CBD Exploding Into Mainstream Wellness Products

NEW YORK, October 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

CannabisNewsWire Editorial Coverage

Bolstered by millennia of anecdotal evidence and ever-mounting scientific validation, cannabidiol (CBD) is rapidly being integrated into myriad mainstream consumer wellness products around the globe.

• Global cannabis market expected to quadruple to over $63 billion by 2024
• CBD oil market to grow at CAGR of 39.19 percent through 2021
• CBD products exploding into a wide variety of product lines
• Diversified, sales-driven companies expected to outpace standard growth curve

Humans have used hemp, a variety of Cannabis sativa and a primary source of CBD, for more than 10,000 years in food, textiles and medicine. The world is again recognizing the therapeutic benefits of hemp extracts, and consumers are embracing cannabis-based products at a breakneck pace. Consumer demand has triggered an explosion of product innovations that range from oils and edibles to pet products and infused beverages. Intent on staying at the vanguard of the upsurge in CBD-based wellness products, sales and marketing powerhouse Youngevity International, Inc. (NASDAQ:YGYI) (YGYI Profile) recently expanded its HempFX™ line with the launch of two new hemp-derived cannabidiol products. Others are entering the sector as well. Beer and spirits conglomerate Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) just made the largest investment to date in the cannabis industry. AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) was one of the first companies to enter the pharmaceutical cannabis space with Marinol, which is almost chemically identical to THC, the main component in marijuana. Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (CSE:LXX) (OTC:LXRP) offers DehydraTECH, a drug delivery platform that could be a game changer for several industries, including the recreational and medical cannabis markets. And Neptune Wellness Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:NEPT) recently received a Confirmation of Readiness letter from Health Canada, a key milestone in its quest to become a licensed producer of cannabis oil in Canada.

To view an infographic of this editorial, click here.

The CBD Boom 

Cannabidiol is understandably generating worldwide interest from both the scientific and investment communities. It's hard to ignore a market sector projected to nearly quadruple from about $16 billion last year to more than $63 billion worldwide by 2024. In just the United States alone, the marijuana industry could create an economic tsunami estimated to surge past $75 billion annually by 2022.

Explosive demand projections are attributed to increased public awareness about wide-ranging potential health benefits, natural pain mitigation and anti-inflammatory properties, advancements in cultivation and processing, plus the convenience and reach of online and direct retailing - all of which contribute to a global CBD oil market expected to grow at an eye-popping CAGR of 39.19 percent through 2021. The upward trend is indisputable, and corporations are jockeying for position, racing to produce a variety of CBD products, staking out distribution channels and opening a realm of possibilities in previously unimagined markets. All the projections and activity send clear signals of what's to come.

The Mission Matters 

With deep roots in health and nutrition spanning over 20 years, omni-direct lifestyle company Youngevity International, Inc. (NASDAQ:YGYI) is still dedicated to the core mission of its founder: learning how to live younger, longer. Expanding on the pioneering biomedical research of Dr. Joel D. Wallach, Youngevity is aggressively and ethically growing its business through a unique admixture of direct selling, traditional marketing, mergers and acquisitions, and stellar organic growth. The direct sales model and international roll-out strategies of Youngevity provide synergistic leverage to capitalize on the immense potential in high-growth emerging markets, exactly what's occurring in the CBD arena.

Youngevity's recent announcement about the launch of two new hemp-derived cannabidiol products in its HempFX line intermeshes with the company's explosive sales growth and its mission to provide nutritional and lifestyle solutions to achieve optimum health and wellness goals. "Plant-based nutrition is fundamental to our product development philosophy," stated Youngevity CEO Steve Wallach.

The new HempFX products expand YGYI's CBD line and join a vast stable of more than one thousand products and services the company already offers. The new tablet-based CBD products are designed to work in conjunction with Youngevity's Y-DR8+ proprietary water bottle system. The company's exclusive Y-DR8 filter utilizes activated carbon cloth designed to reduce chemicals and deliver CBD in great tasting water. The portable Y-DR8 filter holds cannabidiol tablets above the water line, and YGYI's CBD formulations are infused into the water as it flows over the tablets.

"This bottle system is intended to provide people with a revolutionary point-of-use water system for great tasting water and enables consumers to customize tap water based upon their health and wellness needs. It is a beverage technology that we expect will have broad consumer appeal and we are extremely excited to combine this technology with the benefits of hemp-based CBD," stated Vice President of Innovation and Emerging Markets Rick Anson.

