CBD Group

Dark Truth of Spice

In the UK, we are seeing a wave of reports of consumers going into Vape shops and being mis-sold unlabeled CBD E-liquid which in-fact contains no CBD but a extremely addictive and harmful substance known as Spice. Otherwise known as Synthetic cannabinoids, they’re a class of molecules that bind to cannabinoid receptors in the body. They are designer drugs that are commonly sprayed onto plant matter and are usually smoked, although since 2016 they have also been consumed in a concentrated liquid form in the US and UK.

What is Spice, otherwise nicknamed “zombie”? Spice is a mixture of herbs (shredded plant material) with man-made chemicals with mind-altering effects. Even though many consumers think of Spice as fake weed however this is far from the truth, even though cannabis and spice share many similar chemicals the effects of spice are very different and much stronger.

Spice has a far higher potential risk of abuse, mental health complications with no medical benefits. Spice sellers are known to lead people to believe that they product is natural and therefore harmless but that is in fact not true, their actual effects can be unpredictable and in some cases is can be severe or cause death.

Consumers who have taken spice have reported suffering from chest pains, seizures, memory loss, and severe withdrawal. Brands like kronic juice who mislead consumers to believe they are taking a legal dose of CBD have had many severe conditions arise.

In 2015 Kronic Juice hit the UK market leaving a big impact on many consumers lifestyle, the product was labeled as harmless e-liquid, they refused to disclose any ingredients referring only to a patent pending flavour enhancer. However, some laboratories tested the products to find it contained a strain of synthetic cannabis that was banned in 2016.

A ban on legal highs came into force in the UK in 2016 which made it a criminal offence for production, distribution, sale and supply of new psychoactive substances. This came into force when in 2015 legal highs were linked to more than 100 deaths in the uk and a rise in violence in prisons as spice become a popular drug for inmates. The UK government decided to make offenders who broke the law to face up to seven years in prison under the psychoactive substances Act.

Spice is being sold in many shops around the UK misleading consumers to think they are purchasing CBD, its being sold as flavoured e-liquid sold as 3000mg cbd e-liquid for a value of £20-50 however for many people in the CBD industry they will know that this is not feasible in comparison to the normal CBD pricing structure or manufacturing cost.

From a scientific standpoint, if a 10ml e-liquid bottle contained 3000mg of broad-spectrum CBD it would not be vapeable, if it was made with CBD isolate then it would crystallize over a period of time.

It is important that the cannabis industry tackle this issue head on, we can do this by ensuring that we educate consumers on how to source the right product, to ensure the products that they consume are lab tested and how to analyse the test results to ensure it meets the standard. The industry should also work with the UK government to ensure that the consumers are protected from such products.

What format is it being sold in?

Reports have shown that it sells for anywhere between £20-£50 for 10ml. It is wrong on so many level, first of all CBD with 3000mg in a 10ml bottle would not be vapeable, if it was made with isolate than it would certainly crystalise over a period of time, and if it was full spectrum it would be far to viscous to vape. The claimed 3000mg in a 10ml bottle would make it 30% CBD, most cbd e-liquids go to max 10%. The product is sometimes already diluted with flavour, however it can also be purchased unflavoured which will allow you to add it to your own e-liquid.

The effect of Spice?

Spice is extremely dangerous and addictive for some users. It has an even worse effect with people who already face mental health issues. They are a lot more vulnerable. The high feeling it gives usually last 10-20 mins, however, can last a lot longer depending on the usage.

Where is it being sold?

Being sold in vape shops across London, the suppliers off the vape shops have been cash in hand vape wholesale suppliers.

What customers should be looking out for?

A reputable CBD brand will never sell their product unlabeled, and cbd which is deemed to be safe would never be sold so secretly and made to get you high. CBD is non-psychoactive, so it is impossible to get high off it.

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Sourcing Good Ethical CBD Suppliers

Companies looking to start new CBD brands or even manufacturers looking for raw materials are always looking for the best CBD supplier. Currently in the UK it isn’t easy to find good suppliers, you will spend hours or even days just researching and looking for suppliers and be quoted prices that are on both ends of the scale, either too cheap to trust or too expensive but will all have reasons for their prices.

