CBD trends 2024: Can CBD finally take off?

Last October, CBD suppliers received news that was likely to leave even the coolest cats reaching for something to steady their nerves. After receiving new evidence from its independent scientific committee, the Food Standards Agency slashed its daily intake guidance for CBD to just 10mg a day.

The move meant single serves of products from leading brands like Trip and Goodrays exceeded what the FSA deemed a safe daily intake over a prolonged period.

Fortunately, the guidance was just that – there was no legal requirement to reformulate lines or remove stronger strengths from the shelves. And the advice – which only relates to consistent, long-term use – doesn’t appear to have deterred shoppers.

Across leading CBD brands stocked in grocery multiples and discounters, sales have climbed 60% to £18.3m [NIQ 52 w/e 15 June 2024]. Trip’s CBD drinks and supplements are up 87.4% to £13.3m, while Goodrays’ sales have surged by 181.6% to £2.2m.

“We’ve only experienced increased demand since the FSA’s October update,” says Goodrays founder Eoin Keenan. “We’ve secured three retail launches in the UK, a major international launch in France, and our distribution points have grown to over 10,000 sites.”

Since then, fortunes have only improved. The FSA has progressed novel foods applications further, suggesting an end is in sight to an agonising four-year wait on innovation.

So who is leading the race to have their wares green-lighted for sale? Will the FSA’s progress prompt more retailers to support the category? And when will CBD brands finally be able to bring new lines to market?

The good news for the category came in May, when the FSA gave a positive safety assessment to novel food applications from Pureis and Cannaray. They became the first to progress from the ‘risk assessment’ to ‘risk management’ stage of the process.

A further application progressed in July, bringing the total number of products to reach risk management to around 3,000 – around a quarter of the FSA’s public list of products tolerated for sale.

After several years of slow progress that have left brands frustrated, the development has raised hopes the FSA can meet its (revised) target to issue full authorisations to CBD products by spring 2025.

The regulator has confirmed it is “broadly in line” with that timetable. And for Goodrays’ Keenan, the latest move is “perhaps the clearest indicator yet that we’re set to see full market authorisation in the first half of 2025”. He points out the risk management phase of novel foods approval “typically takes nine months”, putting the FSA on track to meet its latest target.

“Retailers have never had a healthy relaxation drink before… they’re backing the category”

Goodrays founder Eoin Keenan

Goodrays’ own CBD novel foods application has yet not progressed beyond risk assessment, but Keenan isn’t worried. “No issues have been identified so we’re expecting an announcement towards the end of September,” he says.

And even without that positive assessment, Goodrays is making strong progress. Over the past year, it has launched in the Tesco meal deal “to great effect” and been allocated “in-shelf activations, checkout displays and secondary space opportunities” based on its strong sales, says Keenan. Many retailers – including Tesco and Waitrose – are already supporting the category with the rollout of functional drinks bays, he adds.

“Retailers have never had a healthy relaxation drink before,” Keenan explains. “Now that CBD drinks are tackling that need state, they’re backing the category with proper investment.” For him, authorisation will simply “supercharge the brand” even further.

Market leader Trip is similarly buoyant, despite its application also facing a wait to reach the risk management stage.

The brand is already stocked across specialist health stores, the on-trade and grocery multiples, and it does “not foresee any change” to its rapid growth trajectory, says MD James Edmunds. The order in which products progress towards full authorisation “is not indicative of the quality of the application”, he insists.

First to the finish line

Still, the first clutch of brands to progress to the risk management stage will undoubtedly be feeling celebratory.

A positive assessment means, following rigorous safety tests, the FSA “sees no reason why the application can’t move to authorisation”, explains the regulator’s director of policy Rebecca Sudworth .“It’s positive progress. It’s essentially our official view about the safety of the application.”

Sudworth warns it’s not a foregone conclusion. These applications will now face further scrutiny of other “legitimate factors”, including whether consumption risks are appropriately communicated on pack.

“The committee may have some thoughts about whether there should be some conditions applied to the way the product is used,” she explains.

Still, there’s no doubt a positive safety assessment is a step in the right direction. Pureis owner Chanelle McCoy Health believes its progress will help garner more support from retailers, and prompt more investment in the category at large.

“Retailers are understandably cautious about stocking products that may not be approved,” says co-founder Caroline Glynn Coen. “The FSA’s endorsement of brands that meet its stringent safety standards will provide much-needed reassurance.”

That reassurance certainly seems to have buoyed Holland & Barrett, which sells over 50 CBD lines across its stores. It is “working on rolling out a more optimised range” as brands progress through the novel foods process.

“This is good news,” says Jessica Pasco, category director for vitamins, herbal and mineral supplements at Holland & Barrett. “We’re pleased that some of the brands we stock have successfully completed [this stage of] the regulatory process, and we’re excited to see some exciting innovation and refreshed product solution soon.”

Looking ahead, full authorisation from the FSA – which no brand is yet to achieve – remains the holy grail. Once secured, brands can feel confident in their ability remain on the shelves. And the likelihood of another curveball like October’s dosage guidance becomes far slimmer.

“The journey to this point has been challenging, but we are optimistic full authorisation will clarify the category and eliminate any uncertainties,” says Pureis’ Glynn Coen. Creating a “clear regulatory framework” will “instil consumer confidence, creating more growth opportunities”, she adds.

Not all of that will be down to the FSA. Sudworth points out “the final decision is one that’s made by ministers”, who are pondering CBD’s legal status.

Owing to trace amounts of controlled cannabinoids like THC, it’s possible an amendment to the Misuse of Drugs Act may be required before ministers can approve any CBD products for sale.

“We do need clarity about the status of any THC that may be present in a CBD product, because it’s a known contaminant,” says Sudworth. She says the FSA is working “very closely” with the Home Office to understand if the law needs to be updated.

NPD uncertainty

If it does, this could mean further agonising delays for brands, which have been unable to launch new products in the cautious regulatory landscape.

When the FSA announced plans to regulate CBD back in 2020, it allowed existing products to remain on sale on the condition they engaged with the novel foods process.

But its public list of products tolerated for sale – closed since June 2022 – has effectively barred brands from bringing new propositions to market.

“We decided it wasn’t the right step to remove everything from the market based on what we knew about the risk,” Sudworth says. “But we didn’t want a big growth in unauthorised products. We wanted to draw a line and say ‘work with us’ , we want you to go through the authorisation process’.”

Brands remain free to develop new propositions and make novel foods applications to the FSA, Sudworth insists. However, they won’t be allowed to be sold until authorised. As such, many have had to think outside of the box with their innovation.

“We do need clarity about the status of any THC that may be present in a CBD product”

Rebecca Sudworth, FSA

What’s more, it isn’t yet clear exactly what the threshold will be for a new formulation to require a fresh novel foods application. Brands remain optimistic over the chances of a light-touch approach.

Edmunds says Trip does not expect its NPD “will have to go to the start of a novel foods process once CBD applications are authorised”, while Chanelle McCoy Health is “poised and ready to expand our Pureis product portfolio”, according to Coen.

However, they may want to check in with the FSA first. “Generally speaking, a new type of product does need a new application,” says Sudworth.

However, new product flavours – ones that use a CBD ingredient and dosage that has already been approved – are unlikely to require a new fresh application.

“Some of this will be closer to common sense,” says Sudworth. “But it depends on the uses an applicant has requested in their original application, and the terms of authorisation. For example, if an applicant only requested CBD as food supplements, then they cannot use it as an ingredient to go in other foods, such as soft drinks.”

So for the meantime, brands will need to keep their cool.