Although what we see on the shelf is a finished product, the process behind every bottle of CBD oil is not without its challenges. Even the smallest changes during production can drastically alter the integrity and purity of hemp-derived extracts.

Cibdol is a company that not only understands the level of equipment and expertise required to operate in the CBD industry, but sets the standard for purity, quality, and most importantly, transparency. By investing in state-of-the-art technologies, Cibdol is pioneering CBD production, continually striving to improve the customer experience.

Cibdol is Revolutionising CBD Production

To help you understand the level of expertise required to produce high-quality CBD oils, Cibdol splits their end-to-end process into six critical stages of production. By taking you through each stage in detail, you'll see how the company manages to stay one step ahead.

From raw plant material to bottled, market-ready products, below you'll find a detailed look at what's involved technically, alongside the stringent quality control measures taken by Cibdol.

Stage 1: Raw Plant Material

All high-quality CBD products start as premium hemp. Hemp is not only an excellent source of cannabidiol (CBD), but naturally low in tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). However, another of hemp's greatest strengths can also interfere with the integrity of CBD products—if you don't take the necessary precautions. Hemp will instinctively absorb impurities from wastewater and soil. While this is a valuable trait if you're preparing land for fruiting crops, it is less than ideal when extracting CBD.

Anything hemp absorbs inevitably contaminates extracts, damaging their integrity and safety. Cibdol understands hemp's intricacies, ensuring all raw plant material is not only grown naturally, but is free from any chemical pesticides, heavy metals, and additives.

Once harvested, mature hemp plants are shipped to their Swiss laboratories, where milling and processing begin.

Stage 2: Milling and Processing

Although a relatively straightforward stage, it's crucial raw plant material is prepared correctly before undergoing extraction. Because it's the flowers from mature hemp plants that contain the highest levels of CBD, all plant material has to be carefully checked—by hand. Any stems or foreign objects are removed, before the flowers are milled into a fine powder.

Stage 3: Supercritical CO₂ Extraction

Extraction is where we get our first glimpse of CBD, and it's also the stage Cibdol is most proud of.

The equipment needed to facilitate supercritical CO₂ extraction is incredibly expensive. Regardless, Cibdol has chosen to invest, becoming one of the few CBD producers with the machinery to manage this process in-house.

If you've never heard of CO₂ extraction before, the process involves pushing naturally occurring CO₂ past its critical point. With the right combination of temperature and pressure, CO₂ transforms into a state where it displays properties of both a gas and a liquid. By washing raw plant material with supercritical CO₂, crucial compounds (cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids) are stripped away, binding with the supercritical solution.

The precision of CO₂ extraction ensures the removal of unwanted elements without destroying CBD and other essential chemicals. It's also highly sustainable. Any leftover CO₂ is either re-used in the next cycle of extraction, or released safely back into the atmosphere.

Stage 4: Decarboxylation

With the supercritical CO₂ solution in hand, it's now time to “activate” the CBD.

Inside the hemp plant, CBD naturally exists as CBDA, a raw, unactivated version of the cannabinoid. For CBDA to fully interact with our innate endocannabinoid system (ECS), it first needs to have its carboxyl group removed (the "A").

To do this, CBDA is heated via a series of pressurised chemical reactions. It's also during decarboxylation that the first stages of filtration occur, removing smaller impurities such as chlorophyll.

Cibdol uses chemical reactions to activate raw CBDA, as it delivers a superior level of control compared to heating processed hemp extract in decarboxylation ovens.

Stage 5: Distillation and Filtration

It's important not to overlook distillation and filtration. Although by this stage most hemp extracts will show some degree of purity, it's still not up to the golden-grade standard set by Cibdol.

Distillation takes care of unwanted fats in the hemp extract. It also provides an opportunity to separate cannabinoids, isolating less-abundant compounds such as CBG and CBN for use in full-spectrum formulas.

Cibdol believes in harnessing full-spectrum extracts because of the advantages provided by the entourage effect. This unique phenomenon boosts the influence of cannabinoids, but only when they exist together. It's why you'll find trace amounts of other non-toxic cannabinoids in Cibdol's CBD oils, capsules, and supplements.

Once the cannabinoid ratio is set, a final round of filtration takes place under sterile conditions away from the rest of the production floor. This crucial step removes any microbes that may have survived the previous stages.

Stage 6: Bottling

With the hemp extract fully prepared, all that remains is to combine the required concentration of full-spectrum CBD with a carrier oil such as olive oil or hemp seed oil. Not only do these carriers have nutritional benefits, but they improve the body's absorption of CBD.

It's also important to highlight that, at this stage, Cibdol sends samples from every batch of CBD to an independent third party for analysis.

Once verified, the chemical breakdown is published to the Cibdol website for customers to access. This "certificate of analysis" not only confirms the contents of Cibdol's CBD products, but validates the concentration too.

Cibdol: Setting the Industry Standard for Quality and Transparency

Throughout the entire production process, Cibdol goes above and beyond the current industry standard. As a result, all CBD oils are a gorgeous golden hue, reflecting Cibdol's commitment to "Swiss purity" at every stage.

Cibdol shows a clear understanding of how important transparency and quality are to its customers, peers, and the global reputation of CBD. As the CBD industry remains largely unregulated, it takes a degree of passion rarely seen to set the standards for production, rather than overlook them. But it’s a challenge Cibdol is happy to take on.