December 3, 2019 • 48:02 minutes
#111 – The Benefits of Full-Spectrum CBD Oils with Jim and Dave from Canviva CBD
Jim Zimmerman has over 40 years of broad-based marketing and advertising experience across a wide range of industries. However, he is most excited and proud to be part of our CANVIVA team and its mission to help people be their best. A recent convert, Jim enjoys one of the many benefits of CANVIVA PURE CBD Oil Tincture.
“I use the tincture daily, taking it about an hour before going to bed. I’m getting the best sleep I’ve had in years without prescription medication or supplements which I hated taking.”
Previous to starting The Zimmerman Group, Jim was Director of New Products and Business Development at Pillsbury. Additionally, he was a New Products Development Manager at General Foods. Furthermore, during his career, Jim has developed and launched over 250 new products.
Dave Rye is an enthusiastic advocate of CBD. However, he wasn’t always. A skeptic by nature, he talked with many first-time users before being convinced that hemp and CBD products improved their quality of life. Consequently, as a golfer, he sees CBD as a viable natural alternative to ibuprofen, aspirin, and other pain relievers.
“CANVIVA products have allowed me to stop taking ibuprofen before and after golfing.”
Dave has spent the past 30 years working across strategic sales, product and business development, and operational roles. As a result, his appreciation for high-performance leadership and value creation mindedness stems from his 25-year background with Cargill Inc. Furthermore, he’s extremely excited to be part of our CANVIVA team and to share its vision to educate, inspire, and provide superior quality products to everyone.
Summary Keywords
cbd, full-spectrum, oils, tinctures, products, people, minnesota, benefit, vaping, canviva, dave, cbd oil, category, brands, business, hemp, effective, study, soluble, year, develop, working
Speakers
Vadim Fedorovsky, Host, CBD School Podcast
Jim Zimmerman, Co-Founder and President, CANVIVA
Dave Rye, Co-Founder and Vice President, CANVIVA
Podcast Transcript
Introduction
Vadim 00:11
All right. And we are back in class. This is Vadim, the CBD professor from cbdschool.com: Your school to learn all about cannabidiol. Hey, everyone, it’s Vadim, the CBD professor from CBD School. And I think you are really going to enjoy this podcast episode I did with Dave and Jim, the founders of CANVIVA. Before we get into the episode, I do want to tell you a little bit about them because they are of course the sponsor for this episode, and they have a special deal for the listeners of the CBD School Podcast. 20% off with coupon code CBD-School20 at canviva.com. Remember the dash in the coupon code. I know the coupon codes typically don’t have a dash in there but it’s CBD-School20 at canviva.com, which is spelled CANVIVA.com.
Now let me tell you a little bit about CANVIVA. These tinctures, I am super impressed by these tinctures that they’ve got. What they’re doing is taking the entourage effect to the next level. So as we know, the entourage effect is a theory that you get more from a natural plant-based product when you take it in its all compound form as opposed to just an isolate. So when you’re taking it the way that the plant is structured, with all the different components acting together as an orchestra, as opposed to one instrument playing by itself. So think of it as a violin, which can be beautiful on its own, but then compare that to a violin as part of a whole orchestra or a string quartet. That’s the entourage effect, and CANVIVA — remember, you can find them at canviva.com — is taking that to the next level.
They have these functional tinctures that are especially made for different types of categories that you might want to use them for. They have one for rest, they have one for recovery, they have one for restore, they have one for sleep, there’s tons. They also have one for that’s just a pure full-spectrum CBD. So what they’ve done is they’ve combined CBD oil, full-spectrum CBD oil, with essential oil ingredients like coriander. I never know how to say this. Ylang-ylang, bergamot, thyme, fenugreek, just different ingredients that have been known to have therapeutic properties, plant-based, obviously, and combine them into these special category-focused tinctures. Like I was saying, there’s one for boost, calm. There’s one that’s for focus. There’s one for recovery. And there’s also just pure high-potency CBD full-spectrum oil if that’s what you are looking for. And just for the listeners of the CBD School Podcast, head on over to CANVIVA. That’s CANVIVA.com and use the special coupon code just for you. That’s CBD-School20 to claim 20% off any of their great tinctures and they also do have topicals as well and pet products if that is what you are looking for.
So that’s it for the ad. Sorry if it went a little bit long, but I did want to tell you all about their products. I really enjoy talking to Dave and Jim. They have the right approach when it comes to CBD. These guys are professionals. They know what they’re doing and they know where they’re going in this market. So I really hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Enjoy the show.
On today’s episode of the CBD School Podcast, I am sitting down with Dave and Jim, who are the owners of CANVIVA CBD. And we are going to go into what got them into CBD, what their plans are for the company and what makes their products unique and more. So stay tuned for the show. Let’s just introduce Dave and Jim. Welcome to the show, guys.
