Vertical Wellness™, a leader in the branded health and wellness space, has announced the long anticipated launch of its fully developed portfolio of CBD Beverages at retail this year. Initial brands will include the Vertical Wellness owned brands Taos® and Hemp-Moji™, as well as celebrity and athlete driven wellness and lifestyle brands yet to be announced. Products will include a line of CBD iced teas, CBD sparkling beverages, CBD waters, and functional Hemp shots. Products will also include Vertical Wellness’ patented Fast-Absorption technology, and other proprietary formulations ensuring the highest quality and greatest efficacy for consumers in the wellness space.

Following the recent announcement of Vertical Wellness’ merger with CanaFarma Hemp Products Corp. [CSE: CNFA], a full-service company operating in the hemp industry offering a full range of hemp-related products and services, the launch of these CBD beverages allows the newly combined company to boldly enter the fast-growing Cannabis Beverage market, estimated to reach $2.8 Billion by 2025 according to Million Insights.

Vitaly Fargesen, SVP of Strategy for CanaFarma added, “One of the most exciting things about our pending combination with Vertical is Smoke and his team’s deep beverage experience. We are fully supportive of these efforts and look forward to investing behind the brands.”

The Vertical Wellness management team, led by CEO J. Smoke Wallin, brings decades of combined experience successfully building beverage brands in the beer, wine, spirits, RTD and water categories. The team has made $100s of millions in beverage related M&A, investments, and exits. Early on, Wallin sold a bottled water brand he created to Nestle. Vertical’s team has already secured national distribution partners, with an overlay of independent wholesalers and brokers to ensure their route-to-market success. The initial launch in late 2021 will focus on 6 US markets, with national expansion slated for 2022.

Wallin, a former Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America “WSWA” Chairman & President who also recently announced the launch of Lambay Irish Whiskey Americas through his Taliera brand company commented, “We believe cannabis beverages will be one of the most important form factors for consumers. My criteria is the liquid has to taste great and at the same time, the cannabinoids need to be effective. Our team has worked with the world’s best flavor houses and scientists over the past three years developing these beverages to achieve exactly that. I can’t wait to get these to market!”

The merger between Vertical Wellness and CanaFarma will make Vertical Wellness the first house of CBD brands to go public. The combined company will be worth over $50 million but could be significantly higher depending on stock price post-announcement. The Vertical Wellness management team, including CEO J. Smoke Wallin, will run the combined business. The combined company will go under CanaFarma Corp. as the corporate entity but will keep the Vertical Wellness name for the brand portfolio.

CanaFarma went public in March 2020 just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The company had a successful IPO on the Canadian Securities Exchange, trading up to about $1.50 a share and ending up being an over $200 million market cap company.

"Building new and existing CBD brands in the beverage space opens ourselves up to many more opportunities," says Kevin Henry, VP of Brands at VWEL who played a major role in building multiple alcohol brands in the US, including the Peroni beer brand for 7+ years. Henry continued, "On-premise accounts like restaurants, bars and hotels give us a chance to really bring these brands to life and engage with consumers firsthand, which is especially important for a new category like CBD where education and advocacy are key."

About Vertical Wellness™

Vertical Wellness is a leading vertically integrated consumer focused health and wellness brand company with innovative hemp cannabinoid solutions. Vertical Wellness’ mission is to help people by bringing the most innovative and effective portfolio of cannabinoid, health and wellness brands to the market. Vertical Wellness™ partnered with kathy ireland® Worldwide (kiWW®) to produce CBD products, with the first brand release of kathy ireland® HEALTH & WELLNESS CBD Solutions™ coming in Fall 2021. Kathy Ireland is Chair, CEO, and Chief Designer of kiWW®, is named among the top 10 women’s health advocates in America according to UCLA and was recently listed as the 15th most powerful brand in the world by License Global Magazine. Other Vertical Wellness brands include AntiDos®, GoldQ®, Halogenix Beauty™, Hemp-Moji™, Just Live®, Lap Dog™, Neutrate Fitness™, Organic Candy Factory®, Par5™, Taos®, Wingra Farms™ and USMCC™. Vertical Wellness has operations in California and Kentucky.

About CanaFarma Hemp Products Corp.

CanaFarma Hemp Products Corp. is a full-service company operating in the hemp industry offering a full range of hemp-related products and services to the consumer wellness market. These products and services include growing top-quality hemp, providing hemp-processing services, and offering hemp-based products to consumers utilizing a well-established direct-to-consumer marketing approach.