AUTHORED BY: JAMMIE TREADWELL

End of the Year Wrap Up

Like many of you, we started 2020 with high hopes for our business and the world in general.  But who could have ever guessed at all of the challenges we would face in 2020 with increased awareness of social injustices, a contentious election and last but certainly not least the global COVID-19 pandemic whose impacts are on-going? 

With everything that's happened it's easy to want to focus on the new year and move quickly to put 2020 behind us. However, we did set a goal this year of bringing you high-quality CBD products that were Fresh from Florida. And despite all the challenges of 2020, we did just that!

Our journey this year was unconventional like everyone else, but here is how we launched a business in 2020 bringing you artisanally, crafted with care CBD products:

January – In true Florida-style, we setup shop in a citrus processing plant in Umatilla, FL that was no longer in use with the hopes of bringing a new crop to Central Florida and do our part to help revitalize local agriculture. At the same time, we began construction of our greenhouses in Eustis, FL.

February –To align with the highest quality standards in CBD manufacturing, we received our Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Safety (FDACS) Food Permit (Click here for Current List of Hemp Food Establishment Permits).

March – With proper licensure and approval to sell CBD products, we launched TreadwellFarms.com with 1200 mg Essential Blend and Citrus Spice Hemp Extract, bringing you high-potency CBD products. To help provide relevant and accurate CBD information, we launched Facebook and Instagram.

April – We were prepared and ready when FDACS finalizes rules and begins accepting licenses to cultivate Florida hemp. We also began our educational blog posts with “What is CBD?  Breaking Down Its Healing Potential” by Dr. Genester Wilson-King and Sarah Russo.

May – At the start of May we received FDACS cultivation license approval (Click here for Current List of Hemp Cultivation Permits) and began preparing to plant along with officially announced Treadwell Farms products were available. 

June – To help establish the supply chain for Florida hemp our farm began germinating hemp seeds and propagating cuttings to support farmer plantings and assisted farmers with greenhouse and outdoor plantings. We added our first recipe for CBD Blueberry Lemonade Sorbet to expand our blog. We were pleased to have our first newspaper coverage be with our hometown paper the North Lake Outpost.

July – We wanted to get the word out about Florida Hemp so we had our first TV interview with Spectrum 13’s Julie Gargotta, our first radio interview with Susan Korgul on Mix 105.1, first Facebook Live/Podcast with Ted Bogert of The Ted Show and were featured in our first trade publication Vegetable and Specialty Crop News. Our first billboard was placed in Mount Dora to let our community know that there are options for Local Hemp.

August – We were excited to announce our first wholesale customer – Bay and Lake Pharmacy, Eustis – Lake County’s largest independent pharmacy and our personal pharmacy (Click here for Store Locator page). It's been such a thrill to serve our community by being featured at many trusted retailers as we added Jeff’s Health and Nutrition, Leesburg to the list of retailers carrying Treadwell Farms products. I was even featured in our first lifestyle magazine Orlando Family Magazine.

September – We set a goal to work with other Florida companies to develop unique Hemp CBD products and met it with the joint manufacture of Citrus Spice Yaupon Hemp Tea at Treadwell Farms facility. Treadwell Farms was mentioned in Vires Alumni Magazine – Go Seminoles! The Treadwell Farms retail family grows as Health Basket, Mt. Dora and The Healthy Buddah, Mt. Dora, Sanford, Orlando and Winter Park begin carrying Treadwell Farms products.

 October – After hearing your feedback, the 1200 mg Evening Blend Hemp Extract, 600 mg Cooling Mint and Warming Blend Topical Salves were launched along with our collaboration with Yaupon Bros. Citrus Spice Yaupon Hemp Tea. We went through our first harvest approval from FDACS and began harvesting crops planted in June. Long and Scott Farms delivered the first hemp harvest to us, and they're just one of the 12 farmers that we'll purchase hemp from this season. We were very pleased to host FDACS Cannabis lead Holly Bell on a visit to see our harvest and added BZ’s Happy Plants, Umatilla, Long and Scott’s Country Store, Mt. Dora and Eagle Pawn, Jesup to our retail family.

November – Another goal was to obtain approval to use the “Fresh From Florida” seal, which we proudly accomplished after our first successful harvest. We also expanded our outreach and education with popups at the Long and Scott Corn Maze and Florida CannaFest. Our retail family continued to grow with Heath’s Natural Foods, New Smyrna Beach, Smoke ‘n Art, Eustis and Altamonte Springs and Wild Hare Kitchen and Garden Emporium, Longwood.

December – Just in time for New Year’s resolutions we launched Starter Packs and 600 mg Essential Blend and Citrus Spice Hemp Extract. We also met a goal to educate on the broader uses of hemp by collaborating with local artisan Ayden on US grown hemp jewelry. Our retail family expand even more as we added Hester Family Care, Eustis. We also were invited to the Villages Medical Marijuana Club event to share knowledge about CBD and our products. We finished the year by harvesting our second crop right before the holidays – something unique to Florida.

We're very thankful for our team and that everyone is still with us as we close this year. Unlike many small businesses, our agriculture business was deemed essential so we were able to keep everyone at work and moving forward. It has been a hard year, but if we stop and think of all that we have accomplished, we can’t help but be hopeful for what is to come. 

We remain focused on the hope that the hemp industry can positively impact Florida farms and families and committed to producing high quality, affordable products for our community.

I once heard that your windshield is larger than your rearview mirror for a reason – spend more time looking forward than looking back. So thanks for letting us take this quick look back but let us all get moving forward to a fresh start in 2021. 

Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram or sign up for our email newsletter so that you can be along for what I am sure will be a monumental ride.