Jim 05:03
Glad to be here. This is Jim Zimmerman, and my partner is…
Dave 05:08
Dave Rye.
Vadim 05:08
Great, guys. Happy to have you.
Jim 05:11
We’re happy to be here.
Vadim 05:12
So I always ask my guests, where are you calling in from?
Jim 05:14
We are in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where we got a bright sunny winter day.
Vadim 05:19
Yes. Early winter this year, right?
Jim 05:23
Early winter every year, but this year in particular.
Vadim 05:26
Did you get a lot of snow?
Jim 05:27
No, fortunately, we haven’t had a lot of snow, but we had some very early cold, single-digit temperatures. And so it started early. And hopefully it’ll end early.
Vadim 05:37
Yeah, I’ve been to Minneapolis many times. There’s a lot of lakes in Minnesota. I remember that.
Jim 05:44
That’s true.
Vadim 05:45
And the movie Fargo.
Jim 05:46
Oh, well, we all agree with that down for many years, you betcha. The ultimate rubes, but that’s okay.
Vadim 05:55
Well, so tell us your background. I mean, how did you get into CBD? What’s the story of your partnership together? What were you doing before CBD?
Jim 06:05
All right, terrific. Well, good question. Dave and I both got to our CANVIVA business through the root of our careers, which are extensively in CPG food marketing and brand development. So I’ll give my background briefly and then Dave can talk about his. But after grad school at Columbia, I went to work at General Foods in New York, where I was heavily involved in new products, manage the jello business, launched a number of new products, came home to Pillsbury as director of new business development of new products, where we created and launched a number of new products. Started a marketing agency, the Zimmerman Group, about exactly 35 years ago, that was really focused and dedicated to developing new brands and new products. And we developed over 250 new brands and new products that we launched for companies including Nestle, PepsiCo, General Mills, Land O Lakes, Conagra, and others. And so new business is my career and in my blood and something that I really love. And Dave, I first met when he was a client, and he can tell you about that relationship. But we go back probably about 30 years. So I’ll let Dave tell you his background.
Dave 07:13
So Vadim, in the mid 80s, was working with Cargill, another Minneapolis business, was in the agricultural and food product side, met Jim as an agency hire that was one of the first that Cargill had and then subsequently worked through both egg, poultry, value-added meats on both the domestic and global basis. And most of my time was spent working across the McDonald’s system, where we had a global book of business about two and a half billion dollars and 40 plants worldwide. So I felt very fortunate that I was able to work with two good companies that worked on a very strategic basis, and really did a lot in the value creation and innovative side. So having reconnected with Jim back three, four years ago here in Minneapolis, you know, we started taking a look at the CBD and cannabis marketplace. It’s one that we saw as a once in a lifetime type opportunity. And we wanted to take our backgrounds and skill sets and whatnot and frame out a business that was going to be recognized as a high quality, effective and educating type group. So we formed CANVIVA.
Vadim 08:22
That’s great. Thank you for the introduction. So it sounds like you both have experience with the consumer packaged goods and food products.
Jim 08:30
We sure do. And the team that I had at the Zimmerman Group probably have a cumulative experience level about 300 years of new business development and launch. And so we’ve pivoted that team to CANVIVA. And all of the work that we do is done in-house from our website development, social media, package, design, branding, blogging, everything else. So it’s a really ideal natural fit for us. And what Dave and I experienced as we really assessed and evaluated the CBD category that the one thing that was really missing were trusted brands and CPG approaches. So it’s their 2000 brands of CBD, they’re mostly all mom and pop. None of the major players are into the CBD space yet. We know they’re coming, but we’ve had a lot of experience with developing brands that are then strategic acquisition targets for major companies when they decide to enter a new category. That’s our approach with CANVIVA. We’ll develop it exactly as we would if we were hired by Unilever or Nestle or PepsiCo to enter the category. So when they come shopping to enter the category, we want to be teed up as an obvious entry point for them.
On FDA Regulation in the CBD Industry
Vadim 09:48
One thing you said there — we got to talk about — is the quality in the industry. I mean, the marketing is just way ahead of the regulation and the standards. I don’t understand why such a simple product. It’s a relatively simple product compared to, let’s say chemical cleaners that are used, you know, that could kill people, that are used inside everyone’s house right now, way more dangerous than CBD. Why can’t there be some standards set up to make these products safe? And I’m sure you and your team have battled that in your own way. Can you talk about your experience on trying to make a safe, regulated standardized product?
Jim 10:28
Absolutely. It’s really sad that the government has responded so ineffectively and so slowly. At least a year ago, everybody knew the Farm Bill was going to pass and CBD would be legalized and so standards and claims and that type of thing needed to be addressed by the FDA. And it’s really sad that the first meeting they had to really even talk about CBD was the end of May of this year, fully a year after they knew it was coming and they knew it’s their job to really provide clarity. All the major retailers are sitting on the sidelines, eagerly wanting to sell CBD because they know it’s a very effective product, their customers want to buy it from them instead of the strip malls and some of the places, head shops, where they have to go now to get it. So they’re eager for regulation, we are very eager for regulation.