What is a poor supplier?

Many people turn to brokers, which is fine but not good if they are just one of many middle men. London CBD Group never use middle men, we deal directly with credible brands, labs, manufacturers, growers and so on. How do we determine they are good? People will tell you to check test reports of the product etc. Just checking test reports does not mean it is a good supplier, any company can provide test reports, it almost means nothing without actual tracking. What do we mean by this, well first the person or company supplying you the product should actually have an extraction or manufacturing facility. If you receive a reply like, “oh we can not show you the facility right now” or “can’t provide you details of the source” because of whatever reason they give as if it is some top-secret thing then that means they are a middle man or not a good supplier, you may as well just mark them right off.

What information should a potential supplier provide?

Good suppliers of raw materials and extracted products will always provide the minimum of where it is grown, where it is extracted, where it is being processed, any certification and information of the facility conditions,as well as the usual information on testing such as cannabinoid content, heavy metals and pesticide testing etc. All this information is not a secret as some sellers make it seem, in most cases you should buy direct and if you use a broker,then they should also provide you all this information.Brokers are not going to somehow lose their deals by you going direct, legitimate industries do not work like that and the brokersselling you the CBD are confused on how to do business as they should have agreements in place. For example, if a buyer came to us at London CBD Group and said they need isolate, we would not go source it somewhere else and then sell it to them, that’s poor business. We would call our preferred suppliers that we deal with and see if they have the product you require, if they do have the inventory, we would simply pass you their details and have you contact them directly. This does not affect your purchase price or deal. We don’t pretend to be sellers of anything we don’t have full rights to and believe everyone should buy direct from manufacturers and extraction companies who grow and process the product in good conditions. Good brokers can make money from good agreements with producers, so they have no reason to hide or conceal information. A product which is used for human consumption should not have any hidden information from seed to shelf. So, you would need to make sure it is all tracked and recorded up until you receive the goods and then it would be your responsibility.

Finding these suppliers

At this moment in time, there are barely any direct growers or processors in the UK, so it would be easierfor you to reach out directly to American and European suppliers who grow and process in their own facilities. If you don’t have time to search online and sift through the potential suppliers, it can be good to use brokers that will just forward you directly to the source as they will do all the searching for you or provide you with a good supplier immediately, if somebody is just randomly putting up a post on social media regarding supply of CBD and they do not provide you all of the information of where it is from, then it is to best to stay away from them as there are a lot of facilities in USA and Europe which are very poor. I have seen images of proud growers, unknowingly showing their crap facility full of hemp which is just on the floor of a massive warehouse with an extraction machine on the side, which basically has no quality control whatsoever. Lot of the cheaper isolate on the market comes from these types of warehouse facilities, using hemp straight from the field placed on a bit of tarp on the warehouse floor, then processed a few metres away. Even though these isolates may have high CBD purity, it is not ethical to buy or sell such poorly controlled products for human consumption. Now that the worldwide web is the source of almost everything, it is easy to find many suppliers with actual websites and lots of information on their operation and facility, it just takes a bit of time either calling or emailing them all for more information and prices and trust me you will find a supplier who meets the criteria and provides you with all the information you need.

Another good way to find a supplier is by attending Cannabis Network events such as Europe CBD Expo, First Wednesdays, Cannabis Europa and many others. This way you get to meet many producers, manufacturers and brokers in the industry, if the people you meet can provide all the necessary information mentioned previously, then they are a good supplier.

The main point is that the industry needs to ensure we purchase and deal with CBD ethically and the only way to do this is by buying from reputable suppliers who can provide transparency in their product processing procedures. Products made in poor conditions are not good products regardless of the CBD content. People will be consuming these products in many forms and deserve to have it made under strict standards just like any other food or medicine.

