Peter Barsoom - The Brand that Pioneered Functional Cannab*s

On this episode, we’re joined by Peter Barsoom, the Co-Founder & CEO of 1906, the fast-acting, function-first cannabis brand that has defied the odds to become a leader in the space.

A former Wall Street exec turned plant-medicine operator, Peter breaks down how 1906 customized their rapid onset tech, why they started with pressed pills and how naming SKUs by effect helped create an entirely new lane in cannabis.

Peter takes us inside 1906’s R&D playbook, the terpenes and edibles myth, and best-selling SKUs.

We also dive into what’s broken in the dispensary experience, where hemp-derived products are headed, and how 1906 became the largest importer of kanna in North America.

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Episode Highlights:

💊 Why pressed pills came first
🧪 Rapid onset tech: platform basics, patents, and real-world onset times
🧉 Edibles & terpenes: A myth
🔬 How 1906 validates efficacy
🏆 Best-selling SKUs
🤝 State-by-state expansion
🎨 Brand identity, clear effect naming, and packaging strategy
🛍️ What’s broken in dispensary CX
🌿 The hemp landscape
🥂 Off Duty: a flavorless, sugar-free “add to anything” beverage in your pocket
🌺 Kanna
👥 The 1906 team

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Table of Contents:

 00:52:17 - 1906 intro and origin story
 03:57:07 - The early days of product development
 07:53:09 - Rapid onset tech, patents
 10:39:01 - Edibles and terpenes, it’s a “myth”
 12:10:28 - How the rapid onset tech works
 14:00:00 - How 1906 decided what SKUs (effects) to launch with first
 15:35:03 - Validating the efficacy of a product in development
 19:24:12 - Best selling SKUs
 21:03:21 - Building strong, state-by-state partnerships
 25:28:25 - Brand identity, messaging, packaging design
 29:05:07 - Succeeding where others have failed
 34:23:25 - The flaws of the dispensary customer experience
 37:01:22 - Where hemp is heading
 41:50:27 - Off Duty, the new new
 45:47:23 - 1906 is the largest importer of Kanna in N.A.
 46:49:16 - The 1906 team

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Links:

1906 – https://1906.shop/
Follow Peter on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/pbarsoom/
Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/
Check out https://www.kitprint.co/ for CPG production design support.

Transcript

0:01

today we're speaking with Peter Barsoum who is the founder and CEO of 19 0 six who's joining us from New York City in a lot of ways

19: 0:13

06 was was arguably the pioneer of what you might call functional cannabis offering fast acting you know prior to 19 0 6 had quite a successful career in the finance world leadership stints at powerhouses like American Express Merrill Lynch Morgan Stanley etcetera definitely excited to dive into it um yeah Peter maybe just first off for

the listeners that maybe aren't as familiar with 19: 0:35

06 maybe just kind of give just quick lay of the land in terms of origin story I behind the brand core products you guys offer and maybe just you know a few places where people can get their hands on them and then we'll go from there yeah thank you Adam it's great to be on the show here with you to give you a little background so 19 o six is now a ten year old company we started back in 2,015 in Colorado you know one of the first states to legalize and we created the company for three reasons one is we love smoking flower but there are times in the day and and places where you can't smoke flower and so the first reason why we created

19: 1:18

06 is for people like us who want to get the closest thing to a flower experience in an edible format and as you know and a lot of other people know if you're a flower smoker most edibles they suck that you have no idea what's gonna make you feel takes way too much time to hit you you don't know how long it's gonna last and they're generally not made with good quality ingredients so

so the first reason why we started 19: 1:41

06 is to give cannabis consumers like myself and others who are probably watching this podcast who love flower the closest thing to a flower high you can get without the smoke

