Tag Archives: preroll

August 10, 2023

The Infused Pre-Roll Revolution: How to Ride the Wave and Boost Your Brand

By Johnathan McFarlane

While pre-rolls are finally getting their moment, posting notable growth across virtually every market, much of that growth has been powered by the infused pre-roll subcategory. In Michigan, for example, infused pre-rolls now make up over 40% of the category, and 9 of the top 10 best selling pre-roll products are infused. But what’s driving this trend? How can brands capitalize on this new opportunity?

A galaxy of variations… and differentiation.

Once saturation and price compression rear their ugly heads, cultivators in maturing markets quickly realize that producing just flower is a tenuous position. You are beholden exclusively to the price of flower, and it is often the first category that begins a race to the bottom. Diversifying your offerings, specifically with value-added products, is a necessary path to protect your brand and continue to grow as competition heats up. Pre-rolls are a common first step beyond flower because it’s a relatively convenient step. Many smokers roll flower into joints anyways, so why don’t we do it for them? It’s also been the only category to show steady, consistent growth across virtually all markets. The problem is that none of this is a secret, and so the pre-roll category can get crowded quickly. To stand out amongst the crowd, many brands are turning to a subcategory with an almost limitless potential for differentiation: infused pre-rolls.

While standard pre-rolls have only two ingredients (paper and flower), by adding an infused element to the product you introduce an almost limitless potential for differentiated products. “Our team is doing a lot of R&D on pairing the right flower with the right extract to create an entirely new experience,” says Jason Nelson, CEO of BeLeaf in Missouri. “We’re hearing a lot of legacy consumers talking about the entourage effect between flower and extract, which is something that is still being explored.”

Almost anything can be infused into pre-rolls: distillate, diamonds, rosin, shatter, the list goes on. Not only that, the concentrates and extracts world expands nearly every day with some new creation, which means the infused pre-roll subcategory expands along with it. “There are tens of thousands of combinations you could make,” says Nelson. “The sky is limitless, assuming you have the right technology in place to produce them consistently.”

Being the same as everyone else can mean death for a cannabis brand, but creating unique products that few other brands have – that’s the key. Separate yourself from your competitors.

Pack more punch… and more profit

It’s no secret that many brands use their less-than-premium flower in their pre-rolls. That’s a big part of what has historically given the pre-roll category a reputation for poor quality. We often answer questions from customers asking how much trim they can include in their pre-rolls. While we advocate for always using quality flower and little to no trim, there is still a place for budget-friendly products in the category. That’s where many brands find an excellent use-case for infusion. You can infuse average flower with distillate (or some other extract) and even fruit terpenes to give it a significant “glow-up.” With the right combination, a very average budget pre-roll can be turned into a product that tastes better, smells better, is more efficacious and is more profitable than a non-infused, low-end pre-roll.

In a competitive market, value-added products are important and infused pre-rolls add value two degrees past flower. That translates to better margins and more cushion from the fluctuation of flower pricing.

“Our infused pre-rolls average retail price is more than double that of our non-infused products,” says Noah Levine, head of Oregon-based category leader Benson Arbor. “But our cost to produce an infused pre-roll is less than double non-infused. We end up with significantly higher profit on our infused products.”

Of course, there is more to consider beyond just profit. But CEO of The Clear, Rich Batenburg, Jr. has an important reminder to everyone in the cannabis business: “Remember, prices never go up in cannabis! Before launching a product into this subcategory, you need to determine if it has sufficient margin to sustain the line over time.”

Collaborate to accelerate

Collaborations between brands are becoming more and more common in the cannabis industry, especially between brands that specialize in separate categories. It’s not a new concept – craft breweries have been using this tactic for years. Fans of each brand get exposed to the other, and in some instances even get introduced to a new category. It’s become so common, in fact, that many brands exclusively create collaborative products.

A DialedIn and Terrapin Care Station collaboration

Although they focus on live-rosin edibles, DialedIn Gummies in Colorado used this tactic to power their meteoric rise over the past several years. Every single DialedIn SKU is a collaboration with a different grower. DialedIn’s VP of Sales Keith Portman says, “Our collaborations have been a huge factor in our success. Including our partner’s logo on our tins helps promote their brand as well as ours, and helps us establish great relationships. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with over 100 rosin makers and cannabis growers.”