You see so much bad information, so much misinformation, so many bad products that aren’t third-party tested, on and on and on. So it’s certainly our goal and our hope that the FDA will do its job sooner rather than later. And provide clarity, clean out the bad actors, and really make this a much more effective category to perform in. So we are very frustrated, as are most of the people in the category. And so we’re very eager for that to come to pass. The information we have is we think the USDA is going to provide some more clarity by the end of the year and the FDA will follow behind that early next year. And hopefully at that point, the path will be much clearer for major retailers, major manufacturers to aggressively move forward. And we expect there to be a very aggressive push once the clarity is provided.
Vadim 12:16
Exactly. I think every legitimate brand out there is actually waiting and hoping for that clarity and regulation. The legitimate actors aren’t trying to hide or anything. And especially recently with this vaping crisis, it would be a crappy podcast if I didn’t ask your thoughts on that with this vaping crisis.
Jim 12:36
Yeah, and it’s a very real crisis. So we, from the beginning, said we have no interest in being in the vaping segment. That’s just not who we are. But there’s no doubt that even though the vaping crisis is really not due to CBD and it’s CBD that’s affecting vaping, nonetheless, a lot of people, or at least some people will think that CBD is part of the vaping crisis. So that’s very unfortunate. One of the things that we think will happen is that we know that vaping — if you want to get CBD into your blood system quickly, that’s probably a faster delivery system than tinctures. But now that vaping will have a legitimately negative halo over it, we think that will help the tincture business as people will see that as a better way to take CBD and an effective way to take CBD. So we expect that part to benefit us. And we would expect to see vaping decline fairly significantly as it gets all the negative publicity.
Vadim 13:39
Yeah, yeah, I think you’ve made the probably the right choice with not doing a vape product. And the vaping, it’s true. It is unfortunately one of the fastest ways to get the CBD in the system. But the tinctures I’d say come pretty close. And I know your product line, which we’ll get all into, but one of your products is a soluble, right? Is that one designed to be the fastest absorbed product?
Dave 14:05
I was just going to add that it has a microtechnology that does have a better absorption rate than sublingual, but at the same time, Vadim, you are digesting that, where you really have to be cognizant of, you know, what your intake is and what amount of milligram from a dosing standpoint you’d like. So it does better than say a gummy as far as the bioavailability, but again, sublingual under the tongue is giving you that best transfer.
CBD Tinctures for Specific Functional Benefits
Vadim 14:35
Well, let’s get into your tinctures actually because I think everyone listening, I think CANVIVA has — look, I’ve looked at hundreds of brands and you guys have nailed down the not symptom specific because these aren’t medicines, we can’t talk about them like that, but category specific products. So for the listeners out there, check out CANVIVA and you will see. We did our product review over at cbdschool.com where you can find the review. But they have just so many different tinctures for each different — I guess how would you call it? Not conditions.
Jim 15:07
Probably its functional benefits. So we know that CBD has the ability to help in a number of different ways, from anxiety to joint and muscle pain, sleep, and clarity and others. And so what we wanted to do was to fortify those, start with our PURE Certified CBD oil, which we’re trying to set the standard and quality of CBD oil, so people know that it’s US grown, organic, third-party tested, et cetera. But we start with that and then we enhance each of the tinctures with essential oils and a terpene blend that we know will enhance its performance against that specific functional benefit, again, like sleep and so on.
So we’re working with the University of Minnesota who is, I think, well in the lead and hemp research. They’ve been for the last four years. When theoretically, it was illegal to do research, they’ve been doing it. And so they’re ahead of the pack, but they’re doing the terpene analysis and assessment to really understand, again, what each terpene specifically benefits. So we want to make each of those functional products to be as effective as it possibly can be for each of those benefits.
I think a lot of our competitors are literally offering flavors and strengths. It’s their tincture lineup. And, you know, we think it’s much better than kind of saying one CBD tincture cures all conditions or helps all conditions, not cures. That’s certainly the wrong word. But again, it’s sort of like if you want to buy our tincture, we’ve got flavors and strengths and you decide what you want. Whereas we think it’s going to be better given all the different things that CBD can actually help to develop specific products specifically formulated to address that opportunity. So that’s the approach we’re going to take and we’re going to continue. As research comes out, we’re about to field five clinical studies for ourselves, and to again, really hone in on exactly how we can make these products more effective and make claims based on clinical studies.
Vadim 17:10
Yeah, that’s great. I think people use CBD for different reasons. You know, one person might use it for sleep, another person uses it for muscle soreness, or an athlete for better recovery. So having these different categories makes it just unique to each person. I like how it’s also the same amount of CBD in each one in addition to the other ingredients, essential oils, that you’ve added in. And how again is the soluble one? How is that supposed to be used? Is that for mixing into stuff? What’s the purpose of the soluble one?