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Procedure for determination of novel food status

1. Food business operators shall verify whether the food which they intend to place on the market within the Union falls within the scope of this Regulation.
2. Where they are unsure whether a food which they intend to place on the market within the Union falls within the scope of this Regulation, food business operators shall consult the Member State where they first intend to place the novel food. Food business operators shall provide the necessary information to the Member State to enable it to determine whether a food falls within the scope of this Regulation.
3. In order to determine whether a food falls within the scope of this Regulation, Member States may consult the other Member States and the Commission.
4. The Commission shall, by means of implementing acts, specify the procedural steps of the consultation process provided for in paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article, including deadlines and the means to make the status publicly available. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 30(3).

‘’Over the past twelve months we have seen a significant increase in CBD-infused products being sold throughout Europe. As a result of this rise, considerable thought should be taken in regulating this market and ensuring that consumers are being protected whilst also providing guidance, clarity and confidence to an ever-growing industry. This was the opportunity for The Novel Food Catalogue of the European Commission to provide complete clarification on the nature of CBD products that are being marketed and sold in European markets. Unfortunately, the re-classification of CBD and Cannabinoids as novel foods, has effectively rendered all CBD products used in food or as a food supplement across Europe as unlawful, denying consumers the right to access these products, from established retailers. This general prohibition comes at a time when CBD has come to the forefront of the media due to the significant research, which has shown it to have many therapeutic benefits.

In contrary to the overzealous re-classification, detailed research shows that cannabis and CBD was already used as a foodstuff in the territory of the present European Union long before 1997

It would have been desirable to clarify the legal situation and provide guidance to all parties involved in the CBD business, but this has not been achieved and instead, confusion prevails.’’ – Housam Nasr, London CBD Group

So, what can you do to ensure the products you sell comply with the legislation for novel foods?

There is a procedure for challenging such determinations. The next full committee meeting in Brussels on 12th March 2019 to address this issue and this presents an opportunity to make submissions to the committee and attend in person to make representations on behalf of the UK CBD industry.

Or you can apply for authorisation to sell products containing cannabinoids. Per Food Standards Agency’s website, there are two authorisation routes under the EU Novel Food Regulation no. 2015/2283 In both cases you must provide a dossier of information and submit it to the European Commission through an electronic portal. 

For all other novel foods, a full set of information is required to be submitted to the Commission which will ask the advice of EFSA where appropriate. EFSA has published guidance on the scientific requirements of an application.

It can take up to nine months for a risk assessment to be completed when further information is not required. If there is a positive EFSA opinion, the Commission has a further seven months to authorise the food and add it to the Union List of novel foods.

Enforcement

Local authorities, including Trading Standards and Environmental Health Officers, are responsible for the enforcement of novel foods legislation. If you have a concern about products being marketed which may be illegal or dangerous to health contact the relevant local authority.

Further reading:

Guidance on the preparation and presentation of an application for authorisation of a novel food in the context of Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 – https://efsa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.2903/j.efsa.2016.4594

Novel Foods https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/novel-foods

Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on novel foods, amending Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Regulation (EC) No 258/97 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1852/2001 (Text with EEA relevance) – https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=OJ:JOL_2015_327_R_0001

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2469 of 20 December 2017 laying down administrative and scientific requirements for applications referred to in Article 10 of Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 of the European Parliament and of the Council on novel foods (Text with EEA relevance.) – https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.2017.351.01.0064.01.ENG&toc=OJ:L:2017:351:TOC

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Business consultant Sal Noble poses 10 questions every independent pharmacist should ask themselves about the CBD range they stock

CBD is becoming an integral element of the independent pharmacies business offering. However, the importance of evaluating if you have the right offering in place, and equally, if it is working well for you is underestimated, yet it is a useful exercise for anyone wishing to grow their revenue in 2019.

Making your CBD offering ‘work harder’ across all facets of your business to optimise resources, improve customer satisfaction, increase turnover and unlock new revenue streams begins with these 10 key questions:

1. What is your current turnover of CBD sales per month?

Stock should be moving fluidly and represent an exciting and very influential part of your day-to-day running of the pharmacy. Pharmacies can generate anything from £1,000 to £10,000 or more on a monthly basis from CBD oil sales alone. Many pharmacies fail to unlock this revenue potential and, with it, the benefits of cash flow and customer satisfaction.

