The United States CBD landscape is constantly changing. New and innovative products infused with cannabidiol are hitting store shelves and reaching consumers’ hands on a regular basis. Edibles are among the most exciting product categories, allowing users to take their CBD on-the-go in an extremely discrete format. 

Brightfield Group, a CBD and Cannabis consumer insights and market intelligence firm, explored who exactly is buying these products with insights derived from quarterly social media-driven surveys of CBD consumers. What they found is that those consumers who most frequently purchase ingestible CBD products fall into two key segments: The Glam Users and the Grassheads.

Glam Users
By far, the most common consumers of edibles are a group Brightfield defines as Glam Users, with 68.9 percent of this group having purchased some sort of infused product within the six months prior to the survey’s completion. Consumers who fall in this category tend to be among the highest spenders on CBD products and seek these items out in order to aid with relaxation and improve general well-being.

The majority of this group is comprised of women over the age of 45 who are from middle- and high-income households. With relatively high levels of education (37 percent have completed at least some college), this demographic is also one of the most likely to be married with children at home. In terms of product format, Glam Users prefer edible lozenges, gummies or candies to other infused product types, such as drinks or baked goods. 

Grassheads
The second largest consumer of edibles are the  Grassheads – regular cannabis users who also enjoy CBD-only products, and 39.8 percent of these users have recently purchased such cannabidiol products. Grassheads tend to be male, lower-middle class to middle-class in income level, and either Gen Xers or older Millennials. Though they gravitate more towards vapes and pre-rolls when using their desired cannabis-derived products, edibles are their third most frequently purchased product category. Grassheads do not show a great deal of preference towards a specific variety of CBD-infused item and instead purchase both baked goods and gummy candies at equivalent rates. 

In January 2020, two cannabidiol-infused edible products launched which would appeal to both common consumer groups. Firstly, Asheville Hemp Project released their CBD Mint Gum. Ideal for the Glam User who wants to integrate CBD into their daily activities, this product is formulated to deliver 10mg of CBD in each individual piece and retails in a pack of eight for $20. Asheville Hemp’s brand positioning appeals to consumers who are looking to a product which can help them to relax, the most common use instance of CBD among both of the top edibles consumer groups.

In addition, new CBD gummies from Joy Organics infuse premium-grade, broad spectrum hemp alongside natural ingredients, such as organic tapioca syrup and cane sugar, in order to deliver a dosage of cannabidiol without any artificial ingredients included.

Joy Organics aims to present their product as something which can be integrated into an existing wellness regimen, appealing to the common desire of both Glam Users and Grassheads to have CBD products which can improve their general well-being. 

So, if you are selling any kinds of ingestible CBD products, be sure to include these two groups in your marketing and merchandising efforts, and make sure that your outreach addresses the specific needs of each.

Suppliers and buyers of ingestible CBD products can connect at ECRM's CBD & Hemp Food and Beverage Program this Fall! Click here for more information.