There are many ways to track CBD’s rise in popularity over the past 5 years. One metric, that seemed to cement the legitimacy of cannabinoids, was the advent of high street shelf appearances. The ability to walk into a well-known store and pick up a bottle of CBD was a watershed moment for campaigners and advocates everywhere, proving that CBD was to be taken seriously as a health supplement in the UK.
One brand that has pioneered the in-store approach is Vitality CBD. With perhaps the biggest footprint in retail for any UK based CBD company, Vitality’s products can be found in high street chains such as Boots and LloydsPharmacy, as well as on the shelves of supermarket giants such as Asda and Tesco. In fact, at the time of writing, you can find Vitality CBD in 4000 stores across the country. Chances are, you’re little more than a walk away from your nearest stockist.
“Our retail partners are incredibly important to us as a brand.” founder Phillip Glyn tells us. “We provide stockists with a full selection of promotional material from the first day of stocking us. This includes bespoke items such as displays, window stickers and CDUs to name a few. We’ve even done flags for sports fishing!”
Vitality CBD’s range is well represented in the UK’s biggest stores
This dedication to making CBD accessible via the high street is clearly important to the brand, but simply getting products onto a shelf isn’t all it takes to become successful. As public interest has grown around CBD, so has scrutiny. Brands are now expected to prove their products are safe and tested, to ensure consumers a getting exactly what’s on a label. This is a responsibility Vitality CBD doesn’t shy away from, even going as far as to provide real-time advice to consumers. “One feature we are proud of is our trained CBD mentors who are on hand 9-5 on weekdays to give new or existing customers CBD advice. Whether the customer has a question about products, dosing or using CBD, our friendly mentors will proactively seek to resolve any query,” says Glyn.
Indeed, education seems to play a strong role in the brand, the external packaging has a wealth of information on CBD to reassure and educate customers, and each box contains a helpful guide with clear instructions and dosing information, something that is vital, especially for first-time users. The website too has a wealth of educational information, from getting to started, to incorporating CBD into a wellbeing regime. Vitality appears to have given a lot of thought to why people take CBD, and have designed ranges accordingly, something Glyn confirms to us: “Every one of our products belongs to a specific range, which allows customers to easily identify which CBD product suits their lifestyle. We have a core Well-being range which includes our CBD oils and ever-popular CBD gummy bears, a fitness focussed Active range, CBD cosmetics in our Infused range and our new Support CBD oil range.”
Vitality CBD wellbeing range
As CBD continues to become a regular feature on our shelves and in our lives, companies are becoming more confident about how they connect with customers. In recent months, other big name brands have turned to celebrity endorsements and sponsorships as they try and make CBD more accessible and well known. Claudia Winkleman has been seen riding a horse in primetime TV ad slots, and two-time world heavyweight boxing champion Anthony Joshua has staked his name to CBD. It’s a strategy that seems to work well in the US, but is it something we can expect from Vitality CBD? “We truly believe in the quality and efficacy of our products, so of course we are always striving to reach a wide and diverse audience. However, we are also very conscious about presenting our brand in a manner that reflects our focus on transparency and education. For that reason, we only select partnerships that will contribute to the development of our CBD range and uphold our brand morals,” Glyn tells us.
“One of our current partners is Tom Aspinall, one of the UK’s top heavyweight MMA fighters. Working with Tom has been an absolute pleasure, and he’s had a great input on our Active CBD fitness range. This partnership is more than just promotional, and having an individual such as Tom help guide our product range has been enormously useful and adds even more value to our customers.”
After a period of uncertainty for the UK CBD industry, it’s reassuring that brands such as Vitality are focusing their efforts on transparency and education, two things that were clearly lacking. So what does the future hold for the brand, I ask Glyn. “Going forward, we’re looking forward to further refining our product line to create a CBD range that appeals to the diverse needs of all CBD users. Part of this will of course involve working with retailers to stock Vitality CBD in more stores, cementing Vitality CBD as the most accessible and trustworthy CBD brand in the UK.”