Dave 17:44
Soluble is really about having CBD your way. You can have it as a beverage addition, you can put it into recipes. Our team spends a lot of time on application to incorporate that into your daily opportunity to consume CBD. So if you think about bottled water today that sells for $6, $7 a bottle, you can now take and put our soluble under your dose strength and have that opportunity and a much more sustainable offering. So you have both savings and a sustainability play. You can put it into recipes. And as I mentioned earlier, you can actually incorporate the dose strength for what you feel your body’s best benefit is.
Jim 18:27
Vadim, and the reason we were attracted to it is, again, we were seeing our suppliers and a lot of others selling CBD water. And again, as Dave said, at a very high price. So what that gave you is you got what you got. So you got the strength you got, you got the quantity you wanted. So if you wanted a beverage that was twice as much in terms of strength or fluid ounces, you know, you got what you got. The other major benefit is environmental sustainability. So when you think of the people that are using the water bottles of CBD, I think, I’m trying to remember our soluble, how many equivalent — you can make equivalent of 50 bottles worth of CBD water with our one soluble tincture. So if you think of that, somebody using CBD water would have 50 water bottles going into landfills, whereas if they use their own water bottle and our soluble, they would not have any of that waste. So we like that benefit of it too. But again, mainly it’s the ability to use it exactly how you want it rather than, you know, the limited ways you can actually buy it.
Vadim 19:34
Exactly, exactly. That’s great. And I know you also have two other products. You have the two topicals and then the pet products. Is that right?
Jim 19:42
Correct.
Sourcing Hemp in Minnesota
Vadim 19:43
That’s great. And the pet lines, there’s a lot of popularity recently with using CBD oil for pets. And with Minnesota too, I’ve been following the news. I actually have a small hemp farm in Pennsylvania. My dad runs it but I know they’re farming now in Minnesota. Are there plans for CANVIVA to start using all Minnesota hemp or anything like that?
Jim 20:04
Absolutely. We would like to really concentrate all aspects of our business in Minnesota. And Dave and I back in February helped start a Minnesota hemp initiative that was supported by the University of Minnesota, the governor’s office, Amy Klobuchar, one of our senators, and the Minnesota ag department, who has set up a hemp department within the Minnesota agricultural department. And the goal of that whole effort is really to make Minnesota the hemp capital of North America. In my previous career at the Zimmerman Group, we worked with the Washington Apple board, the Idaho Potato Commission, and we think we can make Minnesota hemp the equivalent of what they did for apples and potatoes to make it the gold standard.
So last year, we grew 160 acres of hemp in Minnesota; this year, little over 20,000. And we’re working with both growers and processors in Minnesota to develop our industry to the highest standard. We think that’s very doable. It will benefit our economy and all the stakeholders are aggressively pursuing that. So we will absolutely be relying on organic Minnesota grown hemp and Minnesota processed CBD oil. Our manufacturing is already here in the state. So we make our products here. And we want all the raw materials and ingredients to come from here as well. So that’s our goal. And I think it’s very realistic. And by this time next year, we should be 100% Minnesota.
Vadim 21:32
A little piece of trivia is that CBD was discovered in Minnesota from Minnesota hemp.Did you know that?
Jim 21:38
We did and we were the last state to grow hemp after World War iII. FDR made it legal for World War II and then made it illegal again after the war was won with some help from CBD.
The Future of the CBD Industry
Vadim 21:50
Well, we’ve talked about a little bit of the past and the present. I’d love to know your thoughts for both of you on where are we going with this whole space? I mean, it came out just basically out of nowhere. You know, I’ve been involved in cannabis since I was 18 in different forms. But when I first heard of CBD, it was in 2014 and nobody knew about it, really. I mean, nobody knew about it. And I started CBD School in 2016. And by then I remember visiting the MJBizCon, which is coming up in Las Vegas. There was like, that year, maybe three CBD booths out of, like, 300 total. And now you go there and it’s poof, there’s maybe 20% to 30% of the companies are CBD focused. So where do you think this whole space is heading towards?
Dave 22:41
I think one thing we recognized early on is that CBD is a discovery. And it’s really the tip of the iceberg. There’s going to be trial studies, efficacy, formal studies that are going to bring forward a lot more cannabidiol discovery on benefit and opportunities. And we really want to be a part of continuing to stay on the cutting edge of innovation and forms that people can take CBD and a lot of it comes down to the educational side. And we spend as much time on education as the effective side. And we want to continue to partner and work with people that are bringing forward the future.