A side-bonus is that co-marketing and co-branding products usually comes with either a discount on purchased ingredients (like flower) or simply a revenue share or royalty without any additional capital needed. We’re now seeing this trend pop up in the pre-roll game as well; co-marketed infused pre-rolls are becoming common projects between concentrate and flower brands.

It’s about gaining something you might not normally have access to. Noah Levine at Benson Arbor points out, “We partner with farms that grow strains that we normally don’t, so it widens our selection. And, it helps with the hype. We leverage the popularity of both brands to create something that’s unique, and often a limited-run, which builds a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) and curiosity with the consumer.”

Infused pre-roll manufacturing gets easier

When infused pre-rolls began hitting the market several years ago, they were difficult and time-consuming to make, so they were primarily marketed as a luxury option. That is no longer true. With machines like the RollPros Blackbird that can handle homogenized, infused plant material, or the Sorting Robotics Jiko, that automates injection infusion, producing infused pre-rolls is becoming more cost effective and more automated.

Nohtal Partansky, CEO of Sorting Robotics says, “The infusion process was the most labor intensive part of manufacturing a pre-roll. It was impossible to do at scale. But now with the right automation equipment it’s easier and more affordable. You can make a significantly better, more consistent product with a dramatically lower labor cost.”

Beyond the lower labor costs, the right equipment even allows you to create products that simply weren’t possible to make by hand in a commercial setting. “We have a customer on the East Coast that makes a blunt infused with live rosin and then coated in by crushed diamonds,” Nohtal continues, “that product really wouldn’t have been possible to manufacture even two years ago.”

The RollPros Blackbird presents another example of infused pre-roll manufacturing becoming more automated and easier. The Blackbird can create certain types of infused pre-rolls without any additional equipment. Kyle Loucks, CEO of RollPros says, “More and more of our customers are using the Blackbird to produce infused. Some use it exclusively for that purpose. They infuse and homogenize the flower first and run it through the Blackbird to roll it up. We are seeing some really unique products come off our units.”

What’s next?

Data from virtually every market shows significant growth in the infused pre-roll subcategory, and the momentum shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. By adding an extra element to their pre-rolls, brands can stand out in a crowded market by diversifying their offerings and using infusions to increase potency and profits. Pre-roll automation equipment has made the manufacturing process easier and more affordable, allowing brands of all sizes to create complex infused products. With popular options ranging from distillate infusion to kief dusting to crushed-diamond coating, there is something for everyone in this burgeoning product category. In the midst of this flourishing landscape, the infusion of creativity, technology and advanced manufacturing processes continues to propel the infused pre-roll category forward, solidifying its place as a dynamic and lucrative dimension within the cannabis industry.

May 17, 2023

Rise of the Machines: The Case for Automation in the Cannabis Industry

By Kyle Loucks

No Comments

The Case for Automation in the Cannabis Industry

History has shown that if companies fail to innovate when new technology emerges, even household name brands with enormous market share can squander their success if they are blind to anything that could ever unseat them from the top.

Kodak developed digital camera technology in the 1970s but didn’t envision a world where the film market wasn’t dominant. Toys R’ Us failed to adapt to the changing retail landscape, and Amazon became the chief source of online toy sales. Blockbuster famously laughed Netflix out of the room when the now-$149 billion behemoth sought to sell for a measly $50 million.

A “knockbox”-style unit for producing prerolls

Brands in the cannabis landscape can also fall victim to this same misstep. New technologies are driving the industry forward, yet many brands are still standing by sub-par processes. Whether due to misplaced beliefs around automation or an unwillingness to invest, cannabis brands could suffer the same fate as many of these bygone-era brands.

The Financial Argument: Automation Reduces Overhead

The financial argument for automation is at the top of the list of motivators for most cannabis businesses. A great example of this is with pre-roll production. For cannabis brands still employing a “dexterous approach” to their pre-roll manufacturing, staying afloat to keep up with demand is a constant battle. Rebel Spirit, currently the number one pre-roll brand in Oregon, was burning through eye-welling amounts of money in labor costs to produce 300,000 pre-rolls per month. With a crew of 22 full-time pre-roll manufacturers, the team at Rebel Spirit quickly realized their process was unsustainable, and they were headed for an economic crisis if they didn’t cut costs.