In order to optimise your CBD turnover, consider not offering too many different brands, as this can prove counterproductive. Instead make sure that the brand/s you do stock have a comprehensive offering to meet the wide array of your customers’ needs and that you have a clear strategy in place for all stages of your customers’ journey, which will be explored in this article.

1. Are you getting results that your staff and customers are delighted with?

Whilst the level to which the pharmacy may be invested in evaluating customers feedback may vary, reactions, downtime, complaints, returns, repeat visits and repeat purchase are all meaningful feedback mechanisms of results of your chosen CBD brand. Every pharmacy will also have regular insight to the verbal feedback from its staff and customers. If your team is not excited and confident to use the products themselves and are not enthusiastic to sell it to customers, then it could be that there is something that may be amiss with your selection. Sit down and re-evaluate your choice. If you conclude that you have the correct selection, consider providing more training for your staff, as they may not be confident in selling the product if they don’t have the correct knowledge of the ingredients, mechanism of action, and application. For every brand we distribute and sell we provide extensive training for every member of the staff at every pharmacy where the products are stocked. This has been well received by every party in the chain, from owners, stuff all the way to the customers.

1. Does your brand of choice create its own demand?

Life is made a lot easier where pre-existing awareness and demand exists for a brand you offer. Equally, if the brand provider is demonstrating continual efforts to drive this awareness and demand into your pharmacy and generate footfall for and with you, even better. That’s not to say stocking a range that is less well-known is not recommended – often pharmacies choose an unknown brand as they don’t want what everyone else has and it allows them to stand out. But bear in mind that you may have to work harder to establish a brand presence before you have even sold a single product. Most importantly, select a brand that has control over their seed to sale journey, or at least a brand that knows where their ingredients are coming from if they are not already growing it themselves, look for brands that have evidence-based results in the clinical and consumer sector and have tested their products on metals, pesticides, bacteria.

1. How many customers don’t currently buy CBD products from you?

How many regular customers do you have that are not buying CBD products from you? If they are not buying from you then they are likely buying from someone else. Most pharmacies rely on their stuff to make recommendations to their customers and sometimes there is little incentive, time and the correct offering in place to enable them to do so effectively.

Customers’ understanding and education of benefits of CBD is key to laying the foundations for their purchasing decision and this education should be threaded through their customer journey with you. Ensure team members understand the importance of CBD, why customers want it, and educate them in how to effectively to make recommendations for their customers’ needs and conditions. Incentives to support this training could include giving a percentage of their sales back to them in either products or a bonus, or what can be very effective is defining a reward of their choice at the start of a period and motivating them to achieve it through their sales.

1. Is it producing your best return on investment (ROI) in your pharmacy?

CBD range, if leveraged strategically, have the potential to be one of the most flexible, low investment, hardworking assets you have. Stock on your shelves is a perfect place to start and the power of retailing is demonstrated when we strip things back to basics: just one member of staff a day targeted to sell one CBD Oil each day could equal £17,000 a year (based on selling five per week at £70 RRP) and that sale may only take a few minutes per day.

CBD sales require little time and give customers ongoing results and a reason to return.

1. Is your CBD offering integrated at each stage of the customer journey?

Every aspect of the customer journey has the potential to be transformed into a new sales opportunity. Review your current journey – from the moment they contact your store to the moment they leave and assess how and if your CBD range play a role in the customer experience:

Stage 1: Consultation This stage can be used to initiate the customer’s journey with you and embark on their first steps to improving overall health with CBD straight away. This could be where you discuss their current regime, what products they use, what they are hoping to achieve, recommend different forms and strengths of CBD that will be of benefit to the customer. It will create loyalty and show customers that you are committed to achieving their results. At the very least, the consultation should cover the importance of dosing.

