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Leafreport….”CBD Pricing Report: The Price Difference between the Cheapest and Most Expensive Topicals Increases to 11142%”

Date:

Let’s just reiterate that!!

Suggests to us that price gouging in the market is rife…

They write

Following up on our April 2021 report, Leafreport checked in on CBD pricing again in November 2021. Our analysis reveals the cheapest and most expensive brands for each CBD product category, the price difference between products in the same category, and whether prices are trending upwards or downwards.

Introduction

CBD is increasingly becoming a fixture in everyday life for millions of individuals around the globe. A 2021 survey tells us that CBD attracts users who are seeking natural, holistic products to support their wellness and maintain health. The CBD market in the U.S. hit $4.6 billion in 2020, a landmark feat considering hemp-derived cannabinoids only became federally legal in 2018.

As market momentum picks up speed and our consumer interest in CBD grows, it’s likely that the industry will continue to expand in leaps and bounds in the coming years. As the market matures, product prices often reflect a changing industry.

At Leafreport, our goal is to ensure that CBD consumers get what they pay for. In the midst of a largely unregulated market, however, it can be challenging to separate snake oil from  high-quality, reputable products. CBD prices can vary significantly because the quality of CBD products also falls along a diverse spectrum. Our overarching goal is to promote transparency across the industry, and help educate consumers so they’re equipped to select the most effective products for the fairest price.

Here’s our analysis of CBD pricing for November 2021.

Methodology

Every six months Leafreport captures a snapshot of the CBD market. We carry out an in-depth pricing analysis, collecting data to compare the prices of more than 3000 CBD products from more than 100 brands. Our CBD price reports offer invaluable insights for consumers and industry insiders who want to know which products and brands offer the most value for money, and where the greatest disparities lie.

For each and every product, we recorded the price (as of November 2021) then divided it by the milligrams of CBD present in the product to reach our standardized pricing reference point: the price in USD per milligram of CBD.

We then analyzed the average for each brand (in USD per milligram of CBD) and created a price index to easily compare brands.

A – “Bargain grade”– prices in this category range from $0.01-$0.076/mg CBD

B – “Market grade” – prices in this category range from $0.077-$0.167/mg CBD

C –  “Pricey grade” – prices in this category were above $0.168/mg CBD

This simple system allows the easy comparison of potency and price for products in the same category.

Summary of Key Findings

A massive chasm still separates the priciest CBD products from the most affordable. Of the data we unearthed during our research, the following findings stood out as the most compelling and revealing:

Key general findings

  • In general, CBD prices have decreased, from $0.122 per milligram of CBD to $0.12, that’s a -1.96% decrease since April.
  • The cheapest category is CBD isolate, which is 19% cheaper on average compared with April 2021.
  • The most expensive CBD brand is Kushly. It was also the most expensive brand in April 2021.
  • For the second time in a row, the brand with the most affordable products in the industry in general is Industrial Hemp Farms.
  • There is a 3561% gap between the most expensive and least expensive products across the CBD industry-down slightly from 3682% in April.
  • Capsules have risen the most in price since April, increasing by 2.55%.
  • The most significant price difference is in the creams and topicals category, which has a staggering difference of 11142% separating the most expensive products from the cheapest. In April 2021, the difference was 4718%.
  • In this report, we also added edibles as a category, and found a 5100% price difference between the cheapest and most expensive products.

Key findings for each product category

Average price $0.09 per milligram of CBD

Difference between highest and lowest product prices: 1834%

Average price $0.09 per milligram of CBD

Difference between highest and lowest prod
uct prices: 833%

Average price $0.09 per milligram of CBD

Difference between highest and lowest product prices: 1175%

Average price $0.2 per milligram of CBD

Difference between highest and lowest product prices: 11142%

Average price $0.02 per milligram of CBD

Difference between highest and lowest product prices: 2185%

  • Isolate tinctures

Average price $0.08 per milligram of CBD

Difference between highest and lowest product prices: 2050%

Average price $0.21 per milligram of CBD

Difference between highest and lowest product prices: 1483%

Average price $0.12 per milligram of CBD

Difference between highest and lowest product prices: 858%

Average price $0.12 per milligram of CBD

Difference between highest and lowest product prices: 1333%

Average price $0.17 per milligram of CBD

Difference between highest and lowest product prices: 5100%

Average price $0.17 per milligram of CBD

Difference between highest and lowest product prices: 8451%

Read on to learn more about our specific findings for each CBD product category, and how experts account for this dramatic difference in product pricing.

Which Factors Influence CBD Pricing In General?

We spoke to some experts immersed in the CBD industry to uncover the factors that influence pricing in general.

According to Laura Fuentes, Chief Officer of Science and Innovation at Green Roads CBD, the current lack of regulation in the CBD industry contributes significantly to pricing irregularities.

