As Cannabis Industry Sales Approach $5 Billion This Year, Irwin Naturals Launches more than 100 CBD Products to Help Stores Keep Up with Demand
With Softgels, oils, gummies, creams and more moving from smoke shops and dispensaries to mainstream pharmacies nationwide, experts predict the demand for products with cannabidiol is about to become a craze for consumers and a gold rush for CBD formulators. After spending the last two years in R&D, Irwin Naturals, an industry-leading nutritional supplements company, is poised to help stores fill their shelves with more than 100 new CBD products.
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 26, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- 25-year old legacy company, Irwin Naturals, will introduce dozens of new cannabidiol (CBD) products next month and announce its ambitious market projections in CBD distribution. The announcement comes after the company's 2-year R&D head-start against other legacy companies in the CBD products space.
With the FDA and federal lawmakers expected to curtail rules restricting CBD distribution this fall, industry experts predict a land grab is about to begin for retail shelf space and distribution channels of CBD brands in the mass market. While new CBD companies can achieve distribution in health food stores and dispensaries, retail industry experts believe mainstream pharmacies and grocery stores will prefer to partner with longstanding, well-established legacy companies with proven, scalable distribution channels. Irwin Naturals, a leading international supplier of high quality natural health, herbal and nutritional supplements, may be the front runner in the race to dominate the booming CBD market because of a gamble the company took two years ago.
In late 2017, at a time when few industry experts and virtually no consumers knew about CBD or its health benefits, Irwin Naturals began investment in the development of over 100 different products infused with cannabidiol, a compound found in cannabis plants. The decision to invest came nearly two years earlier than most of its largest competitors. Company managers, including founder Klee Irwin, predicted that the market would explode in popularity once U.S. lawmakers passed legislation that would legalize the cultivation of hemp and the sale of products derived from hemp. Their prescient gamble paid off on December 20th, 2018, when President Donald Trump signed the Agricultural Improvement Act, legislation that lifted restrictions on hemp and CBD product development, effectively giving a first-mover advantage to Irwin Naturals.
Now, Irwin's CBD products are ready to hit the mass market in a rapid sweep. Over 100 CBD products, spread across four brand categories, were birthed from Irwin's R&D effort. The brands are; the Irwin Naturals brand for CBD infused oil drops, supplements and balms; HydroCanna for CBD skincare; FloChi for CBD based foods and beverages and Love My Pet for animals.
According to the Brightfield Group, a Chicago-based market research firm studying the industry, U.S. sales of CBD products is projected to hit $5 billion by the end of the year, an increase of more than 700% compared with 2018 sales. The firm also predicts the CBD market will surpass $22 billion in annual sales by the year 2022. Typically, more than 80% of all sales in particular consumer product categories occur in mass market outlets and warehouse chains where Irwin Naturals has longstanding distribution relationships. In fact, because of the relationships it maintains with the largest warehouse chains in the U.S., Irwin Naturals managers predict the company will be the distribution leader in the land-grab toward market dominance of this disruptive new mega-category.
The Brightfield Group also published an article stating, "Irwin Naturals is well-positioned to effectively leverage existing distribution networks and customer relationships to market products already tied to a trusted brand." In addition, the Green Market Report, a publication focused on financial news rapidly growing cannabis industry said, "Irwin Naturals turned heads when Klee Irwin, the founder of the company, announced giving away $1 million worth of CBD products to honor the passing of the Farm Bill. The company is concerned with making the cost of CBD products affordable, saying 'Our mission is to spread health to the world through plant medicine. Our nation is on the edge. And I am worried about the future of our children. If we can make CBD affordable and accessible to the masses, it just might help our country avoid a meltdown.'"
Founder Irwin, author of the CBD book, Pain Nation, said, "We got lucky. We took a chance two years ago that the law would go our way. Now, we're sort of alone as the only large legacy company with strong mass market relationships and a broad line of CBD products ready to launch. For decades, we've sold to over 100,000 outlets in the US alone. In the last eight months, we've secured agreement from nearly all of the largest chains to take our CBD products. Money is not our primary motivation. We want to get CBD to people at a lower cost – the type of cost anyone can afford. And our chain store partners love this philosophy. So, we've been selected for first distribution of our products by most of the big chains versus the smaller and higher priced CBD companies that sell products online or to dispensaries. In the future, our large competitors will also enter the CBD space. But, for now, we can easily execute our national mindshare branding and distribution strategy and be the dominate player when the smoke clears in the next few years to reveal the pending $20+ billion CBD industry.'"
SOURCE Irwin Naturals
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