There’s no question about CBD’s popularity in today’s market, or about its potential for future growth.
Consider the following:
- According to recent survey data, 1 in 7 Americans has tried CBD. That number was from August 2019, and new data would almost certainly show an increase in CBD users. Given that the number of marketing dollars put into the CBD industry seems to be intensifying, these numbers are extremely likely to accelerate in the future.
- CBD is generating billions of dollars. Estimates vary, but in the next few years, the CBD industry is expected to reach anywhere from $20 billion by 2024 to $22 billion by 2022.
- The growth of the industry is absolutely astronomical: One projection shows that CBD sales are expected to grow at an average of 107% every year until 2023.
With revenue growth like this, it’s no wonder that major industries are jumping onboard the CBD trend. Indeed, the 2018 Farm Bill, which formally legalized CBD, seemed to open the floodgates. The formal legalization of CBD, and future regulation, gives businesses and financial markets the legal stability and certainty that they crave. As a result, major brands and big celebrities are capitalizing on the CBD craze, investing in products, marketing, and research in order to get a piece of this market.
Which major brands are looking at launching or selling their own CBD products? A lot. Here’s a look.
Big Brands Investing In CBD
Previously, CBD had basically been the domain of websites and specialty brick and mortar stores. They were never large operations and certainly weren’t backed by big dollars.
That has changed and changed in a big way.
Indeed, it seems like major chains are jumping into the CBD sales arena left and right.
Grocery Stores
One of the most obvious stores to sell CBD are grocery stores, and these stores have begun to do just that or announced that they will do so in the future. In June 2019, Kroger, the largest grocery store in the United States, announced that it would begin selling CBD products. The same announcement had been made by Giant Eagle a month earlier. Wegman’s has been selling the product since at least July 2019, when it began to sell CBD-infused coffee. For ShopRite, CBD has been available since at least September, when distributors began to sell CBD products at their stores.
The evidence is clear: A wide array of popular grocery stores are selling CBD, or looking to do so in the not so distant future.
Health and Wellness Stores
Health and Wellness stores – stores that have always capitalized on fitness fashions – have also been selling CBD for a year or more. Indeed, many of these stores were some of the first adaptors of CBD sales. The Vitamin Shoppe proudly notes on their website that CBD products are available and first announced that it would sell edible CBD drops back in April 2019. GNC, another health and supplemental store, announced that it would sell CBD products at almost the exact same time. To the company’s credit, they also offer a very comprehensive guide to CBD on their website.
Big Box Stores & Amazon
Big Box and membership-driven stores have also not been left out of the CBD craze. Consider four of the biggest in America: Target, Walmart, Costco and Sam’s Club.
Walmart first expressed an interest in selling CBD in October 2018, when it’s Canadian division said they were exploring the idea. That exploration was so significant that it actually increased its stock price the day the announcement was made. CBD began appearing on Walmart’s shelves and online stores in late March 2019.
Target had a rockier road with CBD. They first listed CBD products on their website way back in September 2017…before pulling the products off of their website and saying that its inclusion was an error. Whoops. In May 2019, Target said that they were exploring CBD sales again, and CBD products can now be purchased on their website.
Not every major store currently sells CBD, however. For example, Sam’s Club and Costco do not appear to currently sell the product.
When it comes to the king of all retail – Amazon – things get confusing. As noted by this Washington Post article, Amazon bans CBD sales, so technically, you shouldn’t be able to sell CBD on the website. And yet…the Washington Post was able to purchase 13 CBD brands on the eCommerce giant. Indeed, a quick search on Amazon reveals a slew of CBD products that can be purchased. They tested the product and found that only eleven actually contained CBD, underscoring the need to only purchase CBD from reputable sellers who can offer a Certificate of Analysis which proves what is actually in the CBD.
Drug Stores
Drug stores – stores that explicitly advertise themselves as having a moral and ethical obligation to sell only healthy products – have also begun to sell CBD. In 2019, CVS announced that they would begin to sell CBD products, and Walgreens followed suit a few days later. These are the top two drug stores in the country, if not the world, so their entrance into this market is a big deal. Rite Aid said the same in April 2019 and announced that they would sell CBD products in select stores.
Miscellaneous Shops
And then there are the stores that don’t fit neatly into any of these categories. For example, beauty stores like Ultra Beauty and clothing stores like Neiman Marcus and Urban Outfitters all announced in 2019 that they would sell CBD in their stores. Abercrombie & Fitch also said they would sell CBD as of June 2019. The product is also available in a slew of convenience stores like Sheetz and Wawa.
So…is CBD really everywhere?
Let’s go back to the original question: What brands are selling CBD? Well, a better question may be to ask what brands aren’t. Certainly, some brands haven’t jumped in. And there are still three states in the United States where CBD sales are either illegal or there is confusion over CBD’s legality (Idaho, South Dakota and Nebraska).
As you can obviously see, CBD isn’t quite everywhere, but it’s pretty darn close. Obstacles remain, primarily in terms of uncertainty over the regulatory system and legal confusion over selling CBD-infused edibles. However, CBD is now big money, and these issues haven’t stopped major vendors and some of the biggest businesses in the world from selling CBD.
FAQs About Major Brands Going Big On CBD
Question: Are there major brands going big on CBD?
Answer: There is a mixed opinion in big retail stores if they should sell CBD products. CBD products began appearing in Walmart in late march 2019 while Amazon told the public that it banned CBD sales.
Question: Can you find CBD products on drugstores?
Answer: Drug stores that explicitly advertise themselves as having a moral and ethical obligation to sell only healthy products have begun to sell CBD. In 2019, CVS announced that they would begin to sell CBD products, and Walgreens followed suit a few days later.
Question: Can you find CBD products on health and wellness stores?
Answer: Some stores already start selling CBD products. The Vitamin Shoppe proudly notes on their website that CBD products are available and first announced that it would sell edible CBD drops back in April 2019. GNC, another health and supplemental store, announced that it would sell CBD products at almost the exact same time.
Question: Can you find CBD products everywhere?
Answer: Its pretty darn close. CBD isn’t quite everywhere but is already on the rise to be available in most stores.
