Stockport-based CBD brand Naturecan has seen a record growth of 300 per cent over the last year. Co-founder Paul Finnegan discusses the company’s journey and the secrets behind its success.
Founded just over two years ago by ex-CEO and board director of My Protein, Andy Duckworth and entrepreneur Paul Finnegan, the high-quality CBD brand Naturecan has grown substantially over just a short period, seeing a record growth of 300 per cent over the last 12 months.
Naturecan’s products are now sold in more than 28 countries across the globe from the Far East, to America and Europe. As well as recently securing a seven figure investment from the Far East, Naturecan is backed by high profile cricket star Freddie Flintoff – an early investor who is aiding the brand’s global expansion.
Passionate beginnings
Finnegan decided to get into the CBD business after his friend’s mother used the cannabinoid to aid with her recovery from breast cancer.
“It all started at beginning of 2018 – I had shares in a drinks business and property – and I had seen CBD advertised everywhere. A friend’s mum had breast cancer and had used cannabis treatment in her recovery. I was amazed at how she had recovered and amazed that this lady had gone down this route, so it really piqued my interest and I needed to see what it was all about,” said Finnegan.
“The more I researched it the more I thought this is incredible, from kids with autism, to people with anxiety and fibromyalgia sufferers that haven’t got a real cure or a way to take the edge off the pain. I went out to the United States and found that there was so many cowboys in the industry – you didn’t know who was extracting, who was an agent, who was selling you hot dog water. You needed to go out and physically look at these facilities and check their standards. Being from the drinks background – there is high standards in the UK for food products so it was about checking all of those things.
“I went and visited everywhere in the States – I went to extractors in Colorado, Oregon, LA and eventually met with a man who had done this out of pure passion for helping his children, one of which was heavily autistic and suffered night terrors who was on seven different prescription drugs. He then, as a doctor himself, took the path of taking him off this medication and putting him onto a cannabis-based medicine. This young boy’s life totally changed – he went from being in the emergency room for 300 days a year to literally living a normal life, going to school with years and years between episodes. So, I thought that this guy has got the passion and the motivation – nothing motivates you more than your children. I have two of my own children and it resonated with me.
“He also had at the time the mythical beast of zero THC because of this enhanced technology he had been using – chromatography – where the levels were incredible low. That was the big turn on. We struck a deal with them on an exclusivity agreement.”
High profile investors and supporters
Naturecan attracted high profile investors early on, including Flintoff, who Finnegan says is a true believer in the benefits of CBD.
“Freddie invested in the business early on, it is not an endorsement deal. I have known him for a few years, we are good friends and he believes in the business and the product. So, at a very early stage he was a major investor.” says Finnegan.
“He does use the products, you can see that he has a go at everything – he keeps himself in such good shape and uses everything from protein and keratin on the non-CBD product side, through to oils, cookies and balms. A lot of his network also use CBD such as ex-cricketer Kevin Pietersen who has been posting about our ‘miracle’ CBD arnica cream, as well as Darren Gough, and Tom Davies the comedian uses the gummies relentlessly for golf – so Flintoff is a great person to have as an investor and supporter.
“CBD is really taking off in the sport world. There are still issues with whether or not CBD is allowed, so that is something the whole industry needs to get behind. Naturecan, at the moment, are sponsoring PhD courses at Liverpool John Moores University under professor Graeme Close who works with the England rugby and the European golf tour, as well as many others. We want to give that clarity to these sporting bodies about retention of THC and how it effects you so, we are undertaking human trials.”
Taking Naturecan global
Finnegan met Andy Duckworth, Ex-CEO and board director of My Protein, who has helped take the business to global levels, as well as helping to broaden Naturecan’s product offering.
“Duckworth took the business to huge numbers and spread it all around – he truly globalised the business. We were introduced by our mutual friend and investor, Flintoff. He took the business on and looked at how we could make this into a global wellness platform.
“He had contacts from contract manufacturing which allowed us to create more products – instead of just offering tinctures, gummies and balms, we now do all sorts of baked goods as well such as cookies and brownies, and a capsule range with dozens of different extra SKUs, and products with ingredients like novaSOL curcumin which is 185 times more bioavailable than native curcumin. These ingredients compliment CBD so well for inflammation.
“With Andy’s network we have been able to put this together so quickly and he has also helped to bring a lot of staff in – we have around 40 staff working with us, most of which are ex-My Protein or the Hut Group that have worked with Andy in the past.”
Finnegan attributes the last year’s success to the hard working and driven team, as well as the high quality of Naturecan’s products.
“The product is incredible quality and everybody that we deal with as a contract manufacturer say it is the best they have seen from a purity level,” says Finnegan.
“However, 100 per cent the growth is from the team – the people in the business are fantastic, driven. They believe in the product and also believe in increasing peoples’ happiness in life, which is the key to our business so, we have just got a real group of highly motivated skilled people, and, with Duckworth as our leader, he drives everything forward.
“We are in 28 countries now with 40 planned by the end of the year – being able to rely on each country manager and staff in their team to drive each territory forward has been a massive contributor to the growth.”
Finnegan says that Naturecan’s ethos is to bring together the power of nature and science, and to include only the best ingredients to create high-quality products.
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