They were using a knockbox-style unit which they had modified themselves in an attempt to force it to fit their needs. But this “semi-automated” solution simply wasn’t working. Rebel Spirit then turned to our team at RollPros to clean up and fully automate their production process, helping them to create quality pre-roll at scale with a fraction of the labor costs. (We are the Vancouver, WA-based designer and manufacturer of the Blackbird automated joint rolling system.) For them, it wasn’t a matter of greed, as some opponents of automation sometimes claim; it was simply a choice of going out of business or not. In competitive markets like the Beaver State, where every dollar counts, the case for automation was a no-brainer.

The Remote Argument: Automation Reduces Risk Of Human Error

It’s a basic concept: the more human interaction in your processes, the more risk for error. We, as flawed humans, are simply not capable of being as precise or consistent in our work as a machine can be. Consider the cultivation process. Most experienced cultivators will tell you that growing cannabis is easy, but growing quality cannabis is very difficult, with a lot that can go wrong.

Enter one of the most valuable automation tools for cannabis cultivators – automated irrigation systems. With your irrigation systems and nutrients on autopilot, cultivators can ensure plants get the ideal mix of nutrients regardless of whether you are on-site, remote or facing a staffing crunch. Sensors can provide real-time data so that water, nutrients or even light can be adjusted as needed. In many cases, even these adjustments can be automated. (Think AI hasn’t entered the cannabis space yet? Think again!) Sure, there is always a potential for issues no matter how advanced a system you use. But when you compare this to a farmer using a manual watering and nutrient system, there are far fewer opportunities for mistakes. Does a human feel the difference between .94 gallons of water and 1 gallon of water? No. But a well-calibrated irrigation system can tell the difference and even alert you if it goes outside of whatever tolerance limits you set.

When the cost of flower is high, human errors that lead to damaged or inferior product are often overlooked. But when flower prices drop as markets mature, success versus failure can be balanced on a knife-edge, and cultivators can’t afford to make mistakes.

The Skynet Argument: Automation Increases Productivity Without Taking Your Job

Whether AI is coming for our jobs or will destroy human creativity as we know it has been argued ad nauseum since the release of AI tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney. The good news? Automating your business doesn’t mean enlisting the T-1000 from Terminator 2 to terminate your 9-to-5. Think of automation as Arnold Schwarzenegger telling you to come with him if you want to live.

The Green Vault automated packaging system

The truth is that any task that needs to be completed frequently or on a set schedule is ripe for automation. Automation eliminates tethering your most talented employees to cog-in-the-machine work that wastes their time and abilities. Freeing them up to focus on more high-value tasks like customer service, marketing, or new product development will likely make your business more profitable long term, and make your employees happier with their work.

No industry has been spared from the impacts of industrial automation, says Amar Olgeirsson, CEO and founder of Green Vault Systems, but, “labor is typically not reduced as a result of automation.” Instead, “production is increased, and workers’ value increases because of higher production in terms of units produced per labor time. By increasing worker efficiency, companies and corporations are able to pay their workers a higher salary,” says Olgeirsson.

The Performance Argument: Automation Guarantees Consistent Quality Every Time

Expansion across state lines means consumers know they can buy the same quality product whether they buy it on the East Coast or West Coast. You know that you can buy your favorite Red Blend wine whether you’re in Denver or Atlanta and expect to enjoy the same tasting glass (barring any unintended oxidization). If a customer purchases that same glass of wine, and it doesn’t meet their expectations of what it should be (it’s inconsistent with the last time they had it), a brand is essentially breaking a promise to that customer. When a customer doesn’t get what they want and expect out of a product, they’ll quickly move on to a competitor. Consistency builds loyalty… inconsistency destroys it.

The cannabis industry is notorious for producing inconsistent products. It’s not surprising, considering the near-total ban on state-to-state commerce, (thanks federal government!) And, of course, the variation that can occur from crop to crop, batch to batch or facility to facility. There are so many variables to just the cultivation process; the amount of light a crop gets, the type and dosage of nutrients, the growing medium that’s used, the amount of air flow in the facility… The list goes on, and that’s just the first of many processes needed before a product ends up on shelves! It’s nearly impossible for humans to manually manage and ensure consistency of all these variables without the help of some level of automation.

Nohtal Partansky, ex-NASA-JPL engineer and CEO of Los Angeles-based Sorting Robotics, teamed up with fellow NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory colleagues Cassio Santos and Sean Lawlor to found their firm that creates next-generation hardware and software for cannabis industry producers.

