There are many reasons that people move into the CBD industry, some are attracted by the hyped-up financial potential of the purported green rush, while others have a personal motivation. Perhaps no one else in the UK has a deeper and more human connection with CBD than Jade Proudman, Global Brand Ambassador for Charlotte’s Web & Founder of Savage Cabbage.
6 years ago, dealing with a multitude of serious health issues, Jade found herself in a poor state of being. Simply existing from day to day, with no independence or lust for life. After becoming reliant on her partner for full-time care she began to beg for him to over dispense her prescribed medication, simply to drift off to sleep. Fortunately, her husband refused, and instead showed her a CNN documentary called WEED, featuring the founders of one of the oldest CBD brands, Charlotte’s Web.
The program, and the power of cannabinoids resonated with Jade, leading her to contact one of the founders of the brand, Joel Stanley, asking for help. Obligingly a care package arrived from the company a few days later, and within 48 hours Jade had her first deep and meaningful conversation with her children in a very long time. Inspired, she wanted to share her story with the world.
“I wanted to tell people about my experience, so armed with a duvet and a laptop I started talking on online forums about my experience,” Jade tells us. “Within two weeks I had set up a company and began retailing Charlotte’s Web products. I wanted to ensure people felt they were buying from a reliable source while building a community, where people could share experiences and knowledge”
I wanted to tell people about my experience, so armed with a duvet and a laptop I started talking on online forums about my experience. Within two weeks I had set up a company and began retailing Charlotte’s Web products
Jade’s CBD journey began in 2016, way before the UK’s CBD boom which saw hundreds of brands and products flood the market. Thanks to a focus on quality, not quantity, her company has managed to ride the wave of over-saturation, as well as the challenges of the FSA’s Novel Food regulations.
While the FSA intervention may have thinned out the competition a little, the CBD market remains crowded, but Jade believes Charlotte’s Web still manages to stand out from the rest for a number of reasons. “Charlotte’s Web is a vertically integrated company. Each process of the chain from seed to shelf is tested at least 20 times to ensure product quality and consistency. With patented genetics and a commitment to producing the best quality product for its consumers, Charlotte’s Web stands head and shoulders above other industry competitors. This is demonstrated by being the market leaders in the US CBD market (the largest in the world) for market share, brand awareness and brand loyalty.”
Jade also believes the brand’s early adopter status is a strong appeal to customers. “CBD is a food ingredient which benefits our overall wellness. Not only did Charlotte’s Web pioneer the industry in which we are currently involved, but they also forever redefined the global perception around the wellness benefits of hemp. They’ve defined the standards of quality and expectations from a brand in this nascent industry. To this day, I am yet to see another brand that comes close to building such a level of brand equity through a mission-driven focus of bettering our planet and the people living upon it.”
Jade has taken the Charlotte’s Web ethos of quality, consistency, and integrity to develop a UK based range of full spectrum hemp products under the brand name of Savage Cabbage that retail at an accessible price for consumers. She firmly believes that full spectrum is the future, after testing isolates and not getting the same results. After all, should the products we consume not be as naturally derived as possible, as mother nature intended?
“The natural self-care movement is built upon Mother Nature, and using this to support our well-being. It seems a paradox to remove beneficial plant compounds for the sake of a consumer product when the entourage effect has been proven in numerous studies to create more synergistic wellness effects,” says Jade.
“I’m not diminishing the role of CBD isolates. They have a role in any market for consumer choice and work for some people. However, consumers need to be educated about the merits of each kind of product. The benefits of the whole plant are known around the world, the inclusion of terpenes, flavonoids and how all cannabinoids work synergistically together should be celebrated.”
Unsurprisingly, Jade is a wealth of both passion and information on the cannabis plant, and believes that the very presence of the endocannabinoid system, with cannabinoid specific receptors in our bodies, shows and demonstrates that we are biochemically engineered to onboard cannabinoids into our bodies. As a result, she believes that CBD and cannabinoids shouldn’t simply be lumped into the same category as vitamins and minerals. “The CBD industry is not like any other, I have seen many companies come and go, thinking they would be able to make a quick windfall and that’s not the case. So many comparisons are made between the vitamins market and CBD, but how can that be true when CBD interacts with each and every one of us differently. Similar to how a glass of wine may affect you and I differently, CBD is the same.”
Instead, she believes the potential for cannabis and the way they help our body reach the state of homeostasis should be looked at with a dedicated focus. “What’s shocking is that the endocannabinoid system is one of the body’s largest nervous systems in our body, yet it still is barely covered in medical school. Why not?!” Jade says.
It’s a good point, and is a conversation that merits another article altogether.
