CBD oil is a hot-selling item. It seems like everyone is using oils, edibles, and topicals infused with the popular hemp extract. You want to add the plant product to your daily routine, but you’re wondering why CBD costs so much money. Here’s a pricing breakdown to help you understand the work that goes into growing, cultivating, extracting, and testing CBD products.
Hemp Cultivation
One reason CBD oil is expensive is that brands put a lot of care into the cultivation of hemp. The plants are versatile and can grow nearly anywhere. However, hemp is a bio-accumulator, which means it’s excellent at absorbing compounds from the soil.
This process is ideal for plants growing in high-quality, nutrient-rich land. It’s also dangerous for consumers if it’s cultivated in soil contaminated with heavy metals and chemicals. Careful and dedicated brands seek cultivators using clean, nutrient-rich soil to produce safe, top value hemp and CBD products.
Additionally, this means the CBD cost increases because hemp farmers aren’t using synthetic chemicals to cultivate their plants. The results equal high-quality, organic hemp that’s a little more expensive to ensure customer safety.
CBD Extraction
There are a few ways to remove CBD and the other compounds from hemp. Each has pros and cons. The most common is CO2 extraction. Although it’s the most expensive process, it’s considered the gold standard for the hemp industry. The C02 method leaves behind zero residual solvents and preserves more cannabinoids and terpenes than other extraction processes.
CBD costs & Third-Party Screenings
Another reason CBD oil is expensive comes from safety screenings. Top hemp brands accept this part of the CBD cost because it ensures they’re only producing and selling safe, high-quality products. There are no government agencies that verify the content in each CBD formula.
Trustworthy brands complete an in-house batch-review of each sales item. Once complete, it sends them to an independent lab in the UK that checks the internal results. After the testing, the third-party facility issues a certificate of analysis or report that confirms each batch’s safety and quality.
Why Some Brands’ CBD costs are Lower
While you’re questioning CBD’s costs, you may notice that some brands are noticeably lower. In these cases, buyer beware. Companies can only achieve these prices by corner-cutting.
For some products, that might be okay. With food supplements, it’s not. CBD is a concentrated plant extract, which means it contains a large amount of CBD dissolved in a carrier oil. The plant’s problems, such as chemicals from cultivating or leftover solvents from the extraction process, are also in the concentrated products.
Although there is concern about the cultivation and extraction methods with low-cost CBD, the most common reason for lower prices is deception. Many companies try to pass off hemp seed oil as CBD. While there are many benefits associated with hemp seeds, they don’t contain any CBD.
Yes, CBD oil is expensive. The cost of CBD from high-quality, trustworthy brands comes from the amount of work each company puts into its products. Prices will vary depending on the different processing methods and items. Consumers should be careful of any CBD price that looks too low. Outside of holiday sales, this could indicate you’re not getting the product you need.