With its popularity growing in the U.S. a Texas company’s range of CBD infused water has now been launched into the European market.
EVERx CBD Sports Water was debuted in 2017 by Dallas firm Puration and in the first six months of this year notched up record sales of $1 million. Its European debut came at a bodybuilding event; the Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Arnold Sports Festival Europe, in Barcelona in September, this year.
Puration’s CEO Brian Shibley says in a press release that it is targeting sales of $4 million in both Europe and the U.S. over the coming year, it says in a release.
Major Grocery Chain On-Board
Among other outlets, the distributor will supply a major multibillion-dollar grocery chain with a majority of sales in the U.K. and Spain, it says. This European expansion for the CBD sports water company comes as leading Canadian cannabis firm Canopy Growth has announced plans to acquire a 72% stake in Toronto’s BioSteel Sports Nutrition.
Analysts say the deal shows Canopy’s ambitions to become a ‘big player in the US$50-billion global sports nutrition market’. However many in the industry are sceptical about the benefits of infusing cannabidiol into water.
A recent Forbes article highest these challenges saying CBD destabilizes when exposed to light or oxygen.
‘Completely Useless’
It continued: “Legitimate CBD products are sold in dark, opaque bottles with labels that warn the consumer to store the bottle away from light, in a cool, dark place.”
And went on to say that CBD in a clear water bottle stored on a brightly-lit supermarket shelf is most likely to be ‘completely useless’.
Puration, or PURA as it likes to be known, has acknowledged this challenge, but says it has been overcome, and in a press release it outlined these difficulties. It says: “The infusion of CBD into a beverage or edible is not as easy as simply mixing CBD in a mixing bowl. PURA has experienced shelf-life problems, among other issues and in turn, resolved the problems.”
Bloggers at British CBD brand Canabidol highlighted how these challenges can be overcome saying that water is an ideal way to ensure a wider bioavailability of CBD into the body, but as CBD is an oil it does not mix easily with water.
They explain that water is hydrophilic, meaning it is attracted to water, whilst oil is hydrophobic meaning it repels water, so CBD drinks makers use emulsifiers to overcome this challenge. Emulsifiers are amphiphilic, having a hydrophilic head and a hydrophobic tail.
For more stories like this one, subscribe to the CBD Business Weekly Newsletter.
