CBD blending in at juice and smoothie bars

A dash of bee pollen, a sprinkle of spirulina, a scoop of pea protein and a couple drops of CBD — Cannabidiol-rich hemp extracts are blending in nicely at juice and smoothie bars across the country.

Colorado’s CW Hemp just inked a deal to sell their high-CBD whole plant hemp extracts at California organic-vegan food, juice and smoothie powerhouse Rawkin Juice, according to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings made Friday by Rawkin’s Miami-based parent company Hip Cuisine Inc..

The arrangement marks the continued expansion of Colorado Springs-based CW Hemp’s retail web, which spans 1,000-plus locations including natural grocers, sports nutrition shops, cannabis dispensaries, chiropractic offices and juice bars.

Hip Cuisine officials are constantly on the lookout for new ingredients or emerging brands that complement the company’s focus on healthy foods, said Frank Gillen, Hip Cuisine’s administrator whose wife started the vegan-friendly company in Panama. When he started researching the nutritional chart for non-psychoactive CBD, Gillen said he was intrigued by the potential role the compound could play in aiding pain relief and anxiety reduction.

“It wasn’t really the market” or the advancement of cannabis legalization laws,” Gillen told The Cannabist. “It was more the nutritional benefits and research that’s being done on what cannabinoids can do as part of your health and nutrition.”

In late-February, when Hip Cuisine initially announced the agreement, officials indicated the extracts would be integrated into its packaged juices as part of its “Health, Wellness and Detox plans.”

Those plans are on temporary hold until some paperwork is in order, Gillen said. Officials for CW Hemp could not be reached for comment.

In the meantime, Hip Cuisine (OTC: HIPC, $1.10) put the bottles of CW Hemp for sale at Rawkin Juice’s location in Burbank, Calif., with plans to expand that retail presence to other stores, he said.

“Right now, it’s just on the shelf,” he said. “If the customer then wants to add a shot to their juice, they can do that.”