Steve Katz09.02.20
According to a recent report from cannabis researchers BDS Analytics and Arcview Market Research, the CBD industry is on pace to reach $24 billion by 2023 in the US alone. Its rapid growth trajectory has been fueled mostly by word-of-mouth. But CBD is no fad, and it’s much more than a trend. In fact, it’s fair to call the explosive growth of CBD a health and wellness phenomenon.
While there have been decades of research into THC, with CBD, it’s only been over the last dozen years or so that those in the science and medical fields have uncovered that it may provide an array of benefits. As consumers the world over have always been keen on improving their overall health and longevity, in light of the coronavirus pandemic, interest in wellness and strengthening immunity has never been greater.
Aaron Bouren, in 2018, was looking for a remedy for his father, who was suffering from cancer. In doing so, a friend of his recommended CBD, which provided his dad with a natural, safe and effective solution – immediately. Aaron recalls, “My dad went from literally being brought to his knees from something like an everyday sneeze, to feeling completely fine, after just a couple of days using a CBD tincture – it was truly amazing.”
Aaron’s passion for CBD was born. Blown away by its effectiveness – which he saw first-hand – he, along with partner Gregg Sturz, started looking into CBD, with their sights set on starting a new business. They flew out to Colorado for a deep dive into the CBD cultivation, extraction and manufacturing processes.
Inspired by what they learned, they called upon a long-time friend, Jim Fulford, to join them in the venture. Here, the trio immersed themselves into learning all they could about CBD. They rented an apartment together, studied the CBD industry intently, and ultimately launched their new company, aptly named CBD Hemp Experts.
The CBD Hemp Experts ownership trio brings together diverse business backgrounds that form a unique synergy. Aaron is a lifelong entrepreneur, having launched successful companies in the healthcare, manufacturing and fragrance markets. Gregg owned nutraceutical and pet wellness companies, in addition to holding CMO and COO positions at $100+ million businesses. Jim, who also owned a nutraceuticals company, is CBD Hemp Experts’ technology whiz, specializing in everything “under the hood,” with the ability to program and integrate virtually anything – a key component of the business model.
“The relationship the three of us have is perfect,” Aaron says. “We’re in three different lanes, bringing together three unique perspectives. Together, we’ve created a company in CBD Hemp Experts that is ‘strategically-integrated.’ What that means is, we know how to build systems and processes, such as remote sales, and utilizing state-of-the-art business management tools and technologies. Most important, we’ve done the research, understand the science, and know how to manufacture the highest quality, hemp-derived CBD products.”
Although there are myriad CBD companies that have cropped up in recent years, CBD Hemp Experts sets itself apart in a number of ways. The young company has emerged as the leading CBD brands’ CBD vendor, meaning they are the wholesale supplier for many private label CBD brands.
“Our customers are looking to have their own CBD brand. They could be a chiropractor’s office, a physical therapist, large and small retailers, C-stores, and even social influencers. There is not really a typical makeup of who our client base is made of – it’s really anyone wanting to market private label CBD products,” Aaron explains.
“What we really are is a technology company that is manufacturing CBD products. Everything we do, every product and service we offer – our entire process – can be done without any human interaction. We’ve intentionally built our company to be like both a cruise ship and a speedboat. Our core is solid, steady and reliable, but we can move and pivot. We want to be an organization that’s nimble – high speed and low drag – with the ability to move on a dime.”
CBD Hemp Experts is a full-service, end-to-end wholesale supplier. Not only do they sell the CBD products themselves, they also ship to customers the products they ordered shelf-ready – custom-labeled to brand owner specifications. This is where the company’s relationship and reliance on its label supplier – Wizard Labels – is of paramount importance.
Wizard Labels is an e-commerce label manufacturer and supplier recognized for its rapid growth rate and innovative process for ordering labels online. Wizard Labels offers excellent customer service through an intuitive, self-service online portal that simplifies the complexity involved with buying custom product labels. Along with its unique interface, the company is also an all-digital label converter, using the latest in digital printing and finishing technologies to streamline the entire process.
Compared to conventional label printing techniques, digital printing is ideal for short-run labels and orders with multiple SKUs. The technology does not require printing plates (while doing away with the added fees required for plates) and minimizes both material waste and the time and labor it takes to set up and change jobs. The benefits digital printing provides make it a perfect fit for a company like CBD Hemp Experts and its need for short print runs involving many SKUs.
