The year 2023 should see the CBD market opened up and regulated in Europe, according to the industry, mainly since the European Court of Justice ruled that the ban on marketing CBD in Europe was illegal. This has encouraged the emergence of new start-ups in the ‘hemp wellness’ market.
Today, we are telling you more about CBD business opportunities in Europe, and if you want to learn about legal CDB online, click here.
A few years after pandemic fatigue, the craze for ‘wellness’ products continues unabated. The CBD market, which has been in vogue since its first ‘shops’ opened in 2018, intends to take advantage. CBD could be the miracle molecule we all need, whether you’re an insomniac, someone with a stressed brain, an athlete, or someone prone to chronic pain.
You only have to visit Instagram, the fashionable lifestyle platform, to see the growing popularity of its supposedly relaxing and de-stressing properties. Although naturally present in hemp (cannabis), the substance is not psychotropic and is still the subject of debate in Europe.
Hemp’s return to favour
More and more entrepreneurs feel the time has come to take the plunge.
For Europe and France (the fourth largest producer after China, Canada and the United States), hemp is an industrial heritage. In 1830, 176,000 hectares of land were devoted to hemp. Its cultivation (for textiles, paper, etc.) peaked.
But a century later, synthetic fibres and the chemical industry ended its use, which had been widespread for thousands of years. It wasn’t until the 90s that the plant regained its credentials with the “well-being” movement.
Time to plant seeds
The experts estimate that between 5000 and 7000 independent shops have already been set up in Europe, the vast majority specialising in the CBD oil segment. For the most part, these are digital brands that are starting up. The BPI receives requests for subsidies or grants almost every week, whereas a year ago, there were none. CBD shops selling flowers for smoking are still in the majority, but we can see that the proportion of food products (oils, supplements, etc.) is increasing within these shops.
Despite the legal uncertainty that still makes certain products containing the compound illegal, the context is favourable to the emergence of new players, particularly since the European Court of Justice ruling on 19 November 2020, which deemed the ban on its marketing in France illegal. The European CBD market has received a great deal of media coverage and has been studied by members of parliament, who have just published a report on the subject. In addition, the very first therapeutic cannabis trials will be launched next spring.
We shouldn’t forget that Europe is the 2nd biggest cannabis consumer in the world. People start with light cannabis and then realise that they don’t necessarily need to smoke it. Consumption is changing, and we’re moving towards more straightforward, healthier products”, just as in the UK, where CBD-based food supplements are already flooding the shelves of Tesco and Boots shops.
A ‘star’ product
Demand is so strong because CBD has a particularly sexy image – such as JustBob’s CBD products online! It’s a star product, a real star for the last two years. It arouses desire and makes the product attractive, much like Red Bull energy drinks did 15 years ago.
In the United States, where cannabis cultivation is becoming increasingly refined, people are going so far as to offer personalised high-end experiences to customers, according to the agency’s annual report 2020, a trend that should not be long in coming to Europe.
In California, consultant and cannabis priestess Amy Robertson helps customers find THE hemp product by investigating their lives.
In New York, CBD retailer Standard Dose is moving from an online shop to a physical haven in 2019. A la carte products and experiences, meditation workshops, a tea bar and hemp-infused drinks… on-site cannabinoid experts guide consumers according to their needs and lifestyle.
