CBD Branding & Marketing: Why Is It So Important for Your Business?

November 29, 2021

Start a CBD Business in the Beauty Sector with Cannmed Products

November 30, 2021

How to Start Selling CBD Drinks with Cannmed Products

Published by Neeraj

Post CBD Drink

Have you decided that you want to get involved in the CBD beverages industry by starting your own business? Perhaps you’re unsure what your next step is? Or maybe you have decided to expand your current CBD product offering to include infused beverages? Either way, you’re in the right place. Experts estimate that the global CBD-infused beverage market was worth over $3,400 million in 2020. However, they’re also predicting that this number will soar to $14,600 million by 2026. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s get into the nitty-gritty of how to start selling CBD drinks.

Decide on Your Product and Research the Market

Whether you’re starting a new business, or you’re an established business and you wish to add to your product lines, you will need to do some market research. Within the CBD beverages industry, there are several niches. To find out where your business will perform at its best, you’ll need to explore the existing market and identify an underserved or unmet need. Then, you can decide on a product that will bridge this gap in the market.

Some of the Most Popular CBD Beverage Niches Are:

Tea: Tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world, second only to water. Many of us enjoy multiple cups of tea per day and so, it offers a wonderful opportunity to seamlessly integrate CBD into your existing routine – by opting for an infused tea instead of a traditional tea. CBD can be infused into any time of herbal or classic tea blend, and it can be brewed just like regular tea.
Coffee: According to the British Coffee Association, the UK are big coffee drinkers, with more than 95 million cups of coffee consumed daily. Just like CBD-infused tea, CBD-infused coffee offers a discreet and convenient way for your customers to get their daily dose. They can enjoy all of the benefits associated with CBD by simply swapping their regular beans for infused coffee beans.
Soft Drink: CBD-infused carbonated drinks are a fun and delicious way for your customers to get their daily dose. These refreshing drinks are fast becoming one of the most popular methods of taking CBD.

Post-Workout Drinks: Studies have shown that CBD can have anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects on consumers, meaning it can help to reduce aches and discomfort caused by exercise. This provides you with the perfect opportunity to tap into the fitness industry with a post-workout CBD-infused beverage.
Waters: Thanks to innovative nanotechnologies, we now have the ability to create CBD-infused water. As CBD is fat-soluble, molecules typically don’t dissolve in water. However, we have developed a technique to break down these molecules to the point where they are small enough to evenly disperse within the water. This gives the appearance that the plant extract has dissolved. It also helps prevent the CBD molecules from separating and rising to the surface, so the drink doesn’t have an oily texture.

Research Your Target Market

Once you have familiarized yourself with the different niches and different product options, you should start gathering information about the market you’re hoping to serve. By understanding their needs, wants, and interests, you’ll be able to tailor your product to them. An in-depth understanding of your target market will help you decide how to start selling CBD drinks to that specific demographic. It will also help you form marketing strategies and branding that will appeal to your ideal customer.

Make sure to include this information in your business plan too. This will help you build a detailed roadmap for your new business. Essentially, it will show how you intend on selling CBD drinks to a particular group of people, and how your products will compete with existing products on the market. You will need to show investors this document if you are seeking financial backing.

Find a Brand Name and Purchase a Domain

If you have started a new CBD business, you will need to come up with a name and purchase a domain. The key here is to make sure the name of your business is easy to remember and easy to spell.

Your customers will be typing your brand name into social media or search engines, and you don’t want them to get lost along the way. Equally, you don’t want them to stumble across a competitor’s site or social media profile. Therefore, you should make sure your chosen domain name is unique.

Register Your Business

Once you have decided on a name and you have completed a detailed business plan, you can make things official by registering your new CBD business. Luckily, you do not need to pay any fees to do this, but you will need to register with your local council at least 28 days before you launch your business. This is because there are certain regulations and requirements when it comes to opening a food and beverages business.

Obtain Permits and Certificates of Compliance

Although you do not need a specific license to sell CBD in the UK, there are certain requirements for food and beverage companies. For instance, if you choose to source wholesale CBD products to make infused drinks in your own facilities, you will need to obtain Novel Foods approval for each of your products.

Equally, you will need to ensure your premise adheres to health and safety standards in line with Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles. This means that you will need to make sure your products are produced in a safe and hygienic manner. You will also need to make sure they are transported and stored safely.

Traceability is another aspect that you will need to take into account. You will need to keep detailed records of where the raw materials for your products have come from, the HACCP procedures followed during production, and who you have supplied with your products.

When discussing how to start selling CBD drinks, we cannot forget the importance of obtaining Certificates of Analysis (COAs) for your products. A COA is a detailed report which you receive when you opt for third-party testing. This report will show the complete cannabinoid profile of your drinks, along with their potencies. It will also show that your drinks are safe for consumption.

Although it’s not a legal requirement, we recommend obtaining a COA for each of your products. This will show your customers that you’re dedicated to quality assurance and transparency.

Finding a Reputable Supplier

Once you have familiarized yourself with the legal requirements and best practices, you will find it much easier to identify reputable suppliers. Your supplier should be forthcoming with COAs and Novel Foods Certificates. Equally, you should look for strong evidence that best practices are in place. For instance, you can easily view all of Cannmed’s certifications and accreditations on our website.

When you’re searching for a supplier, you will need to consider whether you’re going to manufacture the products yourself, or if you would prefer to work with ready-to-sell products. If you have your own production facilities, you can keep costs down by opting for wholesale products. But, if you’re wondering how to start selling CBD drinks without such facilities, we have that covered too. You can opt for white-label products instead. These are products that are made and packaged according to your specific needs, shipped to your door.

If you’re wondering where to buy CBD drinks, you can browse our ever-growing selection of white-label products here.

One of the major benefits of white-label products is that you don’t need to obtain Novel Foods approval or COAs for each of the products. These certifications are not specific to the applicant, therefore once your supplier has an up to date certification for each product, you can use it too.

Labelling Requirements

Once you have made contact with your supplier and you have decided on the best options for you and your business needs, you will need to look into labelling requirements. This is especially important when it comes to food and beverage products.

You will need to make sure you include the following:

Name of your drink and a brief but accurate description
A list of the ingredients, in descending order by weight
Allergens will need to be listed in bold
The quantity in millilitres or litres
Durability information, i.e. a “best before” date
Batch or lot numbers for traceability

You can find out more information about labelling requirements here. In addition, if you are here to learn how to start selling CBD drinks online, you will need to include this information in the product description for each of your products.

Advertising Your CBD Drinks

There are many ways you can advertise your CBD drinks business, and your marketing strategies will largely depend on your target market. During your market research, you will have found where your ideal customer likes to spend their time on the internet. Therefore, you can advertise your products here to make sure they’re right in front of your intended audience. To do this, you can use a range of marketing tactics, such as:

Social media marketing
Influencer marketing
Content marketing

In addition, you can invest time and money into building a solid SEO strategy. This means packing your online store with engaging and valuable content so that you can achieve a good rank on search engine results pages. Alternatively, you can opt for paid ads on search engines like Google.

We’ll go discuss this in far more depth in our blog, “CBD Branding and Marketing: Why Is It So Important?“