Cornbread Hemp™

We founded Cornbread Hemp to create an authentic CBD brand that offered USDA organic Kentucky-grown hemp wellness products to American consumers. In our very first year we did over $250,000 in revenue, achieved profitability, received over 250 online reviews, and got onto the shelves of more than 100 retailers across 10 states.

Deep Kentucky roots

For centuries, Kentucky has enjoyed a reputation as the producer of the world's finest bourbon, fastest race horses, and outdoor-grown cannabis, even when it wasn't legal. 

Now that hemp has been legalized under federal law, our vision to create a top-shelf hemp-derived CBD brand that exemplifies Kentucky's excellence is finally a reality.

Our co-founder Jim Higdon (pictured left) literally wrote the book on the history of Kentucky cannabis in The Cornbread Mafia, a best-selling nonfiction book that tells the story of 70 men who arrested on 30 farms with 200 tons of marijuana in the late 1980's. 

We named our company Cornbread Hemp to honor that tradition in an industry that generally lacks brand depth and authenticity.

Market growth and future outlook

The market for Cornbread Hemp products are growing in a number of ways. For starters, the CBD market is poised to grow into a $20 billion industry by 2027. 

The anxiety relief market is worth $42 billion a year, and considering the anxiety caused currently by the COVID-19 crisis, we can expect the anxiety relief market to grow as well.

With the USDA organic seal on our products, Cornbread Hemp also participates in the organic market, valued at $50 billion a year.

Our journey to USDA certified organic CBD products

Starting on a shoe-string budget funded by a seed investment of $100,000, we shipped our first CBD products in April 2019. That December we became the first company to offer USDA certified organic CBD oil from Kentucky hemp. 

That success was built upon a lean operation and an aggressive timeline. As the only Kentucky company to offer USDA certified organic CBD products, we are well positioned to market our products nationally with a brand firmly rooted in the Kentucky soil. 

How our products are different

There are thousands of CBD brands. So what makes Cornbread Hemp so special? There are fewer than 20 brands that offer USDA certified organic CBD products, and our competition is this very top of the market. Of these brands, only Cornbread Hemp offers a unique brand story that stretches back to the origins of Kentucky hemp in 1775.

How we became a successful brand

Our business is split about 50-50 between online sales and retail accounts. Each of these sales channels requires a different strategy for success. 

For online shoppers, we have implemented a loyalty and referral program, a monthly subscription service, and a payment plan option. Our PR campaigns draw traffic to our site, and with that data we are able to create lookalike audiences on platforms like Facebook.

For retail accounts, the key has been developing relationships with owners, managers, and wellness buyers. They need to know that Cornbread Hemp is a stable brand with a quality product that their customers can trust. 

This trust isn't built overnight, but over time Cornbread Hemp has proven to be a successful partner with natural health food stores, pharmacies, and higher-end groceries in our region.

Now, it's time to double down

At its peak in 2019, the CBD market had thousands of brands clamoring for customers and shelf space. Because of the lack of FDA regulations, there's been some very noteworthy bankruptcies in the CBD industry. With the onset of the Coronavirus economy, there will be even more. 

Of those thousands of CBD brands, maybe 20 offer USDA certified organic CBD products. Cornbread Hemp is now positioned to own a sizable share of the certified organic CBD market by being an authentic brand with a secure supply chain of the highest quality hemp on Earth.

Here's the plan

Our plan is to spend the money we raise on Wefunder on inventory, payroll, and marketing to get Cornbread Hemp to the next level. We hope to achieve nationwide brand recognition by the end of 2020.