CBD was the category-defining ingredient that brought hemp-derived products into mainstream consumer culture. But after years of market saturation, brands are increasingly looking beyond CBD to build products that stand out on a crowded shelf.
Minor cannabinoids — compounds present in the hemp plant in smaller concentrations than CBD — have become one of the more compelling spaces for product innovation. Here’s what’s happening and why it matters for brands thinking about formulation strategy.
The Saturation Problem
By 2022, the CBD market had become extraordinarily crowded. Thousands of brands were selling tinctures, gummies, and topicals with largely undifferentiated positioning. Price compression followed, and brands that had built primarily on CBD as a hero ingredient found it increasingly difficult to command premium pricing.
The brands that survived and grew were the ones that had built genuine differentiation — whether through quality, brand identity, or formulation complexity. Minor cannabinoids offered a new avenue for the latter.
CBG: The Formulation Workhorse
Cannabigerol (CBG) has emerged as the most commercially significant minor cannabinoid after CBD. It’s often called the “mother cannabinoid” because other cannabinoids — including CBD and THC — develop from its acidic precursor.
Brands have leaned into CBG primarily for daytime and focus-oriented positioning. It blends well with CBD and allows brands to offer ratio formulations — 1:1 CBD:CBG, for instance — that feel meaningfully different from a standard CBD product and give consumers a reason to trade up.
The availability of CBG has improved significantly as hemp genetics have been developed specifically for higher CBG yields, making it increasingly viable for brands at various price points.
CBN: Owning the Sleep Occasion
No minor cannabinoid has been more effectively positioned than CBN. The association between CBN and sleep support has become well-established in consumer perception, and brands have built entire product lines around it.
CBN-forward sleep products — tinctures, gummies, softgels — represent one of the cleaner examples of cannabinoid-specific positioning working in practice. The consumer understands what they’re buying and why. The sleep and relaxation occasion is large, defensible, and drives repeat purchase.
From a formulation standpoint, CBN is typically used in combination with CBD rather than as a standalone. The resulting products command premium pricing relative to CBD-only equivalents.
The Combination Play
Perhaps the most interesting trend is the move toward intentional cannabinoid ratios rather than single-cannabinoid formulations. Rather than asking “how much CBD should we put in this product,” sophisticated brands are asking “which cannabinoids, in what combination, best serve the occasion we’re targeting?”
A daytime focus product might combine CBD and CBG. A nighttime recovery formula might layer CBD, CBN, and minor terpenes. An active lifestyle product might feature a broad-spectrum extract specifically chosen for its terpene profile alongside a CBG boost.
This systems thinking about formulation is producing products that are genuinely harder to commoditize — and giving consumers meaningful reasons to stay brand loyal.
What This Means for Emerging Brands
For brands in earlier stages of development, the minor cannabinoid landscape offers both opportunity and complexity. The opportunity is differentiation: it’s still possible to build a credible position around CBG or CBN that feels fresh and substantiated. The complexity is that consumer education often has to be built alongside the product.
The brands navigating this most effectively are the ones who pick one clear occasion, choose the cannabinoid profile that best serves it, and commit to communicating that story simply and consistently.
Ethos Distributing supplies CBD, CBG, CBN, and other hemp-derived cannabinoids in multiple formats for brands and manufacturers. Request catalog access to explore current availability.