John Legend CBD Startup
Plus Products Teams Up With Singer
Plus Products is a young California-based CBD company that went public quickly and nearly dried up before it got a good start. The company primarily focused on CBD-infused gummy sales in their home state and struggled to make ends meet.
The potential downfall of the company was ironically due to its early Canadian investors. Plus accepted an agreement with these investors with a caveat that they take the company public quickly in an attempt to regain their investment sooner rather than later.
This proved to be more than Plus could sustain. Luckily, it led to the recognition of Legend due to its public nature.
The young company ran by 31-year old CEO Jake Heimark found some relief in mid-September when news hit that they joined forces with John Legend.
The company also teamed up with mattress empire Casper Sleep which may also be contributing to the company’s revival as they are focusing on launching CBD-infused gummies to aid in improved sleep.
One could say that Plus is a family ran company as Heimark receives executive help from his dad as chairman of the board and prior CFO as well as his mother’s, undisclosed, role in the company.
The family orientation he saw and observed led John Legend to want to invest in this dwindling CBD startup. Legend was already a believer in the benefits CBD can produce and labels himself as a family man as well.
Legend was recently posted a picture of himself and his grandmother in late September on his Instagram page along with many others him and his wife, Chrissy Teigen, post of their family often.
The commitment to research and quality is another factor that attracted Legend to Plus Products. He agrees that anecdotal claims should be backed up by science and Plus Products is allegedly committed to the science and research to prove these claims.
Plus is not losing sight of its gummies origins and has plans to launch a product of CBD gummies formulated to address sleep issues and intend to take their products nationwide.
The benefit of gummies for sleep is the fact that THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, is omitted from Plus Product gummies and replaced with melatonin.
To better streamline their products and ensure the highest quality Plus made the marketing decision to focus on three health with Plus Balance gummies, Plus Uplift gummies, and Plus Sleep gummies.
A study published by the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy showed the self-medicating approach using marijuana for sleep disturbances results in deeper sleep by reducing REM and reducing dreams.3
As of late September, Plus Products claimed the No. 1 and No. 2 best-selling products in California titles. This fact makes it nearly impossible to believe the company was struggling just a short time ago.
Per Heimark’s own admission there were mistakes made in the early days of Plus Products which includes the failure of their cannabis-infused gum.
The over-arching issue with Plus was financing. They needed more money to not only sustain the business but if they were going to grow they’d need to acquire investors. Unfortunately, with the CBD market being flooded with new companies making bold claims it can be difficult to obtain adequate key investors.
Plus has reported $3.5 million in sales as of 2019’s second quarter, which is a huge jump from the $1.5 million from the same period in 2018.
References
- Borchardt, D. John Legend Is High On A CBD Startup Called Plus Products. Real Money. Published September 19, 2019. Accessed September 30, 2019.
- Burleson, B. DeCourcey, J. Premier Cannabis Brand Play, Winning in California and Poised for Expansion. US Equity Research. Published March 20, 2019. Accessed September 30, 2019.
- Schierenbeck, T. Riemann, D. Hornyak, M. Effect of Ilicit Recreational Drugs Upon Sleep: Cocaine, Ecstasy, and Marijuana. Sleep Med Rev. 2008;12(5):381-9.
