You’ve finally been won over by all of the stories about this medical cure with a ridiculous amount of health benefits, so now to look online for a good deal, then comes the sudden shock. This isn’t your multivitamin price, or your general cough medicine. The price is quite something substantial, especially when some of the products contain enough for just one week. While the cost might be a shock to many, it isn’t for no reason, which I’ll go into below.
Agriculture
As a starting point, there isn’t exactly a huge number of hemp and marijuana fields across the UK, considering all the legislation around this plant it means the agricultural costs are quite high. This premium cost is only the start, when you ignore the hefty cost of licensing, but then you take into account all the labour costs, harvesting, seeds and equipment, this certainly ends up a pricy product from the get-go.
Variance In Quality
Don’t be fooled by a price. Holland & Barrett were caught out selling an incredibly low quality product in their shops, which obviously people kept reporting they weren’t gaining any results from. If there is a cheap price, there is normally reason for it. On the other hand, you have to be careful of brands on the other side, charging a premium price just because of the marketing jargon they fire at you, half of which is made up.
Location Of Farms
With virtually any crop you consider, we are largely moving away from the Western world and sourcing our produce for China, Sri Lanka, India etc. However, a certain quality level, legislation standards and laws have to be considered with growing marijuana and hemp, therefore farms in more expensive locations such as Amsterdam or Colorado have to be considered, which means higher rent and general costs.
Extraction
Whether the brand you’re considering uses CO2 extraction or ethanol extraction, or any other method for that matter, it is an expensive procedure. You need to get the CBD oil out, which is time consuming to get true purification. But beyond the actual process, you also need to consider how expensive these machines cost in the first place! Don’t even get me started on the decarboxylated process, which requires a specific oven.
Testing
With such a controversial product, there is a huge amount of testing that has to go ahead in order to ensure you are actually delivering the right quantity of CBD. The criteria process for testing afterwards is beyond extreme. They have to check whether anything has been contaminated, at which point if it has then they have to destroy the produce. They have to check that they have successfully removed the majority of the solvents. They have to measure the potency levels, for both CBD and THC, while they will also carry out terpene testing. This is just a selection of areas they will check, so it gives you an idea of the expensive process that takes place.
Packaging
CBD brands are trying to illustrate they are a premium brand offering the highest quality ingredients. How do they do that? With some gorgeous packaging. I mean seriously, CBD certainly leads the way with quality packaging, albeit not necessarily for recyclable packaging. Plus there are extra parts to the packaging, such as a trinket.
Labour Costs
Every step in the process requires different staff with a different set of skills for a fair period of time. The labour costs most certainly add up, especially when you consider how important it is to continuously monitor during the extraction process.
Added Ingredients
You will undoubtedly find a courier oil in your CBD oil, such as olive or MCT oil. However many don’t stop there. The product might be flavoured with peppermint to take away the bad taste, such as Uncle Bud’s Industrial Hemp or Cubid CBD Peppermint Drops. Or it could have added magnesium and 5-HTP like Naturopathica CBD + Night. All of these ingredients require a whole set of new costs.
What Is The Average Price Of CBD Oil?
While the prices will vary drastically based on what mg you opt for, the size of the bottle, the brand name, product quality and ingredients, the average bottle of CBD oil costs £35. Obviously, this price is weighted to the larger number of sales of cheaper products, as some of them go into the hundreds.