Who Is CBDfx? A Brand File on One of the Bigger, More Open CBD Names
A large, founder-named California CBD company that posts public lab reports with QR traceability and earns an A+ at the BBB — more transparent than most. The asterisks: it won't name its testing labs, its 'organic' is marketing not certification, and it drew an FDA warning letter in 2022.
By The Kind Buds Desk · 11 min read · Updated 2026-06-28
Kind Buds Brand Transparency Score
One of the bigger, more transparent CBD names — a named entity and founders, public COAs with QR traceability, CO2 extraction, and an A+ BBB. Held to a C by unnamed testing labs, self-asserted (not certified) 'cGMP' and 'organic,' and a 2022 FDA warning letter.
An opinion grade from our transparent 6-pillar methodology, built on publicly sourced facts.
Above-average access: a public lab-report hub and a QR code on packaging that pulls a report, with an ISO-17025 lab claim — but the specific testing labs are never named, and full contaminant panels aren't itemized on the index.
Claims vertically-integrated 'cGMP' manufacturing, but the certification is self-asserted with no named facility, no FDA registration, and no NSF registration found.
US (Kentucky) hemp and supercritical-CO2 extraction are disclosed and ingredients are listed — but 'organic' is used as a marketing descriptor, not a USDA certification, and no farms are named.
A named entity (Newhere, Inc.) and named founders (Ali Esmaili, Jameson Rodgers); privately and founder-controlled. A 2023 Japan deal was a regional distribution transfer, not a US acquisition.
A real, sizable operation — '100+' employees, a Chatsworth CA HQ, and an Inc. 5000 history — though headcount and a meaningful Glassdoor aren't fully public.
An A+ BBB and a large, broadly positive Trustpilot footprint, with no class action or recall we could find — offset by a real 2022 FDA warning letter (an allegation via letter, addressed, no recall).
CBDfx is one of the larger, more established names in CBD — a deep catalog of oils, gummies, vapes, topicals, pet products, and delta-8/9 lines, run out of Southern California since 2014. It also tends to show up on "most transparent CBD brand" lists, which made it worth a careful look. We ran it through our six-pillar Brand Transparency Score and it lands at a C (67/100) — a solid, middle-of-the-pack grade that reflects a genuinely more open company than most, with a few real gaps that keep it from a B.
The good news is that CBDfx does the basics that so many brands in these files skip: it tells you its legal entity and its founders, it posts public Certificates of Analysis with a QR code on the package, and it carries an A+ rating at the Better Business Bureau. The gaps are specific and worth knowing: it won't name the labs that run those COAs, its "cGMP" and "organic" claims are marketing rather than verified certifications, and it received an FDA warning letter in 2022. Here's the receipts-first reality, with the corporate confusions cleared up.
The short version
- Our grade: C (67/100). A more transparent-than-average CBD brand, held back by a few concrete gaps.
- The real strengths. A named entity (Newhere, Inc.) and named founders, public COAs with QR-code traceability, disclosed CO2 extraction, US (Kentucky) hemp, and an A+ BBB rating.
- The lab gap. CBDfx posts reports and claims ISO-17025 labs, but it never names the actual testing labs on its index — so you can't independently judge them.
- Claims vs. certifications. Its 'cGMP' manufacturing and 'organic' hemp are self-asserted marketing language — there's no named facility, no FDA registration, and it's not USDA-certified organic.
- A real 2022 FDA letter. CBDfx (legally Newhere, Inc.) received an FDA warning letter in November 2022 over CBD-in-food and child-appealing forms — an allegation via letter that the company addressed, with no recall. It was NOT part of the 2023 delta-8 'copycat' action.
| What the public record shows | |
|---|---|
| Legal entity | Newhere, Inc. (dba CBDfx), California |
| Founded | 2014 (brand); entity incorporated 2013 |
| Founders named? | Yes — Ali Esmaili (CEO) & Jameson Rodgers |
| HQ | Chatsworth, California |
| Makes its own product? | Claims vertically-integrated cGMP; facility not named |
| Lab testing | Public COAs + QR; ISO-17025 claimed; labs not named |
| Hemp source | US-grown (Kentucky); CO2 extraction; 'organic' (not USDA-certified) |
| BBB rating | A+ (not accredited) |
| FDA action | 2022 warning letter (Newhere Inc dba CBDfx); no recall |
| Related brand | TRĒ House (shared founder/CEO Ali Esmaili) |
CBDfx at a glance — the verified facts
The short version
CBDfx is a bigger-than-average CBD company that gets the fundamentals of transparency right — and then stops a few steps short of the top tier. It names itself and its founders, posts COAs you can pull with a QR scan, and has a clean A+ BBB record. That's more than most. But it won't name the labs behind its reports, its quality and organic claims are marketing rather than certifications, and it has a real FDA warning letter on file. Add it up and you get a credible, middle-of-the-pack C.
