What does the
future hold?
Your guess is as good as ours. A magic-8 ball is not in our toolkit.
One event, Future Cannabis Strategies Europe, aims to navigate
the murky waters of what buyers will want, and what CBD sellers
will need to provide in the coming year.
In numbers
350+ attendees
25 exhibitors
25 keynote
speakers
Future Cannabis Strategies hosts
decision makers from across the legal
cannabis world to discuss and fi nd
the answers to some of the industry’s
most pressing issues.
It’s a gathering of leaders from
across the globe from the tobacco,
cosmetics, food and beverage and
agricultural sectors. The level of
expertise present in each category of
fast-moving consumer goods at this
two-day event is always at its peak.
London hosted the second
instalment of Future Cannabis
Strategies Europe at the Royal
Lancaster Hotel in January, having
moved to a larger venue in Bayswater
than in 2019.
We went along to see if anyone can
predict what will happen with CBD
next.
In January 2019, this event received
the ultimate in fortunate PR and
good timing. One Wednesday
morning, the European Food
110
Standards Authority and the UK’s
Food Standards Agency sprung
a surprise on the 300 delegates
gathered in Fulham. The rest of the
event received a noticeable bump in
attendance fi gures as London-based
businesses garnered for information
by the ounce.
And that sparked much interest in
this year’s event, with clients asking if
there were to be another well-timed
coincidence or announcement.
Would there be any clarity on the UK
or Europe’s approach to regulating
CBD? Would there be anyone from
the FSA or trading standards in
attendance? There was constant
chatter, on and off the podium, about
novel foods, with some more worried
than others.
Catherine Wilson, Managing
Director and Board Member at
CannaWellness and the European
Industrial Hemp Association
conveyed the realities of what may be
in store. But only one thing could be
confi rmed – food safety verifi cation is
expensive.
The EIHA recently claimed a great
victory in Germany, where the
government has sided with the
association’s argument on novel
foods. In December, a German court
ruled that CBD is 100% a novel food
and so tinctures, gummies and
the rest were to be banned. But in
March came an interesting turn of
events. The German government
commented that it does not agree
with the court’s ruling, saying very
clearly that hemp-derived CBD, for
food preparation, is not novel.
Future Cannabis Strategies
North America, hosted by Arena
International, will examine consumer
trends and demand across the
biggest global legal cannabis market.
This event will take place in Toronto,
October 6 & 7.