Edible Brands, best known for its home-delivered fruit and candy arrangements, dives deeper into intoxicating hemp sales as it expands a pilot e-commerce program into 30 states nationwide.
Three popular licensed cannabis brands — Wana Brands, Wyld and Kiva Confections — are among the first companies to sell their hemp-derived cannabinoid chews on Edibles.com.
This first-of-its-kind business model proves that even as federal and state politicians try hard to ban or strictly regulate intoxicating hemp, the HDC market is quickly going mainstream — and gaining significant financial influence as it exceeds an estimated $28 billion in value.
“In a lot of ways, hemp has succeeded where cannabis has failed,” Edibles.com executive vice president and general manager Thomas Winstanley told CRB Monitor News.
Atlanta-based Edibles.com first dipped its toe into the THC wellness marketplace on March 20 with a pilot program that sold hemp chews in Texas, even as the state legislature passed an intoxicating hemp ban that was vetoed by the governor.
The program allowed Edible Arrangements franchisees to warehouse and home-deliver hemp products. There are currently eight Edibles.com stores in Texas today, and more retail flagship stores are coming.
Winstanley said, “When we launched in Texas back in March, we weren’t sure how the market would react.”
After learning the dynamics of the market, Edible Brands CEO Somia Farid Silber “saw we have an opportunity to impact the market in a meaningful way,” he said.
“We’re not just simplifying access — we’re shaping how consumers engage with this category as it becomes mainstream,” Farid Silber said in a news release. “The success of Edibles.com proves the demand for trusted leadership, and with our national operational expertise, we’re proud to be setting that standard.”
While Door Dash in January announced a home-delivery platform for HDC products, Winstanley said Edibles.com is different because they’re offering curated, lab-tested products. He said it’s the first time consumers can get these brands in a single package.
“This expansion reflects our commitment to making hemp-THC products safe, reliable and easy to access as consumer demand continues to grow,” he said in a statement.
In addition to shipping in 30 states where intoxicating hemp edibles are legal, consumers in North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and Texas will be able to get same-day home delivery through Edible Arrangement franchisees.
Fighting to keep the hemp market open
Across the nation, state legislators and the federal government are attempting to highly restrict or ban HDC products. The 2018 Farm Act that legalized hemp with less than 0.3% delta-9 THC left a loophole that allowed manufacturers to create intoxicating products using other cannabinoids. These untested products can be found at grocery stores and gas stations throughout the nation. Today, the HDC market is estimated at $28.4 billion to $35 billion, according to Whitney Economics.
HDC products are cutting into legalized cannabis markets because they are often cheaper due to less regulatory oversight and taxes. In the few states where cannabis remains illegal, these products fly in the face of prohibitionists who oppose any type of intoxicating drugs.
Wisconsin, where THC is illegal, is the latest state where Republican lawmakers are circulating a bill that would close the loophole. In California, where the governor banned hemp-derived THC under an emergency rule, a bill to regulate HDC products passed both houses on Sept. 13. In Texas, the state legislature failed three times to ban intoxicating HDC products, but the governor instituted an emergency rule restricting sales only to consumers over age 21.
At the federal level, language to ban THC in hemp products is in a bill approved by the U.S. House Appropriations Committee, but the language was stripped from the Senate version at the last minute. However, the threat to the industry apparently still exists. Eight senators sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Sept. 16 urging that no ban is re-introduced.
The U.S. Hemp Roundtable, of which Edibles.com is an executive member, has been fighting restrictive legislation while trying to promote safety-focused marketing, testing and age-gating standards.
Winstanley said he was in Washington on Sept. 2 and Sept. 3, and had “a lot of great meetings” with Health and Human Services and Agriculture committees explaining, “what these products are and what they aren’t.”
“We are seeing attention is being paid,” he said. “We hope with all this new information, cooler heads will prevail.”
Compliance first
Winstanley said Edibles.com puts the brands it sells through an internal compliance “gauntlet” to ensure a level of quality.
“When we started this program, we knew we wanted to be compliance first,” he said.
He said these manufacturers have operated in the “over-regulated” cannabis space and know how to make compliant hemp products. Wana, he said, has been around for 20 years.
Kiva Confections, which holds manufacturing and wholesale distribution licenses for adult-use marijuana in California, bases its hemp manufacturing in Minnesota as Kiva Products LLC.
Minnesota, which is currently launching an adult-use marijuana market, also has a low-THC regulated retail platform. The Office of Cannabis Management recently announced it will be accepting hemp edible license applications from Oct. 1 through Oct. 31.
Colin Keeler, head of finance and business development for Kiva Confections, said Minnesota has the architecture to be a “good launching pad” for HDCs.
He said he’s known Winstanley since Winstanley headed marketing at Theory Wellness. “We were top of mind for him,” and they saw it as a win-win opportunity.
Keeler said Kiva saw the “tremendous potential” to expand into hemp edibles. “Reaching more is a huge factor for our brand.”
The company is also contemplating expanding into the growing hemp beverages category and exploring other concepts.
“There are a lot of ways to make money quick in this industry, but for us, we’re thinking long term,” Keeler said.
Winstanley said Edibles.com plans to add more brands to its platform. But don’t expect to buy a get-well package of fruit and gummies. While franchisees can choose to work in the hemp wellness space to make more money, he said there’s a firewall between Edible Arrangements and Edibles.com.
