LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PRESS RELEASE--Vertical Companies, a multi-state vertically integrated CPG company in the medical and adult-use cannabis industries, has announced it is spinning off its hemp-based cannabidiol (CBD) assets into the newly formed Vertical Wellness entity. Vertical Companies President J. Smoke Wallin has been named chief executive officer. This announcement comes on the heels of the recent passing of the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized hemp throughout the US.
Vertical is well-positioned to be a leader in the nation’s hemp-based CBD space with its extensive intellectual property, proprietary processes and experienced team. The company is investing heavily in expanding its 90,000-square-foot facility in Kentucky into a state-of-the-art industrial scale facility to process large-scale cultivation and manufacture a wide range of hemp-based CBD products. The by-products of the post-extraction for CBD process—as well as certain hemp bio-mass—will go into a wide range of products including high protein foods, clothing and industrial uses.
Vertical Companies founder and CEO, Todd Kaplan, said, “Smoke has proven himself as a leader, creative deal maker and most importantly, a valuable team player since he joined me as a partner at Vertical over a year ago. His entrepreneurial experience in the beverage alcohol industry has proven invaluable as we continue to build out a world class beverage/CPG team, with one of the largest portfolios of cannabis and CBD brands in the industry. I could not be more excited to have him lead Vertical Wellness.”
Wallin added, “Vertical Wellness aims to build the most dynamic and extensive portfolio of brands and products in hemp and CBD. It’s all about wellness and branding delivered with science at scale.”
Vertical Wellness farm partners harvested 100 acres of hemp in 2018; it’s currently being processed into CBD at its licensed facility in Kentucky. The facility opened in October and had a number of local community leaders, including Congressman James Comer and representatives from Sen. McConnell’s offices, for the ribbon cutting dedication. The company is contracting with U.S. farmers for thousands of acres of hemp in 2019 which, once processed, will produce in excess of $1 billion of CBD extracts. This CBD will go into Vertical Wellness brands and other large-scale consumer packaged goods (CPG) company brands. Vertical recently announced it joined forces with the Asian American Trade Associations Council (AATAC), to launch its Instant brand CBD Strips into their 90,000 convenience store members.
“CBD is an explosive category. CBD from hemp, with the strictest standards and following all regulatory and legal requirements, is what our groups are looking for,” said Paul Rock, Trustee of AATAC.
Wallin added, “Since the Farm Bill passed in late 2018, we have fielded calls from the largest retailers, distributors and hospitality companies in the world, to discuss and educate them on how they can integrate CBD into their business in various form factors. We already have some of our brands rolling out to thousands of stores. Although we are in the early stages regarding clinical trials in the U.S. due to the prior legal restrictions on research, there is significant promising evidence of the many benefits of CBD to people and animals. We expect research activity to grow exponentially now that it is permitted in the U.S."
