During ECRM’s Pet Program last week in Chicago I moderated a buyer panel discussion on pet product trends, and we dedicated a significant portion of the discussion to CBD pet products. As you’ve no doubt seen, the CBD segment has exploded in retail, and now with CVS and Walgreens getting in the game, it’s been “legitimized” as part of a viable wellness option for consumers, and all of those fast-follower retailers now have two major retail players to follow fast.

The pet category is joining the CBD arena in a big way. Indeed, of the four buyers who were on my panel, three are in the Pet CBD space. Pet Food Experts distributs to more than 4,000 independent pet retail stores, more than half of which sell CBD products. Bartell Drugs just launched pet CBD products last week after its success with CBD wellness products for people. And Raley’s just got the go-ahead to pursue CBD pet products. (While 99 Cents Only Stores was also part of the panel, as a value retailer, it doesn't expect to be selling CBD produts in the near future.)

Because of this huge interest in Pet CBD, ECRM has launched its Pet CBD Program to help connect these buyers and sellers, as well as to provide some insights on how to best source, market and merchandise these products. The session will be held November 4 to 6 in Cape Coral, Fla. and will include both education around the Pet CBD category as well as opportunities for buyers and sellers of these products to connect in private, pre-scheduled face-to-face meetings.

For more information, please contact Benjamin Ansell of ECRM’s General Merchandise Team at 440-528-4292.

Below are video interviews with three of the buyer panelists on the topic of Pet CBD, as well as an interview with Packaged Facts’ David Sprinkle, who also touches on CBD as part of our interview on pet product trends.

Howie Cohen, GM Category Manager, Bartell Drugs

Bartell just launched its CBD pet products in April, and here GM Category Manager Howie Cohen discusses the process he went through for vetting, sourcing and merchandising his pet CBD products.

Antoine Seailles, Market Strategy Manager: Pet Food Experts

Pet Food Experts has been in the CBD game the longest of the three panelists, and in this video Antoine shares his experience with sourcing CBD products for the 4,000 + independent pet stores the distributor services, more than half of which are selling CBD products. He discusses how he vets potential suppliers, and what he expects from his CBD supplier partners. 

Jeff Tawson, Business Analyst, Seasonal & General Merchandise: Raley's

Raley's just green-lighted CBD pet products, and in this video Jeff discusses how he is laying the groundwork for the grocer’s entry into the pet CBD space, including finding the right supplier-partners and educating the store teams on CBD.

David Sprinkle, Research Director: Packaged Facts (a MarketResearch company)

David discusses the impact of E-commerce and the growth of CBD in the pet category — two key topics of his presentation and of the panel discussion at ECRM’s Pet EPPS in Chicago.