Cannabis sales have increased substantially in the last few years, but so has the competition with more growers, retailers and other entrepreneurs vying for a stake in the “green rush.” At the same time, an oversupply of marijuana and the cost of operating in this highly regulated industry are taking their toll.
Here, industry executives predict top trends for 2020.
Cannabis Legalization Is Going Global
Legalization is growing outside of the United States, and countries that are first to the global marketplace can create sustainable advantages for themselves in their customer base and their funding. Kyle Detwiler, chief executive of Clever Leaves, an international operator with brands, extraction facilities, cultivation operations, and other investments in six countries, says that countries like Colombia and Portugal that have been among the first to legalize cannabis “are poised to continue establishing their global dominance in short order.”
The countries’ first-mover status will also be a magnet for financial interest he said. “There is little doubt that the expanding European cannabis market will make it an attractive investment opportunity,” Detwiler said.
Hemp, the source for CBD in many non-psychoactive products, will expand internationally as well, driven by the CBD’s demand. The CBD market will grow to $2.1 billion in consumer sales by 2020 according to the Hemp Business Journal, with $450 million of those sales coming from hemp-based sources. Puerto Rico’s Department of Agriculture has already reported there will be at least 10,000 acres of hemp cultivated for commercial purposes in 2020
The CBD Product Market Will Mature
CBD is being added to products across the retail spectrum from food to make-up, but with little legal oversight or requirements, the products can easily be mislabeled or ineffective. Clever Leaves chief executive Detwiler says in 2020 CBD standards will begin to emerge based on customer demand. “Consumers are getting more savvy on the benefits of CBD and they will begin to insist on knowing exactly what they are paying for and what they are getting when they purchase ‘CBD’,” Detwiller said.
Consumers will “begin to insist” on CBD standards agrees Bill Thurman, chief executive of Redbird Bioscience a medical cannabis operator and producer of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis for patients in Oklahoma.
Thurman said companies will help the market succeed as a whole if they adhere to high quality standards and agreed-upon guidelines in testing and manufacturing. That kind of rigor is needed to significantly increase the size of the market and only by conducting “science-driven randomized clinical studies, can we shed reliance on anecdotal data to support medical claims,” he said.
Barbara Goodstein of B GREAT which produces full-spectrum upscale CBD items expects CBD to be added to even more products like deodorant, hand soaps, throat sprays and nasal sprays. The popularity of the category also creates additional business risks according to Goodstein. “The hype around this space will end up creating applications and uses that make no sense, which will unfortunately diminish the real value of the product,” she said.
Leggi l’intero articolo su Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestreptalks/2020/01/26/cannabis-industry-2020-predictions/#50082c103f31
