Interest in Cannabis Grows for Private Brands
Cannabidiol (CBD) is regularly in the news and is the talk of the consumer packaged goods industry. At the Private Label Trade Show on Nov. 17-19, innovations with CBD in various forms and applications across an array of consumer products will be placed squarely in the spotlight, according to the New York-based Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA), which stages the annual show held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill.
“There is currently intense interest and curiosity on the part of American consumers with regard to the uses and benefits of CBD, coupled with a growing awareness of the availability of these products,” PLMA President Brian Sharoff said. “Visitors to the show will have the opportunity to see first-hand what all the buzz is about.”
More than a dozen CBD suppliers from across the United States and Canada have signed up for the show, which will spotlight them in a dedicated section on the show floor.
Sales of CBD consumer packaged goods are expected to reach $16 billion in sales by 2025. CBD is rapidly making its way into the mainstream across hundreds of nonfoods offerings in health-and-wellness categories, personal care, hair and skin care, beauty, therapeutic and fitness, pet care, and more. Products that promote their cannabidiol credentials in terms of CBD content, unique and broad-spectrum CBD formulations, and related hemp-derived components range from tinctures, oils, gels, balms and lotions to hemp milk, hemp capsules, hemp seeds, and even hemp pillows, soaps and ice cream.
The nation’s largest drug chains — Walgreens, CVS and RiteAid — are selling a variety of CBD and hemp items. So is The Kroger Co. Many more retailers have committed to exploring the sale of the products, as CBD and hemp-derived ingredients are expected to expand across more nonfood products and eventually into food categories across the grocery space, according to PLMA.
The CBD companies exhibiting at the Private Label Trade Show will include recognized industry leaders like Mile High Labs, Contract Pharmacal, Shikai, Blue Sky Hemp Ventures and Elixinol. Among these are companies that have been NSF and BRC certified, as well as companies with pharmaceutical-grade manufacturing facilities, offering advantages for an industry that has to date been lightly regulated, the PLMA said. Additional exhibitors are expected to join before the show’s opening.
“The attraction of certain growth today and prospects for even greater expansion in the future are driving retailers to search out new and innovative suppliers to help bring these products to their store-brands assortments,” the trade association noted. “The 2019 PLMA show will have much to offer those retail buyers.”
CBD will also be the topic of a seminar to be presented on Sunday, Nov. 17. Virginia Lee, CBD research manager with Chicago-based Brightfield Group, a source of market intelligence for the CBD and cannabis industries, will speak about CBD’s proliferation in nonfoods, formulations beginning to appear in pet products and supplements, and CBD and hemp derivatives which are expected to follow soon in food products.
Overall, PLMA’s 2019 trade show will present more than 2,500 exhibit booths from the best store-brands manufacturers of every size and description, while the more than 5,000 visitors to the show will include buyers and executives from U.S. supermarkets, mass merchandisers, drug chains, discount, club, convenience and dollar stores, in addition to online and specialty retailers, foodservice distributors, and wholesalers.