“Automation in the cannabis industry plays a crucial role in maintaining product consistency by reducing human error and standardizing processes across cultivation, extraction, and packaging,” says Partansky. “If brands are going to expand across states, consistency is a requirement if customer loyalty is ever going to be a market driver for sales.”

The Contamination Argument: Automation Limits Human Error & Contamination Risk and Improves Product Safety

Our industry demands very strict safety standards. Our customers deserve safe products, but beyond that, the testing requirements mandated by regulations in most markets are very, very strict. Each and every human touchpoint in your processes carries with it additional contamination risk. Even with stringent protocols, mold, mildew and other unwanted crits can more easily venture their way into final products as the human variable increases.

Automation minimizes these risks and improves the safety of the product for consumers, and reduces the risk of recalls or other regulatory issues. Consider that for many cannabis businesses in hyper-saturated, competitive markets, a significant product recall can be the end of the road. Automating production processes provides a reliable and consistent solution in an industry that demands the highest safety and quality standards.

“The new and burgeoning Cannabis industry and its consumers are no exception and possibly benefit it more than other industries. The medicinal qualities of Cannabis products make consistency, quality, safety, and traceability paramount to the consumer. Cannabis products are most often consumed by ingestion into the lungs which means product cleanliness and quality are essential to safety. Chemically derived oils and extracts would not be possible without automation equipment. Again, industrial automation is a huge benefit to the Cannabis space, to the producers, their employees, and maybe most importantly to the consumer”.

Amar Olgeirsson, CEO & Founder, Green Vault Systems

Olgeirsson’s take on products created on specialized automation equipment? “Products produced on purpose-built machinery are more consistent and of a higher quality which lends itself to better oversight, enhanced traceability, and improved product safety.”

The Physical Argument: Automation Eliminates Tedious & Overhead-Heavy Tasks

In an increasingly competitive marketplace like cannabis, streamlining processes and reducing the liabilities that come with human labor – like being sidelined from Carpal Tunnel – is key. Let’s consider the trimming component of the post-harvest process. Manual trimming is monotonous, low-paying for workers, and an unrealistic way to harvest cannabis at scale. Also, it’s hard to be successful when team-wide prescriptions for night-time wrist splints are a threat.

Leaning into “hand-trimmed” as a differentiator for your brand? Many connoisseurs will argue that hand-trimmed bud is superior because buds stay aesthetic and trichomes aren’t lost. That may have been true in the early days of automated trimming machines, but with today’s crop of super-sophisticated trimming technology, it is now nothing more than a myth. (Yes, myths and misled traditions can be difficult to overcome in our industry, but I digress…)

The Mobius M108S Trimmer, for example, allows operators to reduce the staff required to process thousands of pounds of product every year without compromising quality. It’s next-gen tech not found on traditional trimmers can produce hand-trim quality buds with minimal trichome loss.

When flower prices are high, especially in the case of newly-legalized markets, it can be easy for operators to overlook the cost of trimming, and pay their employees higher wages to offset the physical risks to their bodies. But what about when product prices inevitably fall once the post-legalization honeymoon period wears off? It’s unrealistic (and unethical, I believe), to pay employees minimum wage while putting their health and safety at a significant risk. In the above example, at some point, your operations will grow to a point where hand-trimming will dig you further into a fiscal hole every time you harvest.

The Future Argument: Automation Isn’t Going Away (and Your Competitors Know It)

Automation could cause you to lose people, just not in the way you might think. Ultimately, competitors in any space will invest in new technology to streamline people, processes and tools to establish a competitive advantage. This investment puts them in a better position to attract talented employees that stick around for the long term.

Automation is like a boat motor in the 21st century, and companies that don’t use it are paddling against the current. Sure, you can use a wooden oar, but your competitors know paddling is too much work and will strap a motor to theirs. The truth is that companies that drag their feet out of stubbornness or inability to see how the current situation could ever change will often find their employees jumping ship to go elsewhere.

“I strongly believe that automation not only propels our industry forward but also sets the stage for a more profitable future in cannabis production for those that embrace technology rather than fight it,” says Ryan Hoitt, CEO, developer & founder of Vape Jet in Portland. “I can confidently say that it enables businesses to fine-tune operations, improve product quality, and achieve unmatched consistency.”

Saying that you will eventually be forced to automate sounds harsh, but it’s largely true. As soon as your competitors deploy automated processes, they gain an advantage. If you don’t do the same, it will become more difficult to compete, stay profitable and stay in business.

