LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / March 29, 2022 / Eoin Keenan, CEO of Goodrays, talks to us about how his business, Goodrays, is helping to define the new category by delivering premium quality, compliant and sustainable CBD products to the market.
Goodrays began life in 2019, after Eoin and his co-founders recognised that there was a gap in the market for a genuine lifestyle brand in the emerging CBD space. Without a category leader or a clear path to follow, the team decided that beverages were the place to start, as they offered the greatest opportunity for mainstream adoption of a ‘new' product and therefore offered the fastest way to drive trial and advocacy for a new ingredient like CBD.
In 2022, as the world emerges from the global pandemic, a significant shift is underway in attitudes towards both mental and physical health - with wellbeing, wellness, self-care and connection to the natural world being prioritised by many, over other more hedonistic pursuits and means of escapism. As a result, the ‘no and low' alcohol category has become the fastest growing area of the beverage industry with demand skyrocketing. During 2021 US off-premise sales reached $3.1 billion across the low-alcoholic and non-alcoholic wines, beer and spirit categories - up from only $291 million the previous year.
Together with the growth of ‘alcohol free', a new category of functional relaxation drinks has emerged, with CBD a key ingredient in the mix. Products such as Goodrays, which contains 30mg of Colorado grown CBD per serve, offer the promise of stress relief and mood enhancement with the added bonus of hangover-free mornings.
Goodrays CEO and co-founder, Eoin Keenan, left Trinity College, Dublin having studied international drug policy as part of his Undergraduate degree with a personal mission to bring the benefits of cannabinoids - the active compounds derived from the much-maligned cannabis plant to a mainstream audience. After graduating, Eoin embarked on a trip to Canada and travelled into California's famous Emerald Triangle where he got hands-on experience within the nascent legal cannabis industry that had emerged across North America at the start of the millennium. Medical access had driven the shift in government policy as cannabis was proven to improve the quality of life of patients with conditions ranging from chronic pain, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and insomnia while also offering multiple benefits to those undergoing cancer treatment.
While in North America he discovered Cannabidiol, or CBD as it is widely known, the non-intoxicating compound in cannabis that won't get you high, but that has natural anti-inflammatory, pain and stress relieving qualities. Unbeknown to him at the time, this discovery would lay the foundation for the creation of Goodrays.
"Cannabis is perhaps best known for the cannabinoid THC, which is the compound that causes the psychoactive ‘high' feeling, but there are over 120 other cannabinoids in the plant that interact with the human endocannabinoid system - a complex neurological system that controls appetite, sleep, reproduction and immune response" says Eoin. "From my perspective, CBD is the perfect ambassador for cannabis, and cannabinoids more generally, as it is non-intoxicating, non-toxic and offers multiple benefits for both the physical and mental wellbeing of consumers."
Eoin helped set up Europe's first medical cannabis consultancy, Prohibition Partners, and one of the emerging industry's first business conferences, Cannabis Europa. While at Prohibition Partners he worked alongside national governments and global FMCG brands to write their cannabis policies and help shape the emerging markets for both medical and recreational cannabinoid-based products.
"In any emerging category there is going to be an element of the regulators playing catch up to the market and this has been the case with the control of CBD products in the UK." says Eoin. "From the outset, we set out to be the most compliant CBD brand in the UK and have been working closely with the FSA to ensure that every product that Goodrays sells is as safe and compliant as any other food or beverage product."
The past year in the UK has seen national grocery chains, restaurant groups and online marketplaces list CBD product lines to service the growing demand and it is reported that more than 8 million British shoppers have tried a CBD infused product in 2020 - 13% of the UK population. "We can clearly see that the demand is there" says Eoin. "The search term ‘CBD' outnumbers by 27x other high-profile searches such as low-alcohol beer so that gives some indication of the market opportunity."
Eoin and his team are well on their way to succeeding in his mission to make high-quality CBD products accessible to everyone through nationwide retailers and they are making strides towards becoming one of the defining lifestyle brands in the nascent category of healthy, functional, cannabinoid-based consumables in Europe.
Three years in, the ongoing mainstreamisation of CBD is well underway. Goodrays is sold through traditional bricks and mortar retail outlets such as Selfridges, online marketplaces like Amazon and has developed a growing Direct-to-Consumer business being driven by influencer marketing and organic social media activity. According to Keenan, Goodrays' biggest challenge remains educating consumers about the safety and efficacy of a product that for almost 100 years has been demonised as dangerous despite being one of the most widely used medicinal plants in human history.
"We feel that it is our responsibility as a CBD brand to help inform and educate consumers about the history of the plant, to break down barriers and communicate what an incredibly useful and important plant the Cannabis Sativa L. species is and has been." says Eoin.
Goodrays range of natural, healthy cannabidiol based products has been designed to offer simple, delicious solutions that allow customers to experience the benefits of CBD - helping people relax and unwind at any time of the day or night.
The CBD market originally emerged in the UK as an offshoot of the health supplements and holistic medicines category, populated by variable quality oils and tinctures whose origins were often uncertain. From the outset, it was clear that there was significant demand for CBD products, as small homemade brands began to build traction with people looking for natural alternatives to traditional pharmaceutical painkillers, antidepressants and sleep aids, without the associated side effects or addiction.
Media Contact: Kathy Robinson
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SOURCE: GoodRays