JM Wholesale meets FSA challenge with novel catalogue of CBD products

CBD stockist JM Wholesale has proudly emerged as the UK’s foremost distributor of approved products following tough regulations imposed by the Food Standards Agency.

Earlier this year the FSA classified CBD consumables as a ‘novel food’, meaning all relevant products would need to be tested and accredited before being legally sold.

Since then, more than 900 applications for thousands of UK products have been submitted for approval, with the majority being rejected for lacking basic information such as toxicity levels.

However, following a partnership with the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA) and active participation with the FSA, JM Wholesale has declared a listing of more than 750 items which are safe for legal sale.

Thomas Lowe, Operations Director at the Leicester-based company, said that, after 200 percent business growth in the past 18 months and a resulting move to major new premises, JMW was now perfectly placed to consolidate its position as the UK’s premier CBD wholesaler.

“We have a larger range of approved CBD products than any other distributor and this moment is another milestone for our company,” she said. “We’ve worked hard to ensure that our customers and our business are protected, by getting rid of any products not published on the FSA’s website, regardless of how big those brands are.

“In fact we’ve always loved finding unique products, including those where the CBD can be absorbed in different ways. That way, more people from different walks of life can enjoy CBD no matter how they prefer to access it.

“From our distribution centre we now provide the largest range of isolate and full spectrum CBD products in the UK, all of which are 100 per cent accepted by the FSA.

“We are the first distributor to add the relevant Novel Food classification numbers to all of our relevant listed products.

“The past few months have been extremely challenging for our industry but we have made efforts to take an active role in the novel food submission process. We anticipated regulation of this industry, we were determined not to let it stand in the way of the growth of our business, and we’ve participated accordingly.

“All in all, this is excellent news for our customers and partners.”

First established in 2017, JM Wholesale employs 43 personnel in its office and warehouse operations and now occupies 50,000 square foot premises in Whetstone on the edge of Leicester.

The company has experienced rapid growth off the back of an increased awareness of the health benefits of CBD products in the UK. Alongside its consumer business also exports to suppliers at home and in 170 countries worldwide.

Figures from Statista suggest that in 2019, the vape market in the United Kingdom generated a revenue of an estimated 2.8 billion US dollars, a figure which is set to rise to roughly 3.9 billion US dollars in 2023.

CBD use in the UK, meanwhile, has skyrocketed. In 2018, only around 250,000 Britons reported using CBD products. Fast forward three short years, and the grass has grown immensely greener. The UK’s CBD market is currently the second largest in the world, surpassing other countries where CBD has been legal for longer. In 2020, 8.4 million people had consumed CBD products, or planned to.