We'll separate the sourced facts (the entity, the founders, the FDA letter) from marketing (the "cGMP," the "organic"), credit the genuine openness, and clear up several corporate mix-ups — including a parent company that doesn't appear to exist and an "acquisition" that wasn't one.
Who's behind it? (Named — with a few myths to bust)
CBDfx is a brand of Newhere, Inc. (sometimes styled "NEwhere"), a California corporation based in Chatsworth, incorporated in 2013, with the CBDfx brand launching in 2014. Its co-founders are public and named: Ali Esmaili (CEO) and Jameson Rodgers. Esmaili is also the founder-CEO of TRĒ House, the delta-8/THC brand — so the two are sister brands by shared founder, which we note for context.
Lab testing — good access, unnamed labs
This is where CBDfx is genuinely better than most CBD brands, with one real limitation:
- Public COAs + QR traceability. CBDfx maintains a public lab-report hub organized by product category, and puts a QR code on packaging that links to a corresponding report — exactly the kind of access we want to see.
- An ISO-17025 claim. The company says its reports come from independent, ISO/IEC 17025-accredited labs — the right standard.
- But the labs aren't named. Nowhere on the index does CBDfx identify which labs run its tests, and full contaminant panels (pesticides, heavy metals, solvents, microbials) aren't itemized at the index level. A report from an unnamed lab is still weaker than one from a named, accredited lab you can look up.
Compare that to Koi, which names its ISO-17025 lab (Encore) and has been independently audited for transparency. CBDfx gives you the document and the QR; it just won't tell you who signed it.
Manufacturing and sourcing — claimed well, certified less
On manufacturing, CBDfx describes itself as vertically integrated and says its products are made in cGMP facilities — a more specific quality claim than many make. But, as with several brands here, the certification is self-asserted: no specific facility is named, we found no FDA facility registration, and (unlike some competitors) no NSF GMP registration surfaced. On sourcing, CBDfx does better: it discloses US-grown Kentucky hemp and supercritical-CO2 extraction (which avoids residual-solvent risk), and product pages list ingredients. The caveat is the word "organic" — CBDfx uses it as a marketing descriptor ("organically grown," "pesticide-free"), not as a USDA-certified-organic claim, and it names no specific farms. Good disclosure on method; looser on certification.
The record: clean-ish, with one real FDA mark
CBDfx's record is mostly positive, with one genuine regulatory blemish that we state precisely:
- The positives. An A+ BBB rating (though not accredited), a large Trustpilot footprint (hundreds of reviews, with broadly positive themes around shipping and flavor), an Inc. 5000 history, and — notably — no CBDfx-specific class action or recall that we could find, in an industry where CBD-mislabeling suits are common.
- The 2022 FDA warning letter. In November 2022, the FDA sent a warning letter to "Newhere Inc dba CBDFX" (the recipient name matches CBDfx exactly) over specific products it deemed adulterated because CBD isn't an approved food additive, also flagging forms it considered appealing to children. This is a regulatory allegation via warning letter, not an adjudicated finding, and no recall resulted; the CBD-in-food issue is one the FDA has applied industry-wide. We count it as a real mark, weighted as what it is.
- What we won't pin on it. The separate July 2023 FDA/FTC delta-8 "copycat snacks" action named six other companies — CBDfx was not among them, and we don't attribute it.
The bottom line
In our view, CBDfx is a credible, more-transparent-than-average CBD brand that lands a clean middle grade. It does the things our score rewards — names itself and its founders, posts QR-traceable COAs, discloses its extraction and hemp source, and keeps a clean BBB record — better than most of the field. What keeps it from a B is equally clear: unnamed labs, self-asserted (not certified) cGMP and organic claims, and a real 2022 FDA letter. None of that is alarming; it's the difference between "good" and "best-in-class."