“One of the things we like most about Wizard Labels is the fact that, at the end of the day, it’s a technology company like us. We love that we can do everything online when it comes to our labels. It’s nice to be aligned with a progressive company that also leverages technology, and we really like that we can upload artwork online and everything is paperless – including payment – which is the way business should be done in today’s day and age,” Aaron says, adding, “Oh, and like us, they also answer the phone. If we need them they are either a phone call or email away. They’re incredibly responsive.”
When a CBD Hemp Experts customer places an order, it goes to its in-house label design team. “While some people get their design done in matter of hours, others can take weeks,” he says. “But once it’s done, we upload the approved artwork, and Wizard Labels does their thing.”
CBD Hemp Experts’ products are for its customers to affix with their own branding. “The only thing they can’t change on the label is the compliance information and ingredients,” Aaron says. “Everything else they can change – colors, fonts, even the product name. Our average customer will choose between three and 10 of our products to carry. They’ll typically start at 100 per SKU, see what sells, and reorder accordingly.” Design, compliance reviews, printing and label application information are stored by CBD Hemp Experts to facilitate faster reordering.
“Wizard Labels has the template guide for every single cut required for our products. They have the exact specs for everything. I tell customers, sure, maybe you can get labels for a few dollars cheaper from some other printer, but remember, we are including not just the printing and finishing but also the design, compliance review and the label application process,” Aaron says. “Then they realize that they want to be in the CBD business, not the label application business.”
When new clients come to CBD Hemp Experts, they usually don’t even have a brand yet. “This is when they see the value of our in-house label design team. We help them throughout the brand development process every step of the way,” Aaron says. “We manage the entire process, which starts from the time they tell us they want to place an order. Everything takes place online – they get contacted by our design team, the design gets completed and approved, the labels get uploaded to Wizard Labels, the labels get printed right away and sent to our fulfillment center, where they are applied and then shipped.”
The CBD Hemp Experts team appreciates and values relationships – with both clients and vendors alike. “At the end of the day, more than anything, our business is about people, it’s about relationships. If there is a problem, you can pick up the phone, someone answers and the problem gets fixed. It’s what we do with our customers and what our vendors, like Wizard Labels, do for us.”
Steve Katz is the former editor of Label & Narrow Web and is now a regular contributor. He is focused on helping companies in the label industry share their news and tell their stories. Follow him on Twitter @LabelSteve.
While there have been decades of research into THC, with CBD, it’s only been over the last dozen years or so that those in the science and medical fields have uncovered that it may provide an array of benefits. As consumers the world over have always been keen on improving their overall health and longevity, in light of the coronavirus pandemic, interest in wellness and strengthening immunity has never been greater.
Aaron Bouren, in 2018, was looking for a remedy for his father, who was suffering from cancer. In doing so, a friend of his recommended CBD, which provided his dad with a natural, safe and effective solution – immediately. Aaron recalls, “My dad went from literally being brought to his knees from something like an everyday sneeze, to feeling completely fine, after just a couple of days using a CBD tincture – it was truly amazing.”
Aaron’s passion for CBD was born. Blown away by its effectiveness – which he saw first-hand – he, along with partner Gregg Sturz, started looking into CBD, with their sights set on starting a new business. They flew out to Colorado for a deep dive into the CBD cultivation, extraction and manufacturing processes.
Inspired by what they learned, they called upon a long-time friend, Jim Fulford, to join them in the venture. Here, the trio immersed themselves into learning all they could about CBD. They rented an apartment together, studied the CBD industry intently, and ultimately launched their new company, aptly named CBD Hemp Experts.
The CBD Hemp Experts ownership trio brings together diverse business backgrounds that form a unique synergy. Aaron is a lifelong entrepreneur, having launched successful companies in the healthcare, manufacturing and fragrance markets. Gregg owned nutraceutical and pet wellness companies, in addition to holding CMO and COO positions at $100+ million businesses. Jim, who also owned a nutraceuticals company, is CBD Hemp Experts’ technology whiz, specializing in everything “under the hood,” with the ability to program and integrate virtually anything – a key component of the business model.
“The relationship the three of us have is perfect,” Aaron says. “We’re in three different lanes, bringing together three unique perspectives. Together, we’ve created a company in CBD Hemp Experts that is ‘strategically-integrated.’ What that means is, we know how to build systems and processes, such as remote sales, and utilizing state-of-the-art business management tools and technologies. Most important, we’ve done the research, understand the science, and know how to manufacture the highest quality, hemp-derived CBD products.”