“Companies like Green Roads that spend heavily on top-quality raw materials, independent testing, and other best practices, will naturally be more expensive than other brands that skip those steps – and expense – completely,” explained Fuentes. “If you review the pricing on all the top players in the industry, the pricing gap isn’t that big because most follow the same production process and have similar costs. The gap starts showing when companies who fly under the radar and don’t follow generally accepted manufacturing procedures turn up with lower prices – consumers should be wary of pricing that seems too good to be true.”

Mitch Meyers, co-founder BeLeaf Life Oils, also emphasizes that you get what you pay for. Meyers recommends researching the product and the company that creates the product, checking to see if the product delivers on both potency and purity.

“It is very important that people taking CBD for health and wellness purposes understand the company, the source of their hemp, and the testing regimen of the company producing the products,”  said Meyers.

Winston Peki, chief editor of Herbonaut, points out that the way CBD is produced plays a significant role in the final price.

“The basis of difference in pricing for all CBD products, whether that’s oils, creams, or gummies, is highly related to the production process,” he stated.

Peki emphasized that it’s essential to recognize the production factors that affect price, including:

  • Hemp cultivation processes and hemp plant parts used for the product;
  • Extraction type (full-spectrum is more expensive than isolate);
  • Vertical integration of the brand (as it’s much easier to optimize costs when you control every step of the production process).

These three elements include additional factors like whether the CBD is organic or not, and the post-extraction process (whether other therapeutic compounds are preserved or removed).

“It’s erroneous to compare the prices of CBD products based on how much CBD you get for a certain price,” said Peki. “Other hemp compounds can significantly increase the effectiveness of CBD and possibly also create unique effects through their interactions with CBD.”

Peki points out that CBD isolate products are also much cheaper to produce than full-spectrum CBD products.

“Paradoxically, isolating CBD from an extract is cheaper than trying to remove all non-beneficial compounds, but trying to keep all beneficial compounds inside the extract,” he explained. “If you isolate CBD, you simply filter everything else out. If you want to preserve other cannabinoids and volatile compounds like terpenes, you need a much more sophisticated filtering process that can be more costly.”

Which Factors Influence the Price of Topicals and Edibles?

Our findings revealed that topicals and edibles are two of the CBD products most affected by profound pricing differences.

In the case of topicals, Peki explained that a CBD cream infused with CBD isolate will be significantly cheaper than a CBD cream infused with true full-spectrum hemp-extract. He used the following analogy to help illustrate the difference:

“Ask yourself this: would you rather take a vitamin C pill (CBD isolate) or eat blueberries (full-spectrum CBD)? Blueberries contain hundreds of beneficial compounds, including vitamin C. How can you compare the price of a vitamin C pill to the price of blueberries?”

For Fuentes from Green Roads, topicals that follow a ‘boilerplate’ formulation are significantly cheaper because the efficacy of the product is often compromised.

“Many “affordably priced” topicals are boilerplate blends of CBD, menthol, and some standard skin cream base,” said Fuentes. “If you look at Green Roads’ topical line, you’ll see a wider variety of effective blends of carefully curated ingredients and even an over-the-counter line that includes more powerful active ingredients and carries hard-to-get certifications.”

In short, more effective topicals require more costly ingredients, and pricing often reflects that.

Jim Higdon, co-founder and CCO of Cornbread Hemp also underlined that the price of both topical and edibles can also be significantly affected by the presence of other ingredients in the formulation.

“The significant price fluctuation in CBD topicals and edible products is caused by the number of ingredients involved,” commented Higdon.

“Some brands sacrifice quality with cheap ingredients, leading to products on the bottom end of the price scale. For a brand like Cornbread Hemp that meets the standards of the USDA organic program, 95 percent of the ingredients of any product must be certified organic in order for the USDA Organic seal to be allowed on the product label, and that high standard can be reflected on the final retail price.”

With respect to edibles specifically, Higdon explained the addition of extra, high-quality ingredients to formulate the product can also strongly influence pricing.

“The longer the list of ingredients, the more likely it is to see price fluctuations,” said Higdon. “For instance, our CBD oils have only two ingredients. But our CBD gummies have 12 ingredients, which are at least 95 percent organic. It’s these additional ingredients that can cause fluctuations in pricing.”

Leafreport Price Findings for Each Product Family

Below, you’ll find our November 2021 price findings for each product category. We’ve provided the average price of CBD per milligram for each product. We’ve also identified the most expensive brand, the least expensive brand, and created comparisons with April 2021 findings to contextualize our findings.

Finally, we’ve included the overall brand scores for the most expensive and least expensive brands. You can find out exactly how we calculate brand scores here.

CBD Tinctures

Tinctures are popular CBD formulations that are consumed orally. CBD tinctures are available in a full spectrum format, broad-spectrum format, and as an isolate oil. Tinctures are often teamed with a fat-rich carrier oil such as coconut oil that can optimize the absorption of the cannabinoids in the formulation.

Read the entire report at

https://www.leafreport.com/education/cbd-pricing-report-the-price-difference-between-the-cheapest-and-most-expensive-cbd-products-continues-to-rise-with-a-massive-11142-difference-among-topicals-15561

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