The Consumer Argument: Automation Provides Consumers More Options

Automation isn’t going away, and it’s certainly not a fad like pogs or planking. Automation drives lower production costs, which means lower-priced products for consumers. This process has been behind the dramatic increases in global living standards and population growth since the birth of the Industrial Revolution and is not likely to change anytime soon.

Automation allows producers to manufacture a broader range of products and focus on providing the consumer with more options. Consumers want to be in control of their purchasing decisions, and companies that deliver variety will be the ones to reap the rewards.

Embrace the Future with Automation

History has shown us time and again that failure to innovate can lead even the most prominent brands to fall victim to their inability, or unbelief, in the necessity to evolve. Automation is a no-brainer in crowded and competitive markets.

No doubt, the future of the cannabis industry will trend toward automation. Businesses embracing it will have a significant advantage over those that do not. Companies that drag their feet in the face of disruptive automation risk resigning to the same fate as those brands that underestimated technology at the expense of their own existence. No industry is immune from disruption, and there will be dynamic entrepreneurs who will come along and see to it. Embrace the change, embrace automation and technology, and you’ll increase your chances of winning in the cannabis industry!

August 16, 2022

The Top 3 Ways to Find the Right Automation Tools for Your Cannabis Operations

By Nohtal Partansky

No Comments

In an emerging industry like cannabis, there’s always going to be the latest and greatest tool or technology to improve operations that are just in their infancy. In fact, as a cannabis business operator, it’s likely you hear from at least one or two salespeople a week, selling the next best thing to make your operations that much more efficient.

But, not every piece of technology or tool is well-suited for each individual operation. Even more, some solutions are just temporary band-aids and aren’t built for longevity or for the future maturation of the budding industry.

Of course, at a time when cannabis businesses are struggling to even turn a profit – it’s even more important to look at your processes, and automate or optimize what you can to increase your bottom line.

So, how can you make the right decision when it comes to making an investment in automation technology? Keep reading to learn the top 3 tips for successfully vetting automation tools for efficacy, efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Tip #1 – Identifying what to automate

The goal of streamlining operations with automation technology isn’t to ‘automate anything and everything’. It’s automating the right parts of production to help scale growth and increase profitability. To do so, operators should look at bottlenecks in their production line or process.

Once you’ve identified the areas that slow production, it’s time to look at which areas are better candidates for automation than others. For instance, tasks that are highly variable are not ideal for automation. That’s because every time a variance occurs, you’ll spend extra time and effort reconfiguring your automation tool or technology to match.

It’s those bottlenecks in production that are repetitive and don’t vary often that are optimal to increase efficiency. For instance – infusing pre-rolls, filling vape carts or packing master cases would be prime candidates for automation.

To dip your toes into the automated waters – find one of those highly repeatable tasks, purchase a small, cost-effective solution and see just how it impacts productivity. If you see that a small change made a big difference – there’s scalability. After this due diligence, you can move forward in contacting more robust manufacturers for improved equipment designed for long-term use and wide scale implementation.

Tip #2 – Choosing the right manufacturer

Speaking of manufacturers – choosing the right one is just as crucial. It shouldn’t come as a shock that not all technology or equipment can be treated equally. If the type of automation technology or equipment you choose is produced by a variety of manufacturers, here are the top things to consider when deciding which is right for you:

Customer support – You might think, ‘how hard can it be’ or fall for the sales pitch that a tool or piece of equipment is so easy to implement – reliable, dependable, and accessible support isn’t necessary. But that could not be farther from the truth. When questions or issues arise with the automation technology you choose – you don’t want to lose time, production, or money while you wait for a solution. Even though technology with customer support may cost more upfront, think of it this way. You’ll either pay up now or later. So, what will you choose? Paying a premium from the start to hit the ground running with 5-star equipment, technology and support? Or, saving a couple of bucks now, just to lose time and productivity due to a lack of customer support and lower-quality technology later.
Manufacturer experience – In cannabis, most manufacturers come from other fields and lend their experience and skills to new areas of operation and production. That means you’ll want to take a hard look at the team’s core roots and where they come from to understand just how their work will translate. Looking for professionals who are trained in high-tolerance, precision engineering is ideal for automation. Working with teams with this temperament ensures that they typically hold themselves to a high standard. Just remember, the team you’ll work with is a culmination of people who create a result. It all comes down to whether the team you choose has a track record of doing so, and how well they’ve served prior customers, too.
Customer reviews – Want to discover how good or bad the team is, beyond what they tell you themselves or before it’s too late? To truly find out, ask their past or current customers.

