UNION DES PROFESSIONNELS DU CBD

What UNION DES PROFESSIONNELS DU CBD does

Union des Professionnels du CBD (UPCBD), formally the Union des Professionnels du Cannabis Bien-être et Détente, is a French professional trade association (syndicat professionnel) founded in 2021 and headquartered at 55 avenue Marceau, 75116 Paris. It represents actors across the French CBD value chain — producers, distributors, retailers, and buralistes (tobacconists) — and operates with a small core staff of around nine people led by President Paul MACLEAN and a déléguée générale. UPCBD's principal roles are regulatory advocacy before French and European authorities, legal support for members, scientific liaison (a Scientific Committee chaired by Prof. Nicolas Simon of AP-HM), and industry events. It was a central actor in the post-Kanavape legalization of CBD flowers in France and has since defended the sector against successive restrictive measures, including the PLF 2026 Article 23 proposal (abandoned in January 2026 following UPCBD advocacy) and the DGAL's May 2026 reversal on CBD food products.

The association generates revenue primarily through membership subscriptions and donations. The only publicly disclosed paid tier is the Partenaire Buraliste program for tobacco shop owners, priced at €120 per year (€10/month via SEPA direct debit) and bundling a legal hotline, bi-monthly regulatory webinars, and member newsletters. UPCBD complements this with a free PINACA/synthetic cannabinoid testing campaign (in partnership with Laboratoire Spectral and L'Entrepôt du Chanvrier), training programs delivered with DEMETRIOS, clinical-research collaborations with Centre Artémis in Valenciennes, and a small merchandise boutique. There is no proprietary technology platform; "products" are informational, legal, and community-based services, with a member portal (Espace Adhèrent) and partner documentation section on upcbd.org serving as the digital backbone.

UPCBD's growth model is community-led: it acquires members across the value chain, then monetizes via subscription tiers, partner commissions, donations, and event sponsorship. Its core strategic asset is regulatory standing — the ability to mobilize an industry-wide constituency in defense of CBD's legal status in France — and its principal risk is concentrated entirely in the policy environment, with successive French regulatory shifts capable of materially contracting its addressable member base.

Name

UNION DES PROFESSIONNELS DU CBD

Legal name

Union Des Professionnels Du CBD

Website

https://upcbd.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Union des Professionnels du CBD (UPCBD) is a French non-profit trade association founded in 2021 that represents CBD producers, distributors, retailers, and tobacco shop owners through regulatory advocacy, legal support, scientific partnerships, and member services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership subscriptions: UPCBD generates revenue through annual membership fees paid by professionals in the CBD industry. The "Partenaire Buraliste" (Tobacconist Partner) program charges €120 per year (€10/month) via SEPA direct debit, providing access to legal hotline, webinars, and newsletters.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

UPCBD is a French professional trade association (syndicat professionnel) founded in 2021 that represents actors across the CBD value chain, including producers, distributors, retailers, and tobacco shop owners (buralistes). It delivers membership subscriptions (notably the Partenaire Buraliste program at €120/year), legal hotlines, regulatory advocacy before French and European authorities, scientific partnerships (e.g., with Professeur Nicolas SIMON and Centre Artémis), and access to banking partners and laboratory testing services.

Product overview

UPCBD is a professional association for the French CBD (cannabidiol) industry, not a technology product company. Its offerings consist of a merchandise boutique selling branded items (mugs, caps, t-shirts, USB keys, keychains, pens), a Buraliste Partner membership program providing legal assistance and regulatory guidance for tobacco shops, a member-only portal for privileged access to resources, and partner documentation. The association serves as an advocacy and support organization for CBD businesses rather than offering a software platform or SaaS product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Partenaire Buraliste Program