If you buy CBDfx, scan the QR for your product's COA (the access is genuinely there), and read "organic" and "cGMP" as marketing rather than certification. There are CBD brands graded higher here that name their labs and back their certifications — but CBDfx is a reasonable, verifiable choice. A C (67/100) — open where it counts, with room to prove the rest. The full methodology shows every point; if CBDfx names its labs and documents its certifications, this is a B (see the notice below).
Questions, answered
Is CBDfx legit?
Yes — and it's one of the more transparent CBD brands. CBDfx is a brand of Newhere, Inc., a named California company founded in 2014 by Ali Esmaili and Jameson Rodgers, with public COAs (and a QR code on packaging that pulls a report), disclosed CO2 extraction, US-grown Kentucky hemp, and an A+ BBB rating. We grade it a C (67/100) — solidly mid-pack. The gaps that keep it from a B: it doesn't name the actual testing labs behind its COAs, its 'cGMP' and 'organic' claims are marketing rather than verified certifications, and it received an FDA warning letter in 2022 (an allegation via letter, addressed, with no recall).
Who owns CBDfx?
CBDfx is a brand of Newhere, Inc. (also styled NEwhere), a privately held, founder-controlled California corporation based in Chatsworth. Its co-founders are Ali Esmaili (CEO) and Jameson Rodgers; Esmaili is also the founder-CEO of the THC brand TRĒ House, making the two sister brands by shared founder. A few corrections to common myths: there's no public evidence of a 'Modern Health Brands' parent (we don't assert it); a 2023 'Kosmic Market acquisition' label actually reflects a Japan-market distribution transfer, not a US-company sale; and CBDfx is privately held with no public-market listing and no sourced foreign funding.
Are CBDfx's lab tests trustworthy?
They're better-than-average on access, with one real limitation. CBDfx maintains a public lab-report hub and puts a QR code on its packaging that links to a corresponding report, and it says those reports come from ISO/IEC 17025-accredited labs — all good. The limitation: it never names the specific testing labs on its index, and full contaminant panels aren't itemized there, so you can't independently judge the lab's credibility the way you can with a brand that names its accredited lab. Scan the QR for your product, and treat the unnamed-lab gap as the main caveat.
Did CBDfx get an FDA warning letter?
Yes. In November 2022, the FDA sent a warning letter to 'Newhere Inc dba CBDFX' — the recipient name matches CBDfx exactly — citing specific products as adulterated because CBD isn't an approved food additive, and flagging forms it considered appealing to children. It's a regulatory allegation via warning letter, not an adjudicated finding, and no recall resulted; the CBD-in-food position is one the FDA has applied across the industry. Importantly, CBDfx was NOT named in the separate July 2023 FDA/FTC delta-8 'copycat snacks' action, so don't conflate the two. We count the 2022 letter as a real mark on the record, weighted as what it is.
Is CBDfx organic?
Not in the certified sense. CBDfx markets its hemp as 'organically grown' and 'pesticide-free,' and uses supercritical-CO2 extraction, but this is marketing language rather than a USDA-certified-organic claim, and the company doesn't name specific farms. That's a common pattern in CBD — 'organic methods' is not the same as USDA Organic certification. It's not a knock on safety (CO2 extraction is a plus, and the hemp is US-grown in Kentucky), but if certified-organic sourcing matters to you, read CBDfx's 'organic' as descriptive, not certified, and check the product COA.
How did you research this, and is it fair to CBDfx?
Every claim is from a public source — CBDfx's own site and lab-report hub, its BBB profile, the FDA warning-letter record (where the recipient name matches exactly), and corporate databases. We credited its genuine strengths (named entity and founders, QR-traceable COAs, disclosed extraction and hemp source, A+ BBB) and were careful with the rest: we labeled the FDA letter as an allegation via letter that was addressed with no recall, declined to attribute the 2023 delta-8 action to it, refused to assert an unverified 'Modern Health Brands' parent, corrected the 'acquired by Kosmic' mislabel (a Japan distribution deal), and marked the white-label-for-others claim as unverified. If CBDfx names its labs and documents its certifications, we'll update the file — see the notice at the foot of this page.