While product popularity continues to shift, C-stores are still primed to benefit from this category
By Tammy Mastroberte | September 2021
While CBD laws are still not standardized nationwide, consumer products derived from hemp became legal as part of the 2018 version of the U.S. Farm Bill, and 2019 saw explosive growth of the category. At the end of 2019, however, the category suffered slightly when the Food and Drug Administration warned consumers to stop using products with THC and CBD following an outbreak of lung injuries associated with the products.
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Overall, CBD sales in the convenience channel have declined from where they were in 2019, and the COVID-19 pandemic drove people online to shop for these products, which hurt c-stores, noted Mike Luce, president of Chicago-based High Yield Insights, a provider of data-driven insights about the cannabis market. The good news, though, is that awareness of CBD and hemp products is higher than ever, and sales projections are still on an upward curve, he said.
“None of the spaces are saturated the way mainstream beer is,” said Luce. “There is a lot of competition within individual categories, such as gummies, but there is still room for growth, and CBD drinks are ideal for the c-store industry. Right now, CBD drinks are ranked among the highest categories that CBD consumers are not using but interested in using in the future.”
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