Svn (7) Questions with Crescent Canna

1. Please tell us about Crescent Canna and what made you want to produce CBD products (tell us your background, your story and why/how you got started)? Where does the name come from?

Two of my partners and I own CBD retail shops in New Orleans, aka the Crescent City, and we saw that the CBD market as a whole was growing.

Because we independently test and sample every brand we sell in our stores, we found that an unacceptably high number of manufacturers simply weren't producing a quality product. CBD content was routinely mislabeled, including some products with no detectable CBD at all! Others contained small amounts of undisclosed THC. Even some properly labeled brands were, for lack of a better term, sketchy.

Disappointed by some of the biggest names in the market, we saw an opportunity not only to increase access to safe, high-quality CBD products, but also to do it at an affordable cost.

Around that time, I was introduced to Robert Lind, who is now our Chief of Manufacturing. He had years of experience running a CBD laboratory and was eager to take on an even larger role at a company he could call his own. Rob joined our team and we set off to create a better CBD company.

We developed a business plan, raised capital, developed recipes, created our brand, sourced and acquired equipment and raw materials, leased some space, hired our team, and began the process of creating CBD products. I'm proud to say that we now manufacture more than 50 of the highest-quality -- and in some cases the strongest -- CBD products on the market.

2. In a sea of CBD, what makes Crescent Canna stand out from the crowd (this is an opportunity to highlight the features & benefits of your product line)?

What truly sets us apart from other brands is affordability AND transparency. We get customer service emails all the time asking, "What's the catch?" The truth is that the cost of CBD isolate has plummeted over the past two years. Where other companies see this as an opportunity to pad their profits, we see it as a chance to make the highest-quality CBD affordable to anyone. Our High-Potency CBD Drops are a great example of this, offering customers the lowest cost per milligram of CBD on the market. But even at industry-leading price points, we never sacrifice on quality. All products are made from USA-grown, organic hemp, and we provide complete ingredient transparency and full-panel testing of every single product, linked on our website and from a QR code on every product.

3. Where do you source your CBD from? This is an opportunity to speak to your sourcing practices.

Our CBD isolate, the raw extract we use to manufacture our THC-free products, is made from organically grown domestic hemp. We source it from several farms and processors who have been reliable partners for us, who share our commitment to quality and transparency. Our process is very strict. We request full-panel testing before purchasing a batch of CBD isolate, and after we acquire it, we send it to an ISO17025-accredited lab to verify purity and quality with another full-panel screening.

That means we don't just test for CBD and THC. We require tests for other cannabinoids, heavy metals, pesticides, residual solvents, microbes, etc., before any CBD isolate is used in production.

We use only domestic companies for our other ingredients as well. From all-natural, food-grade flavorings and MCT oil to sunflower oil, terpenes, and essential oils, Crescent Canna customers can be assured that they're consistently getting only pure CBD and high-quality ingredients.

4. What are some of the most frequently asked questions you get from retailers and customers? On a scale of 1-10 (one being no knowledge to ten being very knowledgeable), how well do consumers know about CBD?  What advice would you give to someone who is NEW to CBD?

I'd say about a 4 on average. We have some experienced customers who are very well versed in CBD, and they bring up the average. But many more are relatively new to CBD and have questions about which product is right for them and how to use it. We're also seeing more and more customers who have been misled about CBD, about its benefits and about what should -- or shouldn't -- be in a CBD product.

New CBD consumers need to know that not all CBD products are created equal, and CBD concentration varies widely from product to product. For many people, low-strength CBD isn't going to have much of an impact. I've heard from people who have given up after a single use of a 500 mg product, only to become devoted CBD advocates when we put a 5,000 mg tincture in their hands (one dropper-full contains 10 times as much CBD).

I would also suggest that consumers seek full-panel test results before buying a CBD product. While CBD products must contain less than .3% delta-9 THC to be legal, there are no federal laws actually requiring CBD to be free of toxins. It's up to CBD companies to be honest and transparent about what's in their products, and let's face it: Most companies are not.

