Cannabis expert forecasts cannabinoid isolates to be “the next big thing”

With a database of over 65,000 customers, the company said GlobalCannabinoids.io is the largest B2B online distribution platform for bulk and wholesale USA grown hemp-derived cannabinoid products in the world. 

“One of the ways I’ve been scaling my operation is by leveraging technology to make purchasing more seamless and user-friendly. We were actually approached by Shopify to use their technology to custom make a platform for us using their software so we could offer our customers a B2B solution to order products online,”​ explained Ryan Lewis, CEO Global Cannabinoids. 

Large supply chain 

The company credits much of its success to its large network of farms, extractors, specialty ingredient manufacturers, and GMP finished product manufacturers. In addition to their own farms and extraction operations, Global Cannabinoids has a distribution network that includes raw materials and finished products from domestic manufacturers. 

All distribution takes place from Las Vegas, NV where Global Cannabinoids has recently acquired a new 20,000 square foot facility to provide temperature controlled warehousing and product formulations that are all GMP and ISO 8000 certified.

New product highlights consist of an array of cannabinoid isolates including CBC, CBN, and CBG, available in liquid or powder form. 

Cannabinoid isolates: the new hotness 

Cannabis contains over 100 active cannabinoids. While CBD is the most well-known, there  are others, such as CBN and CBG, which are found in most full-spectrum extracts. Some studies have suggested these cannabinoid isolates have anti-inflammatory and pain relieving properties.

“The trend right now is CBD, but you’re going to start to see a lot more of what I call ‘rare cannabinoids’, and they’re rare because the plant doesn’t produce them in very large quantities. We’re learning more and more about these cannabinoids and the technology is now allowing us to isolate and produce these more rare cannabinoids in larger amounts," ​Lewis told NutraIngredients-USA. ​

The process 

To get cannabinoid isolates, an extraction process is used to remove all the active compounds from the cannabis plant.

“The way that we isolate cannabinoids is that we first do an initial extraction, which is usually C02 or you can also use ethanol. You essentially want to get the oil out of the plant. That is what we call a crude oil. It still contains chlorophyll, lipids, and waxes from the plant. When doing an initial extract, that crude oil is really a whole plant profile. From there it goes into a process called winterization and decarboxylation. When you heat it up to a certain temperature, the cannabinoids within the plant, which is CBDA in abundance, converts into CBD. Then the winterization process is essentially freezing the oil, removing a lot of the fat and the waxes."​

Once that process is done, Lewis explained it is ready to go into a specially designed distillation machine to purify the oil. The refinement process strips away all other phytocannabinoids, including THC, and any plant matter, leaving a chemical compound in its purest form. 

“CBD might be hot today, but I think the next hot cannabinoid is CBC and CBN. You’re going to see a lot more products coming to market with these other cannabinoids. The bottom line is, we’re dealing with the most medicinal plant on earth.”​