CANNABINOIDS

The E.U and U.K cannabis markets are being driven by the demand for CBD. CBD products have risen from obscurity to a multibillion-dollar industry in the space of 3 years, disrupting wellness, beverages, food and pharma in the process. Over the next five years, the global CBD market is expected to  accelerate to $23.6B US and Europe’s CBD market is set to grow by an astonishing 400%, according to Grand View Research. The growth of the CBD market in Europe is thanks to the growing adoption of CBD infused products in industries such as pharmaceuticals, personal care, cosmetics, nutraceuticals, along with medical applications. Most importantly, consumers are rapidly changing. Starting out as innovators, testing and sampling a wide range of products, they have now become educated and informed on product quality, pricing and preferred intake formats. According to recently published reports 46% of Europeans view CBD favourably, and up to 77% of surveyed respondents believe CBD should be accessible in some way.

Health & Wellness

Growing consumer awareness regarding health benefits offered by cannabidiol (CBD) and increasing access to tinctures and infused products are contributing to the adoption of CBD as a consumer health product, that can be purchased without a prescription. It is estimated that the global market for CBD wellness products will reach $123.2US billion by 2027, expanding at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.6% over the forecast period. 

 Cosmetics

The potential of the CBD and CBG beauty market is enormous, given the fact that products are available without a prescription, do not require Foods Standards Agency (FSA) approval and have been sanctioned by Cosing, the E.U. cosmetics database. CBD is a natural skin emollient and antioxidant containing both omega-3 & omega-6.

Brightfield Group stated that as a result of the attention media influencers and celebrities are giving CBD infused beauty products, industry revenues jumped 340% in the past couple of years. Consumers can purchase skin care and cosmetic products over the counter. Beauty products using natural ingredients such as CBD (as opposed to chemical additives) are beginning to dominate the cosmetic market generating $1.3US billion in annual sales (2018) more than five times the $230US million sales it generated in 2013. Projected size of the global cosmetic industry: $438.38US billion by the end of 2026.

Cannabis in the EU/UK

A BIG MARKET - GETTING BIGGER 

The E.U has potentially 520 million consumers and is the second biggest cannabis market in the world, according to Frontier Data. Throughout Europe, cannabis regulations and the medical and scientific research that forms policy-making is fluid and poised for change. The final quarter of 2020, in particular, saw several important developments. In November, the European Court of Justice ruled that CBD is not to be considered a narcotic substance under EU law. Just weeks later, the UN recognized the medical potential of cannabis by removing the plant and its derivatives from Schedule IV of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.

It is estimated that the U.K. CBD market will generate £690M (US$800M) in annual sales in 2021. The report concludes that the U.K. now has the most evolved regulatory framework in the world for CBD, and related consumer cannabis extracts, citing a recent ruling by the British Foods Standards Agency (FSA).  Current estimations indicate that 7.3 million people consume CBD products each year in the U.K.

On August 2019 Luxembourg announced that it intends to make adult use cannabis legal by 2022.

On Jan 15th  2021 The French Agency for the Safety of Medicines and Health Products (L'Agency nationale de sécurité du médicament et des produits de santé or ANSM) selected the companies that will work in partnership with the French pharmaceutical distributors to provide dried cannabis flower and derivatives to 3,000 patients

On May 13th  2021 the Spanish government struck a sub-committee to study the use of cannabis for medical purposes.

On June 9th  2021, two political parties in Portugal, Left Bloc and Liberal Initiative, presented proposals to expand the existing legal medical cannabis market in Portugal to include cannabis for recreational use. The outcome was an agreement that both bills were sent to the Health Committee for a period of 60 days, during which public hearings would be held, amendments presented & negotiations carried out before a vote occurs mid-Sept. 2021. It is expected adult-use cannabis will become legal by 2022.

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