UK Food Standards Agency will now proceed
through the safety evaluation process
DENVER, April 1,
2022 /PRNewswire/ - (TSX: CWEB) (OTCQX: CWBHF)
Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc., ("Charlotte's Web" or the
"Company"), the market leader in full-spectrum cannabidiol ("CBD")
hemp extract wellness products, has achieved a milestone becoming
one of the first companies to receive validation of its Novel Food
applications from the UK Food Standards Agency ("FSA") for its
full-spectrum hemp extracts in the United
Kingdom. To date, most UK consumers have had access
primarily to CBD isolate products and may be unaware of the
potential benefits of the entourage effect from full-spectrum CBD
like Charlotte's Web, which includes all of the cannabinoids,
terpenes and flavonoids extracted from the whole hemp plant.
Importantly, this milestone adds Charlotte's Web to the FSA's
list of products allowed to be sold in the UK, whereas companies
not on the list are prohibited from the market. Charlotte's Web is
one of the fraction of companies to receive validation from the FSA
out of more than 800 applications submitted, and one of only a few
U.S.-based companies represented.
"This milestone gives Charlotte's Web and full-spectrum CBD a
legitimate presence within the UK market," said Jacques Tortoroli, CEO of Charlotte's Web. "We
can now expand in the UK and commence discussions with large
retailers who have been waiting for access to full-spectrum
products from our patented hemp cultivars."
Novel Foods
Novel Foods are ingredients which
have not been widely consumed by people in the UK or European Union
(EU) before May 1997. This includes
cannabidiol ("CBD") and other consumable derivatives of the hemp
plant, including whole-plant hemp extract. Novel Foods need to be
authorised by the FSA before they can be included on the list of
novel foods and marketed for sale in the UK.
The FSA is the Central Competent Authority for food safety that
issues guidance to support consistency in approach in the
United Kingdom. The FSA's rigorous
Novel Food authorization process for CBD offers regulatory
stability and a viable path to full commercialization for CBD
products within the UK. A validated Novel Food FSA
authorization is required to legally sell ingestible CBD products
such as oils, gummies, and capsules beyond March 2021. Charlotte's Web's applications with
comprehensive toxicity and safety studies have been validated and
will proceed for risk assessment. This status allows Charlotte's
Web to continue selling its products in the U.K.
In addition to its Novel Foods application, Charlotte's Web is
collaborating with The European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA)
which is part of the Secretariat Advisory Board (SAB), a European
consortium of the UK's and Europe's leading CBD and hemp trade bodies and
groups collaborating to provide hemp industry views, innovation and
research, and includes the Scottish Hemp Association and the
British Hemp Alliance. The SAB is focused on encouraging the
development of clear UK regulation for CBD that reflects
evidence-based policy to safely serve the public and wider national
interests engaged in public wellness.
"Through the hard work of the EIHA and others like Charlotte's
Web, we now have the ability to move forward with consumer
education and access to full spectrum CBD wellness," said
Lorenza Romanese, Managing Director
of the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA). "Novel Foods
authorised companies' adherence to the regulatory framework will
drive consumer confidence."
UK CBD Market
According to the Brightfield Group
the CBD market in the UK has grown rapidly, with the number of CBD
consumers virtually doubling in 2019 to reach over 7% of the adult
population (8% in 2020), representing sales of more than
US$250M in 2020, growing to an
estimated US $1.3 billion by
2025.1
The UK has a large populace of 67 million people with a
predisposition toward natural wellness products making the UK CBD
market well-positioned to thrive. With the FSA's support for a
uniquely well-defined regulatory framework, the UK's CBD market is
expected to continue on an upward trajectory.
Charlotte's Web Products in the U.K.
Charlotte's Web products can be legally purchased online today
through the Company's exclusive UK distributor Savage Cabbage Ltd.,
one of the oldest and most trusted CBD companies in the UK, serving
an active and loyal customer base of wellness seekers. Savage
Cabbage is a Member of EIHA (European Industrial Hemp Association)
and distributes a large portfolio of Charlotte's Web whole-plant,
full spectrum products that contain all the beneficial compounds
that exist in the hemp plant as well as CBD. Under the new Novel
Foods regulatory framework, Savage Cabbage will leverage its
extensive distribution network in the UK to expand the presence of
Charlotte's Web in retail distribution channels and on the high
street, with a growing number of notable retailers.