Stage 2: Purchase After you’ve discussed options and customer has opted for the product, you can build the customers relationship further by advising on complementing their purchase with a supporting CBD product. In our stores we offer topicals – CBD balms with purchase of CBD oil. This especially works for customers looking to improve their skin or ease arthritis pain.

Stage 3: Post-Sale

Customer relationship management (CRM) may not be an avenue fully explored by independent pharmacies, yet the stage at which the customers are away from the pharmacy and potentially not even planning a return visit, can represent a valuable source of retail sales. Look at every aspect of your business and evaluate where you can add value and create an edge to your customer experience. Your customer journey is paramount, and your messaging needs to be clear, cohesive and consistent with follow-up procedures in place to make any meaningful changes to customer purchasing patterns.

Know your customers, their buying patterns, their health concerns and offer products to meet their needs continually. Remind them what you offer regularly and enlist creative ways to engage with them and make your offering relevant and appealing to them. It helps to have a CRM system in place to implement this, however, it is not essential if budget is a constraint. CRM can be easily improved with some careful customer segmenting, record keeping and an electronic mailing facility.

1. Do you offer a unique CBD brand or a product?

Having a unique CBD product can be critical for cementing the brand’s place within your pharmacy. CBD products come in form of edibles, oils, topicals, powders and capsules. A unique product is one that encapsulates your approach and often would feature something that is bespoke or unique to you or the store. It is the product that you would use for press opportunities and promote with confidence. Additional news, events, offers and revenue can be generated as a result of offering a unique CBD product alongside your general portfolio. This can provide further revenue for your pharmacy, as customers will come to you specifically for this and it will set you apart from competitors.

1. Are you utilising your CBD provider?

Ideas and materials ranging from videos, case studies, testimonies, flyers and social media assets should be supplied in abundance from your CBD provider – after all, they have the most experience in the brand. Sampling tools are often overlooked as a key tool but used correctly they can be very effective in initialising sales that may not have otherwise occurred. Sampling should be tailored to generating purchase intent; giving out random free samples without a thought to what the customer needs won’t be constructive and won’t allow customers to see the full potential of the products.

Make sure to have a mechanism in place to follow up and make a transaction with persons you’ve given the samples to, otherwise it is a wasted opportunity. Use these opportunities to build loyalty and ensure customers return to you for all their health needs.

1. Are you using your CBD brand to grow your social media engagement and profile?

Social media is critical in engaging with current and prospective customer. Your chosen CBD brand should have the profile, news and tools to support you in your social media strategy. It should echo your core values and marry with your intended perception within the market – so it should be interwoven throughout your social media activity in order to build the relationship with your target market.

In addition, proactive PR support from your brand is also important in you maximising your success as a pharmacy. Celebrities, reputable key opinion leaders and influential journalists/bloggers provide a way to further engage with the aspirations of your target market and your CBD brand could provide a cost-effective valuable toolbox in support of your efforts in doing this.

1. Is your distributor your business partner?

The answer to this question is more than likely evident at this stage following an assessment of the above points. Your chosen distributor should be working to proactively help you address each one of these points, no matter how small your pharmacy is or how new you are to the industry. Select a partner who truly cares about your success and thoroughly supports you in achieving the most from their brand in your business.

Disclosure: Sal Noble is the CEO of London CBD Group, which distributes a number of high-quality CBD brands. The Group specialises in working with pharmacies in the UK to enhance propositions with high quality transparent and trusted brands, grow revenue and educate partners and consumers. 

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Marketing Cannabidiol (CBD) containing products

*Note: This advice is given by the marketing director of London CBD Group about non-broadcast advertising. It does not constitute legal advice. It does not bind the marketing director nor London CBD Group. This article is purely informational and should be treated as such. We strongly urge you to have any claims about your product checked by a legal advisor, backed by scientific data and appropriate licenses where applicable.

CBD containing products are most often classified as medicines, food (supplements), or cosmetics. All three categories are covered by complex Regulatory regimes.

It remains a marketer’s responsibility to establish which Regulatory regime applies to their individual product in order to establish if and how the product can be marketed.

