is...