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About Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc.
Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc., a Certified B Corporation
headquartered in Denver, is the
market leader in innovative hemp extract wellness products under a
family of brands which includes Charlotte's Web™, CBD Medic™, CBD
Clinic™, and Harmony Hemp™.
Charlotte's Web was founded by the seven Stanley Brothers in 2013 when they famously
developed a unique CBD hemp extract to help a little girl in need,
and forever changed global perceptions around the wellness benefits
of hemp. With its storied origins, Colorado-based Charlotte's Web is widely
recognized around the world for its patented hemp cultivars which
provide full spectrum entourage effects from its whole-plant
extracts. Charlotte's Web is often referred to as "The World's Most
Trusted Hemp Extract".
Charlotte's Web branded premium quality products start with
proprietary hemp genetics that are 100-percent American farm grown
and manufactured into hemp extracts containing naturally occurring
phytocannabinoids including cannabidiol ("CBD"), CBC, CBG,
terpenes, flavonoids, and other beneficial hemp
compounds. The Company's CW Labs R&D division, advances
hemp science at two centers of excellence in Louisville, Colorado, and the Hauptmann
Woodward Research Institute at the University
at Buffalo, part of the State
University of New York (SUNY)
network. Charlotte's Web product categories include full-spectrum
hemp CBD oil tinctures (liquid products), CBD gummies (sleep,
stress, exercise recovery), CBD capsules, CBD topical creams and
lotions, as well as CBD pet products for dogs. Through its
vertically integrated business model, Charlotte's Web maintains
stringent control over product quality and consistency. In
the United States, Charlotte's Web
products are distributed to more than 15,000 retail, over 8,000
health care practitioners, and online through the Company's website
at www.CharlottesWeb.com.
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1. Brightfield Group
market sizing and projections account only for ingestible products
that have gone through formal Novel Foods authorization.
www.brightfieldgroup.com
|
Forward-Looking Information
Certain information in this news release constitutes
forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within
the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively,
"forward-looking information"). In some cases, but not
necessarily in all cases, forward looking information can be
identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as
"plans", "targets", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected",
"an opportunity exists", "is positioned", "estimates", "intends",
"assumes", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate" or "believes", or
variations of such words and phrases or state that certain
actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", "will"
or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". In addition, any
statements that refer to expectations, projections or other
characterizations of future events or circumstances contain
forward-looking information. Specifically, this news release
contains forward-looking information relating to, among others: UK
consumer awareness of the Company's products; expansion activities
in the UK and discussions with UK retailers regarding sales of the
Company's products; commercialization of CBD products within the
UK; future regulatory environment for CBD in Europe and the UK, and the impacts of
regulatory changes; anticipated market growth for CBD in the UK;
and sales of the Company's products in the UK.
Statements containing forward-looking information are not
historical facts but instead represent management's current
expectations, estimates and projections regarding the future of
our business, future plans, strategies, projections, anticipated
events and trends, the economy and other future conditions.
Forward-looking information is necessarily based on a number of
opinions, assumptions and estimates that, while considered
reasonable by the Company as of the date of this news release, are
subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and
other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity,
performance or achievements to be materially different from those
expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. The
material factors and assumptions used to develop the
forward-looking information herein include, but are not limited to,
the following: the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; the regulatory
climate in which the Company currently operates and may in the
future operate; consumer interest in CBD; successful sales of the
Company's products; and the success of sales and marketing
activities. Important factors that could cause actual results and
financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in
the forward-looking information include, among others, the factors
discussed throughout the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's
most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2021 available on
www.SEDAR.com and www.sec.gov , and other risk factors contained in
other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission available
on www.sec.gov and filings with Canadian securities regulatory
authorities available on www.sedar.com. Except as required by
applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to
publicly update any forward-looking information, whether written or
oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of
new information, future developments or otherwise.
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SOURCE Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc.