Clear CBD pathway required: Bod Australia on why APAC is not yet a priority under new distribution deal
Bod Australia and NewH2 – the innovation arm of Chinese adult and baby nutrition giant Health & Happiness Group (H&H Group) – signed an agreement in mid-July, where the latter will enjoy an exclusive worldwide licence to commercialise Bod’s CBD health supplements.
Bod will continue to retain full rights to commercialise its pharmaceutical grade medicinal CBD and the rights to its existing non-CBD based products.
The first sales of Bod’s CBD supplements is expected to take place in the first half of FY2020, which will include beverages, skincare, tinctures, hemp seed oil, and other lifestyle products.
Although both companies are located in APAC, the partnership has identified the Western markets, namely the UK, UK, Italy, France, and the Netherlands as the priorities.
In an interview with NutraIngredients-Asia, Bod CEO Jo Patterson, said that the partnership would first focus on countries with a clear pathway to the market for CBD-based products. As such, Asia is not yet on the radar.
“At the moment, Asia is not on our radar, because there is no clear pathway to market, it is very grey at the moment, some people hold the view that you can sell it.
“Our view at the moment is that there is not a clear pathway to the market, and until that market opens, we wouldn't put any attention or focus onto that area,” Patterson said when explaining the company’s market entry and commercialisation strategies.
This is in contrast to other firms such as Elixinol which has been selling its CBD-based supplements in Japan.
Partnership
Bod and NewH2 have also signed a joint development agreement for future product development.
To push forward joint NPD, both are researching and evaluating other novel cannabinoids such as Cannabigerol (CBG), Cannabinol (CBN) and Cannabidivarin (CBV).
Commenting on the research, Patterson said: “It’s early days and we have just looked into this body of evidence surrounding different compounds in the role that they might have in certain indications, so at the moment, it is still early days but we are certainly looking into it.”
Bod said it was also working closely with its exclusive partner Linnea Natural Pharma Solutions to develop plant clones and specific extracts to provide high-quality reproducible extracts.
