Here Is Everything You Need To Know About CBD

There is a sleeper food trend afoot; one that is more popular than probiotics, collagen and gluten-free. Any guesses?

Introducing: cannabidiol, or, CBD, a non-psychoactive chemical compound found within hemp. Yes, yes, hemp, as in cannabis. There are over 100 cannabinoids — or, chemical compounds — in the cannabis plant, and you’re likely familiar with the most famous of them: THC. But unlike THC, CBD won’t get you high.

“Hemp plants have a propensity to produce primarily CBD, whereas marijuana has a propensity to produce THC,” explains Russell Stebbins, founder of the industrial hemp extract company OLEO. These differences are due to genetic variations as well as environment and cultivation strategy, he says. Comparing the two plants, claims Stebbins, is “like comparing a house cat to a lion.”

In 2017, U.S. hemp-derived CBD sales totaled $190 million, up from $129 million in 2016.  According to Hemp Business Journal, these numbers will reach $450 million in 2020 and surpass $645 million by 2022. CBD made its debut on the U.S. market in oil form, stocking up the supplement shelves of natural food stores. Then, it was picked up by the beauty industry and now appears in items such as eye serum, face cream, body oil and lip balm, claiming to soothe dry skin, relieve puffiness, and treat acne, among other fixes.

Google Trends results for search terms “probiotics” “gluten free” “collagen” and “CBD”

Data from Google Trends

This year, CBD is entering the food industry in full force. If you happen to stay at the Standard Hotel in Los Angeles, New York, or Miami Beach, your mini bar will be stocked with CBD gummies made by L.A. cannabis company, Lord Jones. The compound is also being added to chocolate bars like Kiva — infused with 100 milligrams each of CBD and THC — and Leif Goods’ fair trade peanut butter and jelly chocolate CBD bar.

This summer, functional beverage company Dirty Lemon released +cbd, a shelf-stable drink containing 20 milligrams of CBD mixed with pure hemp oil and a wellness punch of pineapple, blood orange, and tangerine juices, among other ingredients. “The product has already been incredibly popular and is already waitlisted following a pre-order rush from loyal fans but can be purchased again from today,” a representative of the brand informed me.

Dirty Lemon +CBD

Courtesy of Dirty Lemon

A CBD takeover of the beer aisle is also anticipated. Recently, Coalition Brewing Co. announced the release of the first commercially produced cannabidiol infused beer in Oregon, titled “Two Flowers” — a nod to hops and cannabis buds. “The bitter grassiness augments the hop bitterness, while the citrusy terpenes in the CBD mirror the aromatics and hop flavors,” the brewery notes of the novel product.

Quickly, CBD is gaining diversified ground. “We sell CBD to one manufacturer that’s in distribution to all of the Equinox gyms now,” Stillwater Brands CEO Justin Singer tells Food Dive.