When Will Vaped Cannabis Products Enter Europe?
As Alberta joins several other Canadian provinces in allowing the sale of cannavapes (several provinces have banned them), the question now hanging in the air is when will such innovation come to Europe?
That is an intriguing question.
Vaping tobacco-based products is already popular in Europe, although far more regulated. With new producers coming online and a market-ready for new products, there is clearly a market opening. However, entrants have to understand the politics and the regulatory environment, as well as the existing competition.
Europe and vapes, even of the CBD variety, is not for the faint of heart.
The Big Three Issues In Europe
The mostly widely used vape in Europe is of the medical variety. Certainly in Germany, the name Storz and Bickel is eponymous with the idea. However, S&B has also taken the long path to certification of its devices as “medical” – itself a time-consuming endeavor. While there are clearly competitors now lining up from Israel to Canada and even the United States, the medical market is just one avenue.
CBD vaping is also in the room now and that is spawning competitors in every direction. Regardless, even though medical regulations do not have to be followed, consumer protection rules are also here in spaces.
Beyond the devices themselves, however, is another big discussion – namely, Novel Food. All cannabis tinctures and extracts on which vaping liquids are based will have to follow strict manufacturing requirements beyond the source of the plant and its THC content, no matter when that discussion is had on the recreational front.
That said, the horizon is clearly opening. If cannabis is going to be legal in Europe, as is increasingly proving to be the case, and within the next five years, there are going to be alternatives to smoking it.
How Do Entrepreneurs Tackle The Market?
There is no one path to success. However, it is also clearly the case that niche products are starting to make their successful entre into the continent, even if it is one custom-built sales channel at a time.
The best way to ensure market entry is to understand the market, and for that, there is no better cannabis business conference than the International Cannabis Business Conference to make those valuable connections. If not understand the shifting winds of regulatory requirements and trade opportunities as they open if not are created on the ground.
Be sure to book your tickets to the International Cannabis Business Conference conferences in Barcelona, Berlin, and Bern this year!