Although there are myriad CBD companies that have cropped up in recent years, CBD Hemp Experts sets itself apart in a number of ways. The young company has emerged as the leading CBD brands’ CBD vendor, meaning they are the wholesale supplier for many private label CBD brands.
“Our customers are looking to have their own CBD brand. They could be a chiropractor’s office, a physical therapist, large and small retailers, C-stores, and even social influencers. There is not really a typical makeup of who our client base is made of – it’s really anyone wanting to market private label CBD products,” Aaron explains.
“What we really are is a technology company that is manufacturing CBD products. Everything we do, every product and service we offer – our entire process – can be done without any human interaction. We’ve intentionally built our company to be like both a cruise ship and a speedboat. Our core is solid, steady and reliable, but we can move and pivot. We want to be an organization that’s nimble – high speed and low drag – with the ability to move on a dime.”
CBD Hemp Experts is a full-service, end-to-end wholesale supplier. Not only do they sell the CBD products themselves, they also ship to customers the products they ordered shelf-ready – custom-labeled to brand owner specifications. This is where the company’s relationship and reliance on its label supplier – Wizard Labels – is of paramount importance.
Wizard Labels is an e-commerce label manufacturer and supplier recognized for its rapid growth rate and innovative process for ordering labels online. Wizard Labels offers excellent customer service through an intuitive, self-service online portal that simplifies the complexity involved with buying custom product labels. Along with its unique interface, the company is also an all-digital label converter, using the latest in digital printing and finishing technologies to streamline the entire process.
Compared to conventional label printing techniques, digital printing is ideal for short-run labels and orders with multiple SKUs. The technology does not require printing plates (while doing away with the added fees required for plates) and minimizes both material waste and the time and labor it takes to set up and change jobs. The benefits digital printing provides make it a perfect fit for a company like CBD Hemp Experts and its need for short print runs involving many SKUs.
“One of the things we like most about Wizard Labels is the fact that, at the end of the day, it’s a technology company like us. We love that we can do everything online when it comes to our labels. It’s nice to be aligned with a progressive company that also leverages technology, and we really like that we can upload artwork online and everything is paperless – including payment – which is the way business should be done in today’s day and age,” Aaron says, adding, “Oh, and like us, they also answer the phone. If we need them they are either a phone call or email away. They’re incredibly responsive.”
When a CBD Hemp Experts customer places an order, it goes to its in-house label design team. “While some people get their design done in matter of hours, others can take weeks,” he says. “But once it’s done, we upload the approved artwork, and Wizard Labels does their thing.”
CBD Hemp Experts’ products are for its customers to affix with their own branding. “The only thing they can’t change on the label is the compliance information and ingredients,” Aaron says. “Everything else they can change – colors, fonts, even the product name. Our average customer will choose between three and 10 of our products to carry. They’ll typically start at 100 per SKU, see what sells, and reorder accordingly.” Design, compliance reviews, printing and label application information are stored by CBD Hemp Experts to facilitate faster reordering.
“Wizard Labels has the template guide for every single cut required for our products. They have the exact specs for everything. I tell customers, sure, maybe you can get labels for a few dollars cheaper from some other printer, but remember, we are including not just the printing and finishing but also the design, compliance review and the label application process,” Aaron says. “Then they realize that they want to be in the CBD business, not the label application business.”
When new clients come to CBD Hemp Experts, they usually don’t even have a brand yet. “This is when they see the value of our in-house label design team. We help them throughout the brand development process every step of the way,” Aaron says. “We manage the entire process, which starts from the time they tell us they want to place an order. Everything takes place online – they get contacted by our design team, the design gets completed and approved, the labels get uploaded to Wizard Labels, the labels get printed right away and sent to our fulfillment center, where they are applied and then shipped.”
The CBD Hemp Experts team appreciates and values relationships – with both clients and vendors alike. “At the end of the day, more than anything, our business is about people, it’s about relationships. If there is a problem, you can pick up the phone, someone answers and the problem gets fixed. It’s what we do with our customers and what our vendors, like Wizard Labels, do for us.”
Steve Katz is the former editor of Label & Narrow Web and is now a regular contributor. He is focused on helping companies in the label industry share their news and tell their stories. Follow him on Twitter @LabelSteve.