From left, AG Essence Vice President of Operations Robert Boyd and VA Harvest co-owners Phil Noonan, Keith Oley and Bill Wingfield. VA Harvest contracts with AG Essence to manufacture its CBD products. Wingfield is also AG Essence’s chief chemist and co-owner. (BizSense file)
A sprouting Sandston-based CBD company has Fido in mind with its newest offerings.
VA Harvest, which already sells CBD extracts and cremes for people, has developed a CBD extract and a CBD topical wound treatment for dogs and cats.
Co-founder Bill Wingfield said Friday he expected the products would be available for sale on the company’s website and at grocery store Ellwood Thompson’s this week.
The products are intended to help manage inflammation and can have other beneficial effects on pets, Wingfield said.
“It affects inflammation whether on the outside of skin or internally. It appears that animals do benefit from this,” said Wingfield, who has a shorkie (a Shih Tzu-Yorkshire Terrier mix) named Thiago with his wife. “Some people claim, and I don’t know from first-hand experience, that pets are more alert and older pets get around better (using CBD).”
VA Harvest has a CBD extract for pets and a topical wound treatment. (Courtesy of VA Harvest)
The flavorless extract, which comes in ounce-sized containers, can be used with different sized dogs and cats.
VA Harvest decided to expand into pet products in part because of its existing familiarity with CBD products and the testing process, the latter of which Wingfield expected would inspire confidence in customers and set the products apart from competitors.
“We want to be able to offer people a product we know won’t hurt their pet,” Wingfield said. “Not only do we test it but we third-party test it. Unfortunately, there are a lot of products out there I called bootleg.”
Prices for the products weren’t immediately available Friday.
Wingfield founded VA Harvest with Keith Oley and Phil Noonan late last year. VA Harvest contracts with AG Essence, where Wingfield is a co-owner and chief chemist, to process, manufacture and test its products.
AG Essence has an 8,000-square-foot facility at 5350 Lewis Road near Richmond International Airport. The company, established in 2011, manufactures and tests health care and personal care products. It makes private label products and its own first-aid line Banda-Sil.
VA Harvest doesn’t yet have any employees, though the founders have said the plan is to eventually bring on sales staff and an in-house production team. VA Harvest would like to add CBD gummies to its lineup this summer.
The company also wants to enter the state’s pending recreational cannabis market as a manufacturer, both to make its own products and make private label products.
Wingfield said the company is in wait-and-see mode as lawmakers hash out the legislation that would launch the full market in 2024.
The Senate passed legislation earlier this month that would initiate a transitional early-sales period on Sept. 15 for medical cannabis companies and some industrial hemp processors. The bill would have to pass in the House of Delegates and be signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin before it would take effect as law.
From left, AG Essence Vice President of Operations Robert Boyd and VA Harvest co-owners Phil Noonan, Keith Oley and Bill Wingfield. VA Harvest contracts with AG Essence to manufacture its CBD products. Wingfield is also AG Essence’s chief chemist and co-owner. (BizSense file)
A sprouting Sandston-based CBD company has Fido in mind with its newest offerings.
VA Harvest, which already sells CBD extracts and cremes for people, has developed a CBD extract and a CBD topical wound treatment for dogs and cats.
Co-founder Bill Wingfield said Friday he expected the products would be available for sale on the company’s website and at grocery store Ellwood Thompson’s this week.
The products are intended to help manage inflammation and can have other beneficial effects on pets, Wingfield said.
“It affects inflammation whether on the outside of skin or internally. It appears that animals do benefit from this,” said Wingfield, who has a shorkie (a Shih Tzu-Yorkshire Terrier mix) named Thiago with his wife. “Some people claim, and I don’t know from first-hand experience, that pets are more alert and older pets get around better (using CBD).”
VA Harvest has a CBD extract for pets and a topical wound treatment. (Courtesy of VA Harvest)
The flavorless extract, which comes in ounce-sized containers, can be used with different sized dogs and cats.
VA Harvest decided to expand into pet products in part because of its existing familiarity with CBD products and the testing process, the latter of which Wingfield expected would inspire confidence in customers and set the products apart from competitors.
“We want to be able to offer people a product we know won’t hurt their pet,” Wingfield said. “Not only do we test it but we third-party test it. Unfortunately, there are a lot of products out there I called bootleg.”
Prices for the products weren’t immediately available Friday.
Wingfield founded VA Harvest with Keith Oley and Phil Noonan late last year. VA Harvest contracts with AG Essence, where Wingfield is a co-owner and chief chemist, to process, manufacture and test its products.
AG Essence has an 8,000-square-foot facility at 5350 Lewis Road near Richmond International Airport. The company, established in 2011, manufactures and tests health care and personal care products. It makes private label products and its own first-aid line Banda-Sil.
VA Harvest doesn’t yet have any employees, though the founders have said the plan is to eventually bring on sales staff and an in-house production team. VA Harvest would like to add CBD gummies to its lineup this summer.
The company also wants to enter the state’s pending recreational cannabis market as a manufacturer, both to make its own products and make private label products.
Wingfield said the company is in wait-and-see mode as lawmakers hash out the legislation that would launch the full market in 2024.
The Senate passed legislation earlier this month that would initiate a transitional early-sales period on Sept. 15 for medical cannabis companies and some industrial hemp processors. The bill would have to pass in the House of Delegates and be signed by Gov. Glenn Youngkin before it would take effect as law.