Jim 23:19
The other thing is — you’re exactly right. When we first started looking into CBD, we’d never really heard of it either and really were amazed as we kept peeling the onion to see the incredible benefits it was delivering and the positive reviews. Consumer Reports, which I know you saw their study on CBD earlier this year, with the conclusion that CBD goes mainstream. And I think that that’s exactly the way to think about this if one out of seven people use it. It has very little to any negative publicity or side effects or anything else. So I think it’s going to be a dramatic growth. And I think all the projections are right on for where this category is going to go. And we think we were very early on in the development of the organic world of gluten free. We have seen those markets grow radically and dramatically from things that appear to be small fads to very mainstream everyday businesses and we think this will develop exactly the same way. So we think that, again, a year from now, when anybody goes into a Walgreens and Target, a Kroger, a Costco, they will see CBD products across really a wide range of categories. If you think of gluten free and organic, they started out and organic case started out mainly in vegetables and a few vegetables and then has become very, very wide and mainstream.
Vadim 24:41
Everything organic Yeah, t-shirts, organic. Everything.
Jim 24:48
So I think you’re already starting to see it. You saw Carl’s Jr. with their CBD burger. You’ve seen Ben & Jerry’s with CBD ice cream. So some of that’s going to be ludicrous, but I think —
Vadim 24:58
CBD toothpicks. I’ve seen CBD toothpicks and floss, which neither of us, none of the three people here are interested in.
Jim 25:06
No, you’re actually right about that. But I think initially what people will believe is CBD is a positive ingredient. And if something has CBD, it’s going to be better than something that doesn’t. It’s sort of like gluten free. There are a lot of people that if you ask them, “What is gluten free mean?” And they’ll go, “I really don’t know. But I know it’s good.” And so if I see something that claims gluten free, I’m gonna say, well, that’s worth a premium. And I know it’s gonna deliver some sort of positive benefits for me. So I think initially CBD will be that. So people will say, “Gosh, if I can get a CBD ice cream or CBD coffee, you know, that’s a good thing.” And as more and more knowledge comes out, they’ll realize that there are certain effective ways to take CBD and they’ll gravitate to those. And we think tincture will be one of the really prime ways that people will get the benefits of CBD as opposed to cookies and ice cream and all that. So we see the market becoming more sophisticated and knowledge is really growing. So I think initially, CBD will be everywhere. And then I think it’ll gravitate to those forms that are the most effective.
Vadim 26:09
Exactly. And I noticed you didn’t do a capsule? Is there a reason for that?
Jim 26:14
No, not really. What we want to do is we want to deliver CBD and all the forms that will be effective and that people will want to take. We know that everyone is not going to be wanting to take a tincture. So capsules are certainly on our radar. There’s nothing we have planned yet. We’re looking at nasal sprays as another effective way probably to deliver a similar benefit to vaping without the negative issues of vaping. So we will continue to make sure that we provide no barriers to people using our products. So we added a Pure Mint because some of the people weren’t really comfortable with that natural flavor that our CBD products have. Most people really like it. But everybody doesn’t. So we took that away. Soluble, we launched too because we know that some people really wanted a product that they could use to deliver CBD exactly how they wanted it, when they wanted it, where they wanted it. So we’ll continue to do that. And I think capsules could very well be in our product line at some point. But again, they’re not planned at this point.
Vadim 27:15
Gotcha. Hey, everyone, I really hope you are enjoying this podcast episode with Dave and Jim, the founders of CANVIVA, as much as I am. I want to encourage you to please visit canviva.com. That’s CANVIVA.com and use the coupon code CBD-School20 for 20% off only for listeners of the CBD School Podcast. Again, that coupon code, I know it looks a little bit different than typical coupon codes. It’s CBD-(or hyphen if that’s what you want to call it)School20 and you can use that at canviva.com, which is spelled CANVIVA.com. Again, like I said in the beginning of the episode, I’m really impressed by their functional tinctures. They’ve got something for everybody. If you’re looking for a boost, if you’re looking for some restoration or relaxation, if you’re looking for help with sleep, or if you’re needing some products for topical use or for your pets, CANVIVA has you covered and you’ve got a 20% discount code that you can use it’s CBD-School20 that gets you 20% off at canviva.com. Make sure to visit canviva.com to use that coupon code. Thanks for your support and enjoy the rest of the show.
So tell me about the topicals a little bit too then since we’ve discussed the tinctures. What’s unique about the topicals and how are they designed to be optimized for use?
Dave 29:11
Well, what we’ve done on that is really tried to complement the tincture side. So you’ll see our Restore, which is a muscle support and anti inflammatory. For somebody who has localized pain, they can use our relief product which is a roll-on gel. It has a menthol that brings the blood to the surface and allows the CBD to be most effective. We look at that as kind of a regimen, say you’re a golfer, you can be taking a tincture in the morning as a daily regimen and have something that you can rely on if you have isolated back pain or or a strain of some kind. Then on balm, it’s really one that can give you a benefit of joint pain by really rubbing in and working it into a given area. Those particular products are found for people who are doing strenuous work. You may be everything from a construction worker to a knitter to everybody in between that can have benefit that way. And one of the things that we found really interesting with our customers is as we build out a CBD business and a profit center for that, they also then get their customers to be buying additional products. So you may find a knitting store using one of our products and being able to keep people in their hobby longer by buying more of the basic product. So there’s some real interesting nuances in how we go to market and how those topical products play.