For further reading to help you establish which regulatory regime applies to your individual products please read following sources:

1. Factsheet-Cannabis, CBD and other cannabinoids – https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/757786/factsheet-cannabis-cbd-and-cannabinoids-v1-3-2018.pdf
2. MHRA Guidance Note 8 (‘a guide to what is a medicinal product’) – https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/759581/012__GN8_-_final_2018_combined_doc_Oct.pdf
3. Guidance Decide if your product is a medicine or a medical device – https://www.gov.uk/guidance/decide-if-your-product-is-a-medicine-or-a-medical-device
4. Novel Food https://ec.europa.eu/food/safety/novel_food/catalogue_en
5. DIRECTIVE 2002/46/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 10 June 2002on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to food supplements – https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32002L0046&from=EN
6. Novel Food Legislation https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/novel-foods

Once you know under which category your products falls under there are several things you can and should do to market your product and generate trust among your consumers.

Display your certificate of origin. – Do you know where all ingredients are coming from? Number of brands control their complete manufacturing process and are able to track their origin all the way to the seed. If you can demonstrate this, it is extremely valuable, creates integrity and builds trusts.

Show your lab results for every batch of products. – What do you test your products for? Residual solvents?  Microbial’s? Moulds? Cannabinoids and terpenes? Pesticides? Heavy Metals, potency? – Ideally your tests should be comprehensive and cover all the above for each batch of your products. Your lab results should be publicly visible on your product pages outlining 3rd party independent laboratory details and detailed lab results showing levels of cannabidiols.

Explain your extraction methods – In terms of how CBD is extracted from the cannabis plant, there a few different techniques that can be used. The most popular used to be by running harsh chemicals like butane (lighter fluid) or hexane over the raw plant material, but people quickly found out that this resulted in trace amounts of carcinogenic compounds (like formaldehyde) being left over in the end product. Not good.

While a number of manufacturers still use this method, many are now switching over to a method called CO2 extraction, which is much cleaner and believed to be much healthier.

Also, cold ethanol extraction is supposedly another good method, but the verdict is still out on how much safer this is than actual butane extraction.

Another recommended method is cold press. Using cold pressed technology, whole plant meaning the seeds, stems and buds are extracted using no heat (Below 95 degrees), no toxic solvents or chemical’s in this processing method.

The exact extraction process determines whether the active CBD compound is removed from the plant as an “isolate,” or as a “full-spectrum” oil.

It is worth outlining and explaining your extraction process on your marketing materials, so the consumer can make a conscious and educated decision on choosing what is right and best for them.

Is your product derived from a CBD Isolate or Full Spectrum CBD? What’s the Difference? The exact extraction process determines whether the active CBD compound is removed from the plant as an “isolate,” or as a “full-spectrum” oil. When CBD is referred to as full spectrum or whole plant CBD, it means that the CBD contains all other cannabinoids found in the cannabis sativa plant including CBN (Cannabinol), CBG (Cannabigerol), and THCV (Tetrahydrocannabivarin), to name a few. And yes, along with these cannabinoids, Full Spectrum CBD also contains trace amounts of THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol), but in very low concentrations (up to .3%), resulting in very minimal psychoactive stimulation.

CBD Isolate, on the other hand, is simply purified CBD that has been extracted from the cannabis sativa plant and isolated from the other cannabinoids.

A CBD isolate is exactly what it sounds like; pure, isolated CBD compound, all by itself. It exists as a white-ish powder and contains no other active compounds – nothing.

It was initially believed that pure CBD was the “gold standard” of non-psychoactive cannabis therapy, but recently people are figuring out that this is hardly the case.

Full-spectrum oil, on the other hand, contains other active plant compounds in addition to the CBD.

Other Ingredients – Are there any synthetic ingredients in your products? If there are, outline which and for what reason. What are their implications and influence on the consumer?

Transparency and integrity are key in communicating CBD products to consumers. Do it right and you will have loyal customers.

For more practical tips on marketing CBD products attend our workshop. More details here.

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