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Laboratoire Spectral (Slovenia)coreTechnology or Integration · 30 March 2026UPCBD partnered with Laboratoire Spectral (Slovenia) to offer members preferential rates on advanced product testing that detects synthetic cannabinoids (indazoles, PINACA derivatives) using molecular databases. This helps distributors ensure product compliance against NPS contamination.
• Florateck DistributioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 November 2025Co-organizer (alongside UPCBD and Testeur de CBD) of the April 2026 Producer-Distributor Meetup in Poitiers. Florateck hosts the event at its premises (30 Route du 21ème Siècle, Chasseneuil-du-Poitou) and offers free exhibition stands to producer members.
• Testeur de CBDcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 November 2025Independent partner and jury for the April 2026 Producer-Distributor Meetup's product competition, providing objective expert evaluation of CBD products presented by participants.
• L'Entrepôt du ChanvrierminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 January 2025UPCBD collaborated with L'Entrepôt du Chanvrier on the free PINACA K3 Spice testing campaign, distributing test kits to professionals and collecting product contamination data.
• Centre Artémis – Clinique de la femme, ValenciennescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 November 2021Collaboration with Centre Artémis (a multi-disciplinary women's health clinic including midwives, psychopractitioners, dieticians, sophrologists, osteopaths, and physiotherapists) to develop CBD accompaniment protocols, clinical analysis, and a scientific evaluation framework for CBD in wellness and health contexts.
• Laura Prévost and Michael Saiu (Naturopaths, Centre Artémis)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 November 2021Individual naturopaths collaborating with UPCBD within the Centre Artémis framework on CBD wellness protocols.
• DEMETRIOSminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 2 November 2021UPCBD partnered with DEMETRIOS to offer CBD professionals training modules on CBD products and digital/marketing strategy. Training can be financed through OPCO (for employees) and AGEFICE (for business owners).
• PanoramiksminorOthers · 2 November 2021Listed as a partner on UPCBD's official website footer/partners section. Nature of partnership not detailed in available sources.
• EuvaporsminorOthers · 2 November 2021Listed as a partner on UPCBD's official website footer/partners section. Nature of partnership not detailed in available sources.
• Professeur Nicolas SIMON (AP-HM)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 October 2021Professor Nicolas SIMON, Addictologist and Pharmacologist at AP-HM (Marseille), agreed to chair UPCBD's Scientific Committee. The committee's mission includes supporting research on CBD's biochemical effects and designing a randomized double-blind clinical trial on CBD as a substitute for recreational cannabis.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Drug Policy Alliance: US non-profit promoting drug policy reform, including cannabis/CBD decriminalization. Adjacent to UPCBD's mission in the regulatory and societal dimension, but does not represent industry operators as members.

Regional players

• Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance (CHTA): National Canadian hemp industry association with comparable member services (advocacy, research, standards). Comparable in structure and member focus to UPCBD, but operates in Canada.
• National Industrial Hemp Council: US-based organization promoting hemp and CBD industry policy, focused on federal US legislation. Comparable in advocacy-led model and CBD membership base to UPCBD, but serves a different geography.

Direct peers

• Hemp Industries Association: US trade association representing hemp companies, including CBD producers and retailers. Closely analogous to UPCBD in mission (advocacy, education, industry standards) but operating in a different regulatory regime.
• Cannabis Council / Cannabis Trade Federation: US cannabis industry trade association providing advocacy, compliance support, and policy representation to operators. Same member-driven advocacy model as UPCBD, adapted to the US regulatory and commercial context.
• European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA): Brussels-based trade association representing industrial hemp and CBD stakeholders across the EU. Most directly comparable to UPCBD as a hemp/CBD industry body, operating at the supranational level where UPCBD operates nationally in France.
• Syndicat du Chanvre (French hemp union): French professional hemp industry organization representing hemp farmers and processors. Most direct in-country peer to UPCBD, with overlapping French member base but more upstream (agriculture) than UPCBD's full CBD value chain.

Emerging players

• NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws): US-based advocacy organization with international chapters, focused on cannabis law reform and consumer rights. Less industry-trade focused than UPCBD, but overlaps in policy advocacy around cannabis and CBD legality.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/UPCBDfr
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCvYddIslf1-XZ1YD5YJJPLw
• Facebookfacebook.com/unionprocbd
• Instagraminstagram.com/unionprocbd
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/union-des-professionnels-du-cbd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about UNION DES PROFESSIONNELS DU CBD