EconomyFinancialCBDbies: the Mexican cannabis company that grew with the...

CBDbies: the Mexican cannabis company that grew with the pandemic and is now waiting for the decriminalization of the cultivation of the plant

Janis White started CBDbies at the end of 2018. The venture was born in the kitchen of her house, where she made her gummies that have cannabid oil (CBD), which is one of the components of the marijuana plant, which does not have a psychotropic effect, and used to produce oils, pills and other products.

White’s first approach to the properties of the plant was presented in 2015, when he experienced the illness of a relative and was looking for options to support medical treatments. Now, the company, which is based in Tulum, Quintana Roo , exports its products to all the states of the country, with a boost that was generated during the pandemic.

“The idea of launching this company was to present new natural alternatives so that consumers can find these tools to increase their quality of life,” he says. “The idea is to provide, help or support those who are looking to improve their quality of life in any situation,” he adds.

CBDbies products include gummies, drops, capsules, and balms , which came onto the market after the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes was approved in the country in 2018. For White, this moment opened up an opportunity to bring these products closer to people who care about wellness, a word that resonated loudly during the pandemic.

The company has also dedicated itself to educating about CBD and its effects, which White considers to have been one of the successes that has allowed closing gaps and combating prejudice in the market.

The company started with products in different categories, from shampoos to chocolates, to determine which were the most functional. Today, the most successful are drops and sleeping pills.

So far, the company has managed to have steady growth. Sales from 2019 to 2020 increased 80%, and from 2020 to 2021 the advance was 108%, with a boost from COVID-19, when the search for natural remedies to manage stress, anxiety, fear or insomnia. “Each year we have better sales and better profits. We have been growing non-stop and there has been high growth year after year”, he declares.

Take advantage of the legal framework

Dealing with the taboos and myths surrounding marijuana, especially recreational use, has been one of the biggest challenges the company has faced. To deal with this, during the process of creating the company, White dedicated himself to studying the Law that was approved in 2018 in order to know what products could be produced from industrial hemp and the amounts of THC (the psychoactive component of the plant) that are allowed for finished products, which reach consumers.

For the founder of CBDbies, the opportunity was very clear. Before 2018, the Mexican market was already flooded with imported finished products from the United States and Canada that were being sold on the black market. Unlike Mexico, the two countries where the use of the plant has been deregulated in recent years, and which even have slightly more mature markets regarding the adoption of medicinal cannabis, and in some cases, regarding the playful use.

The entrepreneur says that, with the rules that were issued last year to accompany the medical cannabis law, CBDbies has had to adapt to keep its operations within the regulation.

“One thing that has been part of our successful strategy is that we always know when we have to turn. When you work within a gray legal framework, you have to work as things move. As these gray areas lighten or darken, and depending on the information that we are growing, we are adapting legal and commercial strategies. In this industry there is no room for fear, the game changes like chess and you have to readjust ideas”, he comments.

Another challenge has been the development of a value chain , due to the fact that the planting and harvesting of the marijuana plant is still not allowed in the country. And although the products of this venture are finished in Mexico, the raw material is imported from abroad, in addition to using isolated CBD, that is, the products do not have the risk of containing another component of the plant.

Today the entrepreneur is waiting for regulations that would give the country a competitive advantage at some points in the supply chain, such as planting and harvesting the plant.

Even with the ‘pulling’ in Congress, where a regulation is expected to complement the medicinal use of cannabis, the entrepreneur considers that with the rules that already exist it is possible to operate, as long as the opportunities that exist in the market are carefully analyzed. market.

“Sowing in Mexico would allow us to have our raw material. It has its drawbacks because it is not only the planting process, but also the extraction process, which requires a very high operational investment because it is necessary to have the extraction equipment. That is why, until now, we as a brand have focused on what can be done, and we think of this phase of planting and cultivation in the future for the company”, says White.

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