Tip #3 – Learning from others

Of course, looking at successful operations and what they’ve chosen to automate for efficiency always helps, too. So, what is one common area that operators are increasingly optimizing for significant ROI on automation investments and efforts?

Most operations can increase efficiency by automating labeling.

Label applications. Label application is one process that almost any cannabis business can see an immediate return on investment in, across the board. While other areas of automation will vary and rely heavily on your volume, individual bottlenecks, and unique drops in productivity – most cannabis operations can increase efficiency by automating this non-varying, highly repeatable task.

The Final Word – Using Automation To Your Advantage

Automation technology exists for a good reason. It helps cannabis business operators maximize efficiency, stay in compliance, reduce costs over time and, in turn, increase profits. But the wrong automation technology for your processes won’t do anything of the sort. It will only muddy operations, waste precious capital and set you back in the long run.

So use these three tips to find the right automation technology tools, software and solutions to use to your advantage – before your competitors get a leg up.

June 2, 2022

A Q&A with Everett Smith, Co-Founder & CEO of Presidential

By Aaron Green

No Comments

Infused flower and infused pre-rolls are two segments of the cannabis flower market sought after by consumers for their high THC content. Moon rocks are a type of infused flower product made by infusing flower with sticky concentrate and then rolling the sticky flower in kief. THC content of moon rocks often exceeds 50%.

Presidential is one of the largest infused flower cannabis companies and the third largest pre-roll brand in California, with products available in over 400+ retail stores such as MedMen, Gorilla RX, Sherbinskis, La Brea Collective and Royal Greens. Presidential’s success and growth has primarily been organic through word of mouth. Presidential recently launched the Presidential Suite in WeHo, a speakeasy-style lounge with entrance through a subway car inside a NY-style pizzeria, Esco’s . The suite offers events including exclusive cannabis industry nights as well as “pizza parties” held jointly with Esco’s.

We interviewed Everett Smith, co-founder and CEO of Presidential. Everett co-founded Presidential in 2012 following a professional basketball career in Europe. He has a background in marketing and brand development.

Aaron Green: Everett, how did you get involved in the cannabis industry?

Everett Smith: It was really just by chance. I was in Vegas after I was done playing ball overseas. I was working 9 to 5 at the convention center for a company called Freeman. I was out waiting for some clients and I met this guy who started talking to me about cannabis, about this company he was starting and how his friend was manufacturing the product for him. I didn’t love my job. I was looking for something exciting to do. So, I got their information, and I took him up on it and I called them every day for almost three months. Then it finally got together and long story short, we started.

Everett Smith, co-founder and CEO of Presidential

Green: What year was that?

Smith: That was in 2012.

Green: So, you met this person in 2012 and then three months later had it up and going?

Smith: Long story short, yes. After three months, we finally got together and got all the parameters figured out and then we started to create the brand, get the packaging, get the product, and put it out to the street. That all probably took six to eight months.

Green: Presidential is known for moon rocks and infused pre-rolls. How did you hit upon the concept of infused flower? Why did you make that your focus?

Smith: The gentleman I was talking about before – he’s no longer our partner – was manufacturing for his friend and that’s what he did, so that’s what we got introduced to and then as soon as we started selling it, I just found ways that it could be improved. I listened to the customers we were selling to. My old partner wasn’t willing to do that due to the manufacturing time, so we took it into our own hands and got an investor, my partner now, John Zapp, and we figured out how to manufacture it ourselves. We had zero idea what we were doing and we figured it out. I have to give credit to John, he is the one who figured out the formula we are using right now. There was a lot of bumping our heads, a lot of trial and error, a lot of figuring it out. And luckily, we did.

Green: You mentioned you felt like other companies weren’t doing it right. What was the difference that Presidential brought to the table?

Smith: Quality. These other companies were focused on profit margin. They weren’t using quality products. They were using the same product twice in different things, which is the ultimate no-no. I just found that if you started with high-quality raw goods, and put them together, you are going to have an even better product.

Growing up my mom was kind of a hippy. We just like stuff from the earth. Good organic stuff. So, we were taking flower that I knew was being grown organically at the time and then infusing it and it created a better product. We packaged it better than anybody else’s packaging at the time. I have a background in marketing so at that time, I was just trying to create a product and a brand that my friends and I would like. I thought we were our target user at the time. I was working in my late 20s.

