Cannabis Wealth hears from Sky Wellness, one of the fastest growing CBD brand houses in North America, about the burgeoning CBD pet care market.
This summer, CBD company Sky Wellness made its trade show debut for its new lines of CBD pet products, D Oh Gee and Equine at the Global Pet Expo in Florida.
The company said it received “tremendous interest” from national retailers looking to invest and grow in the CBD pet wellness market despite concerns over state regulations regarding the use and sale of cannabinoid products.
Though the production of hemp-derived CBD was legalised at the federal level via the 2018 Farm Bill, each state is still given the final say as to what is allowed within their borders, leading to uncertainty regarding what products can and cannot be sold across state lines.
As the brand grows, Sky Wellness is calling for both state and federal regulatory bodies to come together in agreement over the usage of CBD in consumer products. The market demands will only be satisfied once firm decisions are made across the board, about the consumption of CBD for the better of both people and their pets.
Cannabis Wealth spoke to Brook Bacon, vice president of marketing & GM animal products at Sky Wellness, to find out more about the growing market for pet-friendly CBD products and the regulatory challenges that come with it.
What barriers do you face as a company when it comes to state and federal regulations?
There are many challenges we face within the industry regarding regulations and interpretations. State regulations can vary widely and so can retail perceptions and understanding of those regulations.
We know there are some lousy products and players in the market and we know they don’t offer what they promise. Every industry, including ours, needs standards, practices and governing bodies for sure.
But the biggest challenge we see is the lack of truly fair and specific guidance from some regulatory bodies that have kept certain channels we work with – grocery and drug retail are two that come to mind – that are hyper-conservative about taking on certain products with CBD due to the lack of clarity in policy.
This and the fact that there is little federal guidance, creates a morass of rules and regulations on a state-by-state level that can make it challenging for multistate retail operations [that] are used to being able to buy and sell ‘standardised’ product assortments in nearly all categories but CBD.
This division of product standards across the US ultimately creates a more prominent issue for the end consumer and the retail partner they may be used to buying their products from.
What needs to change?
There needs to be a standard for all CBD products to which we should comply. CBD is not going away as long as pet owners and consumers want it for their’s and their pet’s wellness.
We welcome widespread adoption of standard labelling and best-in-class manufacturing practices to provide industry and manufacturing guidance as well as standardisation that creates comfort and confidence among consumers and the retail partners they trust.
Are there different standards between pet and human products when it comes to regulation?
You will find a difference in CBD in humans versus pets at the individual state or regional levels. It can become quite complex depending on the product type, formulation or lab requirements.
This adds a compounding dynamic to compliance which means that any company that transparently wants to comply must remain fluid and adaptable in product development, formulation, labelling and even diversification in accredited lab providers.
Traditionally consumer packaged goods do not need to maintain this level of nimbleness. We’ve been described as the Procter & Gamble of CBD.
Tell us about Sky Wellness’ new CBD pet care brands.
D Oh Gee and EquineX Horse Care are newly emerging brands [for] pet lovers and those who have worked in the pet food industry. We developed our products with pet parents and their pets’ needs in mind.
Each product is holistically designed for supportive, natural care for dog or equine’s physical and mental well-being to provide supportive care for joint wellness, mobility and calming during environmental stress. I know my house can be a real bark party at times.
What is next for Sky Wellness?
In 2022, Our D Oh Gee Chewies won Product of the Year in the CBD pet Category. Product of the Year USA is the largest independent survey conducted by American Shoppers (40k participants survey conducted by Kantar).
Earlier this year we learned that 13 of our products – human and animal alike – became finalists in the World CBD Awards. We intend to stay the course and keep innovating the CBD space for people and animals.
Our mission is simple. We want to bring the wellness benefits to the daily regimens of people and their pets and we want to make CBD supplements and products easy to understand and easy to access wherever consumers shop for themselves and their animals.
