(This is an abridged version of a story that appears in the August issue of Marijuana Business Magazine.)
Even the most delicious drinks packed with CBD won’t help a beverage company if consumers don’t pick up a bottle.
That’s why packaging, marketing and education are just as important as the beverage itself.
For Eric Pike, co-founder of San Diego’s CBD Natural Solutions, the bottle of his company’s Root Origins brand of CBD water was a big consideration.
“If you’ve got the packaging and your product has the efficacy, you’ve gotten over the pain points for retailers, and that’s going to lead you to the pathway of least resistance.”
Pike has a background in alcohol marketing and knows that CBD producers must be skilled at talking with grocers and other mainstream retailers, rather than dispensary owners or people with a background in cannabis.
Mainstream retailers, he said, need education in how CBD works. But they’ll also want liability insurance on any new product, and they’ll want to see detailed plans in case it is recalled.
Additionally, CBD producers need reputable legal advice assuring potential retailers that they’re not taking a risk by carrying the beverages.
It’s a steep climb, Pike said, but one that offers cannabis entrepreneurs a tantalizing opportunity: to get out of dispensaries and into bigger stores – before enormous beverage companies with established retail relationships have CBD products of their own.
Click here to learn more about how to effectively take advantage of the CBD beverage sales boom.
