CBDistillery is one of the most sought after cannabidiol (CBD) brands, having established a reputation for quality and transparency. They were among the first CBD companies to publish certificates of analysis (CoAs) for every single product batch. This is now an industry standard, at least for noteworthy brands. The company is also known for harnessing the maximum benefits of the whole plant by combining multiple cannabinoids and terpenes.
This time around, they have taken it a step further by using complementary plant-based dietary ingredients to enhance entourage benefits. They went all out to create a CBD line that incorporates non-psychoactive mushrooms with powerful therapeutic benefits: reishi and chaga. Cannabis plus shrooms must surely be a powerful combination. We spoke to Andy Papilion, co-founder of CBDistillery, to get a deeper understanding of the Synergy Collection.
Meet Andy.
Could you share a bit of history about CBDistillery? What is the company about and what sets you apart?
CBDistillery was founded in 2016 with the mission of providing high-quality, hemp-derived products at an affordable price to the masses. I, alongside our other co-founders, had experienced first-hand with family and friends how hemp products have a profound effect and help people live a healthy and balanced life. We reviewed a few other brands that were selling products at that time and noticed a couple of key trends – they were extremely expensive and there was zero transparency – the consumer had little comfort that they would be receiving a safe and efficacious product.
We strongly believe in full transparency to all of our customers. We were the first to publish every single batch CoA which has since been adopted as the industry standard for reputable hemp brands. We have an incredibly robust, industry-leading quality program, our manufacturing facility is NSF cGMP (certified good manufacturing practices) certified, and every batch of product we’ve sold from day one has been held to incredibly high standards to ensure our customers are getting the best possible hemp products.
What inspired the Synergy Collection?
The hemp industry has been largely focused on CBD. There are many other hemp-derived cannabinoids that provide additional benefits to our consumers. The goal with synergy was to marry together the benefits of CBD with other beneficial minor-cannabinoids such as cannabigerol (CBG), cannabinol (CBN) and cannabidiolic acid (CBDA). To enhance the benefits of some products within the line, we have combined synergistic hemp-derived cannabinoids with other plant-based dietary ingredients such as functional mushrooms and kava extract.
The word synergy is a perfect fit for the ‘entourage effect’ which is a term commonly used in the industry as it pertains to full plant extracts. It basically means the sum of all the beneficial components of the hemp plant have a greater effect when used together, than they do individually.
You have a new product that combines cannabinoids (CBD & CBN) with reishi and chaga mushrooms. Why did you choose this combination?
From personal experience, reishi and chaga have strong relaxation and calming effects. There’s a lot of research being conducted around functional mushrooms that show great results. The synergy of these functional mushrooms with the calming effects of CBD and CBN is what brought this idea to life.
You are keen on maximizing entourage benefits. Why is this so?
Pretty simple — we believe in all the benefits that the hemp plant has to offer, which is captured with our full spectrum and broad-spectrum extracts and can be further enhanced with complementary plant-based dietary ingredients.
Some brands try to leverage the benefits of the entourage effect but in reality, may only offer two or three of the beneficial components of the hemp plant. In our opinion, this is not a true representation of a full plant extract. We’re extremely proud of our high terpene, full spectrum extracts, and they continue to be some of our most popular products across multiple form factors.
Who is this product intended for and what has the response been so far?
The product is geared towards anyone who would rather use a natural and safe plant-based supplement to help them wind down from a stressful day, without any potential negative side effects and/or grogginess.
The product has only been on the market for a couple of months, but we’ve had phenomenal feedback thus far and will continue to explore other plant-based functional ingredients to expand upon our Synergy lines.
Some people say that the CBD market is becoming “oversaturated.” Do you think this is true? What is going to be the one thing that will determine the success (or otherwise) of CBD brands in the near future?
Unfortunately, there’s a lot of brands in the space that are not focused on creating the best and most efficacious products and are cutting corners left and right, particularly when it comes to quality and transparency. With so many brands to choose from, it’s been incredibly difficult for the consumer to navigate the industry and find which product is right for them. Many consumers may have had a poor first experience with a low-quality product and decided CBD wasn’t for them.
We’re highly focused on getting customers to understand there is a big difference between the quality of products different brands offer. High-quality products simply work, and those consumers that have been with us for a long time know this and are very loyal to our brand and products. We often hear from our customers that they didn’t believe in hemp products until they tried our brand which is a great testament to the immense passion and drive that every team member at CBDistillery has for helping to change the lives of our customers.
Brands that will be successful long term are prepared for FDA regulations and are already self-regulating to their standards. Those that are not focused on creating safe, efficacious, and high-quality products using GMP standards will have a hard time surviving when the regulatory environment fully matures.
As interest in functional mushrooms continues to grow, the CBDistillery Synergy Collection that blends cannabinoids with fungi is bound to be a pace-setter. It was an honor to have this interview with Andy Papilion.