Using patent-pending extraction and bioavailability processes, YGYI's HempFX products contain only U.S. organically grown non-GMO hemp. The full-spectrum phytocannabinoids are third-party tested to ensure only the highest quality allergen-, gluten- and THC-free hemp oils are produced and sold to the public in compliance with good manufacturing practice (GMP) standards.

HempFX Hydration™ - Sleep is formulated to improve sleep patterns and deliver the health benefits of CBD. YGYI's high-quality cannabidiol formulation contains melatonin and is administered using the company's proprietary beverage enhancement tablet. HempFX Hydration - Pure contains 25 mg of organic, full-spectrum, hemp-derived cannabidiol oil per tablet and quickly dissolves in water as it is consumed.  

"Plant-based nutrition is fundamental to our product development philosophy," Wallach stated. "That's why we're especially excited to enter this rapidly growing market with two new products."

HempFX Hydration - Sleep and HempFX Hydration - Pure are expected to be available next month, and sales may well outperform YGYI's three other hemp-based products, which sold out of preproduction quantities during the company's August sales convention.

Sales and Marketing Powerhouse 

Recognized as one of the Top 100 Global Direct Selling Companies, Youngevity is a sales powerhouse that more than doubled revenues from $75 million in 2012 to $166 million in 2017. The company shows no signs of slowing down, posting an 8.7 percent revenue increase in Q2 YTD 2018 over Q2 YTD 2017 and a 9.6 percent increase in gross profits over the same period.

The NASDAQ-listed company, added to the Russell Index in June, operates in large, scalable global market segments driving significant revenue growth in skin care, anti-aging, weight loss, brain health and coffee. The expansion into CBD products appears likely to boost revenues even further, potentially placing the company at the forefront of the CBD boom. Making quality products is only one aspect of carving out space in this new sector; sell-through is the more important criteria to measure success during the upswing.

Youngevity's unique marketing hybrid buttressing the direct-selling business model with powerful e-commerce and social selling initiatives has created a global panoply of products and services under one corporate umbrella that supports healthy, empowered lifestyles. Youngevity now offers more than one thousand high-quality nutritional and lifestyle products and services through a wide range of channels in fast-growing retail categories:

• Health and Nutrition
• Home and Family
• Food and Beverage
• Spa and Beauty
• Fashion
• Essential Oils
• Photo and Scrapbooking
• Services for Home and Business

"One thing that makes Youngevity so unique is our broad product offering," President and CFO Dave Briskie stated during the company's 2018 convention. "It allows us to reach many markets and gives our customers a wide range of high-quality lifestyle products. We will continue to do our best to align our products to the needs of our market."

The Epiphany  

There's little doubt about the trajectory of the global CBD market. Some have likened the impending surge of industry players to the dot.com era - some will become Amazon.com while others will disappear faster than Pets.com. Investors looking to capitalize on the immense opportunity ahead are likely best served by strategic positions in diversified companies driven by sales and galvanized by a mission to excel.

Others in the Arena 

Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE:STZ) just made the largest investment to date in the cannabis space. The company is already a leading international producer and marketer of beer, wine and spirits. With its $4 billion investment in Canopy Growth Corp. (NYSE:CGC), Constellation looks to accelerate its market position and expand its portfolio in emerging cannabis markets around the globe.

Primarily a pharmaceutical company, AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV) offers a synthetic cannabis-based drug on the market. Marinol is an FDA-approved, prescription drug used to alleviate nausea or vomiting for chemotherapy patients; it may also help AIDS patients who have lost their desire to eat.

Lexaria Bioscience Corp.'s (CSE:LXX) (OTC:LXRP) DehydraTECH drug delivery platform features a patented, cost-effective delivery mechanism that improves the taste and smell - as well as the bio-absorption - of ingestible substances. Cannabinoid-infused edibles and concentrates represent the fastest-growing segments of the cannabis industry, and DehydraTECH may position Lexaria as a prime partner for offerings in these spaces.

Working to develop unique extracts and formulations in the legal cannabis wellness field, Neptune Wellness Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:NEPT) is well on its way to obtaining official approval to move forward. The Confirmation of Readiness letter "brings us to the threshold of becoming a Licensed Producer of cannabis oil in Canada, and is a very exciting moment," said Neptune president and CEO Jim Hamilton. "Our entry into the legal cannabis industry leverages our established expertise in the development of innovative Omega3 oil products, navigating global regulatory frameworks, worldwide commercialization of wellness solutions, and production of high-quality extracts."

For more information about Youngevity International, please visit Youngevity International, Inc. (NASDAQ:YGYI).

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