Beyond Strength and Flavor: A Focus on CBD Quality
Vadim 30:33
Very cool. I’m just curious. Because I’ve never seen someone formulate products in such an interesting way. How did you go into formulating the tinctures they’re so unique and want people to check them out? And I’m genuinely very, very impressed by how you’ve done this. Because a few years ago, actually, before I started CBD School, I was like, I know there’s going to be one killer brand that’s going to come out with like terpene specific products or — so we didn’t talk about that. Are your products — the Rest, Pure, like all the different tinctures, are they terpene unique? Or are they only essential oil unique? Like what’s unique about each one for people that are listening,
Dave 31:13
We are actually getting the terpene addition through essential oil. Right now, Vadim, our first generation, we’re going to continue to push the envelope on discovery and other cannabinoid profiles. And what we really wanted to make sure is that we were helping educate and working around conditions, as Jim described, beyond flavor. We got frustrated with the fact that you had all different types of CBD strengths, and at the end of that sale, you would have somebody going do you want cotton candy or lemon flavored, and it just didn’t resonate with us. So working with our formulators and a lot of other resources, we said we want to tell the story about the benefit and that’s where the functional tinctures were created. So whether it be anxiety or inflammation, sleep deprivation, those types of things, we want to draw the customer into something they can feel comfortable with, and terpenes and essential oils and things like that led and the CBD benefit is the real impact then.
Jim 32:14
The other thing, Vadim, is, again, given my background in Dave’s, and really looking at product development and trying to develop the most effective proprietary products that can be developed, so we wanted to take it a step beyond, as Dave just said, strength and flavor and say how do we make these products as effective and as proprietary as we possibly can? So we’re working with a world-class formulator that we have experienced with, who is, you know, one of the leading CBD product developers here in Minnesota. And again, we want to push that envelope continually to say, how do we make this better? How do we make it more unique? How do we make it more effective? So that will be one of the primary core objectives we have of wanting to be on the leading edge of unique and effective products and utilize all the research available both in terms of clinical studies and CBD research to continually enhance our products. So that’s what the category is going to need, I think, the cream will rise to the top here. And we want to be part of that. And we want to be known as leaders in effective, safe, quality products.
Vadim 32:24
Well, I think you’re definitely heading in the right direction. I can tell you’re really putting the time into making these products. Is there any reason you haven’t done a 1500 in all the different categories and only in the Pure?
Jim 33:37
Well, again, it’s back to saying we don’t want anyone to have a reason not to use our products. So we think a 500-milligram is really the entry point. We’re very frustrated by Groupon and LivingSocial and some of these other sites that sell really cheap CBD tincture products at 100 or 200 milligrams, which we feel will not have any benefit whatsoever to consumers and have the potential to poison the well for the rest of us. But we think 500 is a starting point for people. We wanted to make sure we had a 1500 for those that wanted a heavier strength. And so we may well build out our product line with more 1500s in the future for some of the other different specific tinctures. But for now, we just wanted to make sure that those wanting a higher dose strength could participate in our product line.
Customer-focused CBD Product Development
Vadim 34:25
Gotcha. Gotcha. Yeah, that’s great. So what are the plans as far as new products? What kinds of new products can people expect in the future? I know you mentioned the nasal spray, which I think is really cool. I haven’t seen anyone really do that, right? Because I think, I guess people are… I don’t know how motivated they are or if they’re scared to do that. But certainly plenty of people use this. I hate those things. But those things that unclog your nose, you know, when you’re sick. Are you thinking about introducing some other products into your product line?
Jim 34:57
What we’ll do is we want to meet people wherever they are. So we know that if you look at, like, nasal spray, I’m not a fan of nasal spray, either. But I think it’s a $19 billion category and there are an awful lot of people that are very comfortable with that form and familiar with that form. And we have every reason to believe that it would be a very effective way to deliver CBD. So we’re going to meet people where they are. As we evaluate capsules, if that seems to be a market where, again, if you look at the supplement world as a place to start and say, how are those products delivered? You know, they’re delivered in capsules and liquids and sprays. So we are also looking at possibly having a product you would put it in your mouth that would slowly dissolve. There are some products out there like that, again, for those that are not tincture interested. And again, I have to say I use tinctures now, but I never did before the CBD and I find it perfectly natural now. But for some, I think they might say, “Well, that’s that seems an odd way. I’m not comfortable squeezing an eyedropper into my mouth.” So we’ll continue to look for other ways to deliver CBD that are effective and meet consumers’ needs. Dave may have an input.
