True Transparency: Prospect Farms Seeks to Elevate Pet CBD Industry

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Prospect Farms is a CBD brand that hand plants, organically grows, hand harvests, slow-dry cures, extracts and formulates its products at the company’s farm in Prospect, Maine. Pet Age recently spoke with CEO Brad Tipper to learn more about the brand’s mission. 

What’s the story of how Prospect Farms entered the pet product industry? 

We took a quality first approach to entering the pet industry. The first two and a half years of our business were spent revitalizing a centuries-old farm in the coastal Maine town of Prospect that had a rich farming tradition. We built out a 250-acre state of the art manufacturing and farming complex that would allow us to be a truly single source, vertically integrated or “seed-to-store,” manufacturer and pet brand. While CBD pet products first appeared on the shelf in 2018 following the passing of the farm bill, it was not until 2020 that Prospect Farms began offering our pet products. It was critical that we dedicated that time to enhancing our products, ingredients and veterinarian recommended formulations to create truly benefit-focused pet products specifically designed to support hip and joint pain, inflammation and mobility issues in our senior dogs and calming, mood and hyperactivity in our junior and more anxious dogs. We respect that parents are putting trust in our brand to provide their dogs with clean, safe and effective products and we are fortunate to stand behind an incredible farm that allows us to earn that trust in the pet space through this quality first approach.  

Why is proper dosage so important to the effectiveness of a pet CBD product? 

Because we are the farm and the manufacturer we have the ability to create products specifically formulated for your dog’s specific size, diet and need. Today, we have a portfolio of over 30 products formulated to support both mood and mobility issues in dogs and we’ll be expanding our product offering to provide similar benefits to cats and horses later this year. We offer the most comprehensive portfolio of products because of our deep belief in proper dosing for both pet and pet parent alike. There is no one size fits all model when it comes to formulating a pet wellness product with dog sizes and weights ranging from your five pound Pomeranian and yorkie all the way up to your 150 pound great dane or mastiff. We have designed our products so that a yorkie parent would purchase our small dog formula with five milligrams of full spectrum CBD per one dropper to help make it easy for the dog parent to introduce either our calming or mobility products to their dogs on a daily basis. Because Prospect Farms formulates specifically for your dog’s size, each Pet Drop product is meant to be a 30-day supply with each full dropper (one milliliter) being a standard daily dose to support your dog’s new wellness routine. 

What does it mean to have a “benefit-focused” product? 

The average CBD product on the shelf consists of two ingredients: a hemp extract and a carrier oil. We often say that while our peers create CBD products, we have focused our attention on creating benefit-focused products packed with upwards of 13 botanical ingredients in each of our pet drops (only one of which happens to be full-spectrum CBD). While we are deeply committed to harnessing the benefits of the full spectrum of cannabinoids that are naturally occurring in the hemp plant, we work with a portfolio of premium carrier oils like safflower and salmon oil (rich in Omega-3s known to protect against inflammation) as well as a portfolio of 20 terpenes. Terpenes are naturally occurring, beneficial botanicals that give plants their unique scents and are extracted for their therapeutic benefits. For instance, myrcene, a primary terpene found in mangos and lemongrass, has been used in natural medicine for centuries to reduce pain and relieve anxiety, even more recently studied for its anti-inflammatory benefits. Myrcene is also harnessed in our Pet Calming Drops to help manage normal stress and promote relaxation.   

How do you describe a “truly clean and green” CBD product? 

At Prospect Farms we believe “truly clean and truly green” means that we test our products upwards of 14 times across a full spectrum of lab analysis to support true quality before a product ever makes it into the hands of our customers. This testing starts with the soil before we ever plant a seed, continues with the hemp flower before we harvest, ensures quality and potency when we extract oil from the flower and again when we create the finished product. There is a lot of research around the effectiveness and safety of CBD but what is not safe is the level of mycotoxins, heavy metals, microbiological contaminants, bacterial contaminants and pesticides found in CBD pet products. With this level of testing and transparency, we aspire to elevate the CBD pet industry standards by providing true transparency into our supply chain from farming to extraction and formulation all the way through to manufacturing and distribution.