Swiss food giant Nestlé enters European CBD market with softgel launch

A subsidiary of Nestlé, the world’s largest food and beverage company, has started producing and selling CBD softgels in Europe.

Nestlé Health Science partnered with Geocann, a cannabis-product manufacturer headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado, to launch broad-spectrum CBD softgel formulations with a special droplet delivery system known as VESIsorb.

The first large-scale batch of the softgels was produced in Switzerland earlier this month from hemp grown and extracted in Slovenia, Geocann said in a statement. Geocann has offices for product development, sales, distribution and marketing in Chicago, Corona, California, and Baar, Switzerland.

“We are extremely proud to expand our relationship with Nestlé’s health-care professional brands into Europe after their success in the U.S. market this past year,” said Jesse Lopez, CEO and founder of Geocann.

According to the statement, Geocann has completed multiple toxicology studies on its products, the results of which will be published this year as part of the company’s FDA GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) Notification and novel food application.

Headquartered in Switzerland, Nestlé Health Science owns the Garden of Life brand, which launched a line of broad-spectrum CBD liquids, softgels and sprays at U.S. retailers in August 2019.