Dave 36:08
And we’re also really learning a lot about our customers as we go to market, Vadim. So using one category. In the clinical side, you have chiropractors, you have massage therapists. As we go out, we’re recognizing that higher dose strength and opportunity to put products together specific for them. We are going to be rolling out a CANVIVA Pro line for that particular channel. And with it, we’ll come on massage oil and a therapy treatment that is a little bit unique. We also, as we go to market at retail, we know that balm and towel is a good entrance. But then we get into things on body lotions or butters, things of that nature that consumers bring forward. So we’re always trying to find out where that application and needs of the customers are.
Vadim 36:54
That’s great. The massage oil thing is amazing, isn’t it, as an application?
Jim 37:00
True. We’re getting a lot of interest from chiropractors and massage therapists and so on that. That line will launch in literally two weeks. So we’ve also developed a CANVIVA Sport line that we’re going to be launching into fitness and that channel, for health clubs, that kind of thing. And that’s getting a lot of positive responses too, and that’ll be launched before you’re in. So we’re finding a lot of specialty channels. As we talked earlier, the big retailers for now are sitting on the sidelines. But these specialty retailers are very aggressively embracing CBD. They want slightly different products and different brands than those that will be sold in, you know, Target or Walgreens. So we are meeting that need with new brands and new products. So we think in the short term specialty channels will offer us a great way to take a leadership position in a number of channels, and then be ready when the majors are ready, which we think will be within the next probably six months.
Vadim 38:00
Wow. Everything’s happening very fast, obviously, in the space.
Jim 38:03
Well, it is. You know, it’s literally a market that changes virtually daily. And, you know, every single day, you get some new data about rules and regs or different states doing different things, new brands being launched. So yeah, it’s really fascinating and fun. And I’ve been in, you know, like, again, Dave and I have launched over 250 products. We’ve never seen a category like this, both in terms of the extraordinary growth that’s being achieved, but also the fact that it literally is changing daily.
Vadim 38:31
Yeah, and I love what I’m hearing from both of you is that you’re really paying attention to what the customers want. I mean, I can tell you’ve got decades in consumer goods, because you’re listening, you’re waiting and listening and kind of feeling what the customers are asking for. And right now, yeah, it happens to be the tinctures across the board are the most popular way for people to consume CBD no matter what they’re using it for. And it’s great that you’ve come out with these different categories for people to choose for their personal needs.
Jim 39:02
Exactly right. Consumer research has always been at the core of everything I’ve done in my career. You know, you start there, rather than say, you know, “Here’s a product we have, let’s figure out who might be interested in it.” We start by saying, you know, what our consumer needs and what’s their benefit hierarchy for what’s most important to them. And let’s find out exactly what they need and what they’d be attracted to, and then let’s develop it for them.
Dave 39:27
I think one other thing too is these are life altering conditions. So when we hear every day of somebody who through CBD is benefited in simple things — speaking in public, boarding a plane, getting out of bed or sleep. I mean, these are things that on a daily basis like brushing your teeth, you can get tremendous benefit, not addictive and and a lot of other health benefits that come right along with it. So as that education and products that really stack up are rolled out, we’re feeling very good about the space we’re in.
Vadim 40:00
What do you think about that study that came out that was kind of more of, I guess, a hoax — not a hoax, but like an exaggerated scare about the liver damage, that study they did on the mice with CBD.
Jim 40:12
You know, we saw that. And again, I’m wondering the origins of that. One of the things that I’m really fascinated by is when you think of the two industries that are going to be most negatively affected by CBD, it’s not obvious in THC. It’s obviously the liquor industry in the pharmaceutical industry. So the liquor industry has responded by making multibillion dollar investments in THC companies. Canopy got a $3.9 billion investment from Constellation Brands because they know that when marijuana is legalized, alcohol will take by far the biggest hit. Pharmaceutical companies know from the Consumer Reports study that 22% of the people using CBD were able to quit their prescription drugs. So they know they’re going to take a big hit too.
And as we sit on the sidelines, but I don’t have, you know, conclusive proof to back this up. But I’m trying to figure out what are the pharmaceutical industries doing to combat CBD. They’re not buying their way in like the alcohol companies are. So my sense is they’re going to try and put clouds around CBD and claim that, you know, many more studies need to be done. We need years of studies. And so I’d love to know the origin of the liver thing, and it may trace its way back to pharmaceuticals. And I don’t want that to sound like conspiracy theory. But when I looked at the science behind that, you know, it gets back to the thing that if a mouse drank 100 diet cokes a day, it would die. Well, sure it would. And so it strikes me a little bit like that, that, you know, okay, mice had some kind of liver issue. So I don’t know. I think there’ll be more and more studies done. I’m glad there are clinical trials underway now. Lots of them. So if there are potential side effects, we’ll learn about them. So again, not quite sure about the origin of the liver study, but there’ll be a lot more research done on that. And we’ll see what that exposes.