Green: Where were you located at the time?

Smith: We were in Los Angeles.

Green: What were some of the challenges of launching a brand in Los Angeles back in 2012?

Smith: Some of the challenges included: education of the consumer; getting clients in the door and making them feel safe to come into a dispensary and purchase medicine at the time; and the legalities – maneuvering all the different propositions that were coming down and being able to do it legally and safely. The legal issues were probably our biggest hurdle. Then there was the challenge of introducing people to Moon Rocks. Infused flower was a brand-new concept, so we had to find as many people as we could to introduce the product to.

Green: I’m just imagining back to 2012, I think Moon Rocks would have been completely new to me. How did you get customers over the hump of trying something new?

Smith: I would get big jars of Moon Rocks. They look crazy. We saw people walk by and just watched the reactions. It was like, “Whoa, what’s that? What in the world is that?” Then we use the tagline: “World’s Strongest”. We’re starting with nice, tasty flower. We’re putting 90% THC distillate on it and then when we’re taking kief in the mid 40s 50s (% THC), and we’re covering it. So we’re putting THC on top of THC of on top of THC.

Putting “The World’s Strongest” on there and just putting big jars out in front of as many people, at as many conventions, and at as many dispensaries that would let us set up a patient appreciation day. That’s how we did it.

Green: You are in retailers across California. What were the keys to your success in building out your distribution network?

Smith: Sales. Knocking on doors. My partner comes from the car business. He was a fixer-upper helping dealerships all over the country become more profitable. So, just having that mentality of going out every day and knocking on doors trying to get every single possible client. I want to say it was like being a car salesman and Hollywood, or something similar. At first it was me and John every day knocking on doors. Then the business built on itself.

We have the same process now. Knock on the doors and send our brand ambassadors in there to do customer appreciation. They get our product in front of people and it’s worked for us. The marketing money we do spend we spend in the stores, because we see a direct correlation there. At the end, it really goes back to the knocking on doors.

Green: Do you notice anything different between 2012 sales and prospecting versus today now that your brand awareness has changed?

Smith: Absolutely. Everything is very corporate now. Before 2014, you could knock on the door and the person that you needed to see was sitting right there. The owner was the buyer. Now, you have to get through layers of people to get to the actual decision-maker because they’ve become so corporate. So that’s the biggest difference I see, but I wouldn’t say it’s a negative. I would say that our industry has become more positive. We can guarantee regular pay. We can guarantee that the products are going to be on the shelves and we can cut or markup the pricing. Those are the changes I see and they’re not always easy, but I think they’re for the better.

Green: What does the future look like for Presidential? More broadly, what does the future look like for the industry in terms of infused flower and pre-rolls?

Smith: Right now, the infused flower market is one of the fastest-growing markets. I see that becoming the norm, and the same for pre-rolls. We’re looking at expansion and trying to become one of the national players in this game. We’re swinging for the fences.

Green: What geographies are you looking at?

Smith: Right now we’re in California. We are in negotiations to launch in Nevada in July. We were getting ready to launch in Oklahoma, but had a deal fall through so now we are kind of switching gears. I would say by end of year we’ll be in Oklahoma, and my partner John is trying to close a deal for Michigan. So, those are the markets we have on the table right now. We’re looking to close those all before the end of the year.

Green: What trends are you following in the industry?

Smith: We have the number one selling blunt in California, but in terms of pre-rolls we are number four in terms of sales. The three companies ahead of us all sell minis and packs of minis, whereas we sell single 1 gram and 1.5 gram pre-rolls. So, in July, we’re launching three-packs of minis, so three 0.7 gram blunts and three 0.5 gram pre-rolls.

You can infuse the flower with pretty much any kind of concentrate the way that we do it. I’d like to come out with some diamond products, that’s hot right now. We’re following the wave and trends of the concentrates.

Green: What in your personal life or in cannabis are you most interested in learning about?

Smith: In my personal life, I’m interested in financial craftiness. You know, make your money and make your money work for you. I personally, in the business, would like to learn more about the smokeless form factors of cannabis. Things like beverages and capsules. I think that’s where the industry will end up going. So, I’m interested in learning more about the manufacturing of beverages and capsules and what it entails.

Green: Thanks Everett, that concludes the interview.

Smith: Thanks, Aaron.