Yesterday Carl’s Jr. got the internet all giddy when it announced it will sell a CBD-infused burger for one day, in one location.
The Rocky Mountain High: CheeseBurger Delight burger will be available on April 20 (duh), at one location in Denver, CO. The burger will come with pickled jalepeños, pepper jack cheese, and Carl’s Jr.’s famous Santa Fe sauce infused with CBD. Naturally, the burger will sell for $4.20, and according to the press release, will be available from 6 a.m. until supplies run out, which I suspect will happen long before closing time.
CBD — that is, cannabidiol, the non-hallucinogenic element in cannabis — is making its way into everything from beauty products to cold-brew coffee to jelly beans.
Advocates tout so-called “wellness,” like relaxation, as one of the benefits of CBD. As yet, however, there is limited research supporting any of these claims. Meanwhile, regulatory framework surrounding production and sale of CBD is still somewhat murky, though the FDA did release a statement at the beginning of April that said the agency was taking steps to regulating foods and drinks infused with CBD.
The burger will contain 5 milligrams of CBD, which some say is well below the 500 milligram amount that makes CBD “effective.”
In any case, I doubt many people will be buying Rocky Mountain High cheeseburgers for their wellness benefits, and Carl’s Jr. is not trying to promote any of them. But a CBD-infused sauce could be intriguing from a taste perspective, and if we take that view of things, Carl’s Jr.’s 4/20 plans make a lot of sense. Of late, the chain has shown great willingness to embrace new trends and ingredients in the food world. The company recently partnered with Beyond Meat to bring a plant-based “flexitarian burger” to its menu, and not long ago came up with a truffle-infused cheddar sauce that you’d typically expect to find in a fancy sit-down restaurant, not a quick-service chain.
“The new Rocky Mountain High: CheeseBurger Delight ties back to our core strategy of being the first to bring bold and unexpected flavors that are at the forefront of hot restaurant trends to a quick service menu,” Patty Trevino, Senior Vice President of Brand Marketing, said in the press release.
If the burger is a hit when it drops this weekend, and if regulators can craft a more solid framework around the buying and selling of CBD, Carl’s Jr. will be well positioned as a leader in using CBD as another ingredient with which to intrigue our palettes.