Vadim 42:00
Yeah, it seems like the medical community’s opinion on it. I mean, neutral people from what I’ve read, neutral medical professionals about that study had first said that the study had some legitimate concern to it, but the doses were just huge. And they’re, you know, like your product is 16 milligrams per serving size. Like in the study, the subjects, the mice, weren’t taking anywhere near as low as that. I mean, they were taking huge doses. So I think the main point from the study is that CBD is still a new frontier, and we don’t know everything. And people that are taking CBD, you know, it’s still their decision with their doctor. I think we do need the doctors, though, to be more educated in the sense, like, if I go to my doctor today, and I say, “Hey, Doc, I’m going to start taking fish oil. Is that cool? Is that, you know, what do you think?” They’re gonna say right away, “Yeah, I take it too.” But if you say CBD, they’re like, “Oh,” you know. There’s just a totally different reaction, again, unless it’s a doctor that takes it. I think, in the future, you both probably agree, it’s going to become more like that fish oil where the doctor, you know, just doesn’t even blink an eye and just says, “Yeah, you know, I actually take it too. What’s your favorite brand? And is it CANVIVA?”
Jim 43:13
Exactly right. Yeah, I think again, you know, back to the Consumer Reports study. As of today, it’s still a little bit on the fringe, but I think it will become very mainstream. And it’ll be like fish oil or vitamin D or something else that people say, “Yes, I take it, it’s part of my regimen.” And I think to Dave’s point, what we’re hearing is that a lot of people have incorporated it into their daily regimen. It’s not like an aspirin that you take every once in a while if you have some specific need. But you know, when you get up in the morning, you either take it to get your day started or you take it at night for restful sleep. And I think that’s what will become. Our tincture bottles lend themselves very easily to that. It’s a 30-day full dropper supply. So one month’s supply. We’re going to have a subscription program where people can automatically subscribe to get that sent to them every month. And I think that’s where it’ll net out. I think it’ll net out like fish oil or some kind of other supplement that people take every day.
Wrap-up and Contact Information
Vadim 44:13
Exactly. Well, gentlemen, it was a pleasure to have you on the show and allow the listeners to learn about the people behind CANVIVA. I want to let everyone know where they can find you. Obviously, there’s canviva.com, which is CANVIVA.com. Are you guys on LinkedIn, Twitter, social media? I can link everything in the show notes as well as this Consumer Reports study that we’ve been referencing. I’ll also link just so the listeners know. I’ll link you to that study about liver damage just so you can get educated but I’ll let you guys close it out. Anything you want to say or any last words for the listeners, please. The stage is yours.
Dave 44:57
Well, from a standpoint of contacting us, the website’s the best mode. At the very bottom, you’ll find the social media links. And we really appreciate, Vadim, the chance to be able to share our story and be able to have a very candid discussion today. So we appreciate that opportunity.
Jim 45:15
And again, back to our focus on consumers. For your listeners, we would love to get their feedback. There’s a Contact Us section on our website. So if you have any thoughts about products you’d like to see or any questions you have about our products, or CBD in general, we want to lead an education as well. So we’ve got a lot of educational material on our website about how to use CBD, how to pick a CBD product, and so on. But we’d love to hear from you. So please feel free to reach out to us if we can help in any way or you have any thoughts that you’d like to share with us. We welcome that.
Vadim 45:48
All right, guys, thank you so much for being here. We’re definitely going to have you on again. I love what you’re doing. You have an unique approach. And I want everyone to go to canviva.com to check out your great products. And I wish you a great day. And I’m going to talk to you again soon.
Jim 46:06
All right. Thanks so much, Vadim. We appreciate it.
Dave 46:08
Thank you.
Vadim 46:11
Thank you.
Hey, everyone, this is Vadim, the CBD professor here. And that’s it for today’s episode. I hope you enjoyed learning from Dave and Jim, the founders of CANVIVA, as much as I did. These guys are professionals and I think they’re going to go very far in their field in the CBD space even though they are a new company. I encourage you to visit the sponsor of today’s episode, which is canviva.com, CANVIVA.com. Make sure to score that sweet 20% discount off your order of any of their functional tinctures, topicals or pet products with the coupon code CBD-School20. That coupon code is only for listeners of the CBD School Podcast. You know how we do. It’s CBD-School20 and that gets you 20% off your full order over at canviva.com, spelled CANVIVA.com. That’s it for today’s episode. I can’t wait for the next episode. Thank you so much for your support. I value each and every one of you, listeners of the CBD School Podcast, and I can’t wait for the next episode. So that’s it for today. I hope you have a great night or day wherever you are. And until next time, this is Vadim, the CBD professor from cbdschool.com, signing off. Thanks for listening. Bye for now.