When you buy any product from Crescent Canna, you can see a full-panel test verifying that the product has the specified amount of CBD and is completely free of impurities.

5. Crescent Canna has very potent CBD drops with 5000 and 9000 mg offered in your line. Why have this much CBD in your products and who do you recommend these high potency products for?

We believe that high-potency products are the future of the CBD industry because they are the most efficacious and the most affordable way to incorporate CBD into your daily routine, whether or not you take high doses. Our 5000 mg Extra Strength Drops come out to 2.9 cents per milligram of CBD and our 9000 mg Max Strength Drops come out to just 2.5 cents. These are the lowest prices per milligram on the market. Even if you want to take a lower dose, you'll enjoy significant savings and your bottle of CBD will last much longer. We discuss this in some more detail in this blog post.

6. What are some of the positives about the CBD industry as well as some of the challenges? What does the future of Cannabis look like?

It's fun to be in an industry that's focused on helping people feel better. I'm not going to sit here and say that CBD is a cure-all, or that it's going to revolutionize the world of medicine, but it's clearly providing varying levels relief to millions of people in the U.S. and across the world. Our customers include our family members, our friends, and our partners, and the results speak for themselves. It truly feels good to know that we're helping people feel better.

It's also a relatively young industry, which allows us to be innovative. As mentioned above, our 9000 mg CBD oil is literally the strongest CBD isolate product on the market. It took months of R&D to get there, and we are extremely proud of that feat.

The future of cannabis will at some point include the legalization of marijuana, but it's unclear how the world of CBD fits into that. We get asked all the time about what we're going to do if marijuana is legalized nationwide, but honestly, we think that CBD will continue to be the much bigger market. Most people don't want to experience a typical weed high first thing in the morning, or especially at work, but everyone wants to feel better.

Because the industry is so young, and so many politicians remain relatively clueless about it, there are of course many uncertainties. We don't know, for example, how the FDA will rule on certain CBD issues such as the legality of edible products, or how federal and state legislatures will regulate THC content in hemp flower. How these issues play out will cause roadblocks for some companies and create opportunities for others. We strive to stay nimble enough to thrive in any regulatory atmosphere, and we are committed to educating policymakers locally and federally to help them make smart and informed decisions about CBD regulation.

7. The world looks different now, with anxiety and depression on the rise and people resorting to alcohol, drugs and OTC products, why do you recommend CBD and what in your line would you recommend?

First, I want to say that we are not medical professionals and we highly recommend that anyone who wants to take CBD for a medical condition should consult with a doctor before taking CBD. That said, there is a growing body of research showing the potential benefits of CBD for mental health issues and from the personal experiences of many on our own team and many of our customers, we believe there is certainly a role for CBD to play in mental wellness. There's also a good deal of research on CBD to combat addiction, from cigarettes to opioids.

For this type of issue, we usually recommend a CBD tincture that can be taken daily, our high-potency drops being the most cost-effective for daily use.

BONUS QUESTION:

*What's a quote you would leave our audience with that best describes Crescent Canna OR you can use this opportunity to speak to new products, innovation, what's on the horizon…"

We have several exciting new products in development right now, including a high-potency topical line, which will launch by the end of the year. Stay tuned!

About Crescent Canna:

Crescent Canna’s mission is to provide high-purity cannabidiol (CBD) products at affordable prices, while maintaining the highest quality standards for ingredients and production. We want to reach and help as many people as possible, as well as add clarity to a marketplace where purity and potency claims are too often confusing or misleading.

Sometimes it’s hard to know who you can trust in the CBD industry. Crescent Canna wants to earn your trust with products that are extremely high in quality yet affordable. Our team is made up of cannabis industry experts with deep knowledge of the farming, sourcing, production, and distribution of hemp-derived CBD products. To learn more, visit www.crescentcanna.com