Why did the hemp CBD market stagger through 2020?

Oversupply, regulations, nature and COVID-19 appear to have conspired against cannabis as hemp CBD sales flatten and the market as a whole wavers in uncertainty. What has happened to the once-hot CBD market? The Hemp Collective Virtual Summit II strives to answer.

Todd Runestad, Content Director, NaturalProductsInsider.com, Sr. Supplements Editor

November 25, 2020

2 Min Read
hemp field with blue sky
Getty Images

First, a buoyant 2019 hemp harvest following the passage of the farm bill legitimizing hemp at the close of 2018 led to a massive oversupply. In 2020, almost everybody scaled back hemp acreage—acres of U.S. hemp grown in 2019 fell from a half-million acres to 291,000 acres, according to Vote Hemp.

Then, after a boisterous public meeting lasting hours in March 2019, the FDA proceeded to slow-walk CBD regulations and left everyone feeling uncertain—markets hate uncertainty. The USDA, meanwhile, issued an Interim Final Rule that left farmers feeling like felons. And the DEA—what are they still doing here?—asserted itself, even though the farm bill explicitly left them out, compelling the Hemp Industries Association to sue the drug warriors—again.

In Colorado, the capital of the cannabis kingdom, an early season snowstorm just before harvest killed off as much as 40% of some farmers’ fields.

And did you hear about the coronavirus pandemic? Supplements have done well, but consumers have seemingly traded in their CBD supplements for immune-enhancing ones. At bricks-and-mortar retail, CBD sales have been flat at best.

What’s a motivated, creative, innovative, passionate hemp CBD industry to do after all this whiplash?

The answers to these questions swirling around everyone’s minds will be revealed from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020, at the Hemp Collective Virtual Summit II. Attendees can register for this free event here.

Related:2020 election could raise the fortunes of hemp and CBD

If you are already registered on Spark Change for previous events, go here.

In this half-day Zoom-style meetup, you can learn the top things to know about today’s CBD Market. Sessions include:

  • 5 Things to Know Now About the Hemp CBD Market

  • CBD Sourcing Challenges—Finding the Right Partner for Your Brand

  • Quality Control to Major Tom

  • Community Connections: Networking Break

  • Mission Is the Best Differentiator

  • How Cannabis Is Revolutionizing the Food and Beverage Industry

  • Regulatory Bottlenecks: What Happens After the Empire Strikes Back—FDA, USDA, DEA

  • Practical Science—Designing Studies to Support Claims

The Hemp Collective Virtual Summit II is sponsored by market leaders Ananda Hemp, Balanced Health Botanicals, Beneficial Blends, Bluebird Botanicals, Charlotte’s Web, CV Sciences, EcoGen Laboratories, Green Roads, Korent Hemp CBD, MedTerra, Nutiva, Sorse Technology and Sunsoil CBD Oil.

About the Author

Todd Runestad

Content Director, NaturalProductsInsider.com, Sr. Supplements Editor, Natural Products Insider

I've been writing on nutrition science news since 1997. I'm The content director for NaturalProductsInsidercom and digital magazines. Other incarnations: supplements editor for newhope.com, Delicious Living and Natural Foods Merchandiser. Former editor-in-chief of Functional Ingredients magazine and still cover raw material innovations and ingredient science.

Connect with me here https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddrunestad/

My daily vitamin regime includes a morning smoothie with a range of powders including protein, collagen and spirulina; a quality multi, B complex, C with bioflavonoids, >2,000IU vitamin D, E, magnesium, high-selenium yeast, PQQ, choline, alpha-lipoic acid with carnitine, coQ10, fish oil concentrate, probiotics and some adaptogenic herbs. 

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