the second reason why we started 19: 1:55

06 is cannabis is a confusing mess if you aren't familiar with it and too often you feel like you need to have a PhD in the endocannabinoid system just to get a good night sleep so what's a milligram what's THC why am I taking something called Durban poison and we wanted to simplify it so we like to think of 06 is for people who don't know how to spell THC all I need is a good night sleep I want relief from anxiety relief from pain boosting my libido why does it have to be so freaking complicated and the third reason why we started 19 0 6 has to do with our name which is the year that started the prohibition of cannabis and our mission is to bring cannabis back to the pre prohibition era when it was a widely accepted plant medicine available to all and part of the apothecary of consumers and medical professionals that's a little bit kind of behind our our mission currently we operate in three major markets we sell in dispensaries in six states Illinois Oklahoma Missouri New York New Jersey and Massachusetts so Midwest and and northeast we also operate no six Dot Shop which is our hemp derived online platform where you can order 19 0 6 products and have it shipped directly to your door across the country and third is we've just launched and expanding out the liquor retail channel with our beverages so we're now available in Minnesota we're soon gonna be launching in New Jersey in September and then we'll be spreading our wings out to other states in the liquor retail channel definitely an exciting time with all the things happening on the hemp side of things let's rewind back to those early days of formulation product development and how things have kind of evolved over the years I'm I'm curious just yeah really taking a step back to those early days why press pills in the first place and you know did you guys explore other form factors that you thought would be best for this rapid onset precise dosing goal that you had before honing in on press pills like versus you know capsules or some type of liquid format or yeah what was the process to kind of hone in on that form factor first off yeah a great question you know we look at it as the first thing that we're focused on is how it is that you wanna feel and so our product line covers all the major reasons why people use cannabis go for energy genius for focus bliss for mood enhancement love for sex and and intimacy chill for anxiety sleep for sleep and then we've got our products for pain relief as well we we first started out in we first started out in chocolates actually so chocolates is our heritage that's where where we were in Colorado Today we do sell chocolates but just in the New York market and then back in 2020 is when we launched our our pills and they took off we didn't think we were gonna you know that it was gonna do as well as it did in the pill category so now we've got chocolates pills gummies and beverages and and the whole idea behind it is like hey first is how is it you wanna feel and then second is how it is that you wanna consume the pills took off and we call them drops you know because for years people have been talking about cannabis as medicine but it's not available in a medicinal format and people get a pill you know we take pills for supplements we take pills for medication and the idea of something that's vegan gluten free calorie free portable discreet has no flavor that's kind of universal really has had a a big appeal people understand that when they see and they get a pill it's pharma grade it's precise it's consistent and our view is like let's give consumers the choice of how it is that they want to consume you know so if you want a gummy that's great um if you want a pill that's great if you want a beverage or if you want it in other formats

19: 6:26

06 is there to meet you but first and foremost with how you wanna feel and then secondly with here's the format of consumption I think you know the other thing is that what we tried to do is really destigmatize pills you know pills have a bad rap because of the opioid crisis because of how pharma has tried to push pills down our throat you know literally and what we tried to do is say is you know there's nothing inherently wrong or evil with swallowing a pill it's a it's a format if you make it precise and functional and attractive you know because of the shape of the pill and it's easy to swallow and your and all of our pills are color coded to how you want to actually feel that just opens up a whole new format for consumers who don't necessarily want you know sugary gummies that taste a particular way I may not like you know elderberry lavender in order to help me go to sleep I may not want to brush my teeth after I take a gummy for my for sleep so we know how to take pills we take Ambien we take Adderall we take Xanax you know we take other medications here so giving consumers that choice and seeing how much consumers have flocked to it as a format has been wonderful yeah that that makes a lot of sense I know you've got some pretty proprietary I think patented which we'll dive into on the the rapid onset side of things did you guys invest in that proprietary and rapid onset tech from the start and really go after that pattern and do something pretty unique or to get off the ground did you guys leverage existing rapid onset tech that was already in the market just to get to market and then evolve and upgrade over time yeah like let's rewind back you know 10 years ago when when we started you know there was there was no such thing as low dose products there was no such thing as fast acting there was no such thing as edibles that made you feel a particular way in fact we were the first sleep product and now we have a proliferation of sleep product so when we look at I said okay how do we create an edible that gives you the closest thing to a flower high it was really about two things first is fast acting and look I you know I'm a New Yorker I think that impatience is a virtue I don't have time to wait for anything let alone my edibles to kick in and consumers if they're experiencing anxiety or if they're in the mood and they need their libido boost or if they need to get to sleep they don't want to wait 60 to 90 minutes for their edibles to kick in so fast acting for us was like number one right you shouldn't have to wait for your edibles to kick in and it's great now to see so many fast acting products out there but we were the first and we are the only company for whom everything we do is fast acting we will never make a slow acting product period and that's been a foundation and a core to everything we do like we'd love to see a world just like today you can't get a cell phone that doesn't have a camera on it for instance or doesn't have a browser on it similarly like all edibles should be fast acting so yeah we spent a year plus developing our proprietary fast acting technology we licensed a patent from a Canadian biosciences company that had developed this lipid microencapsulation technology for use with other molecules and then we took it and adapted it for use with THC and CBD so fast acting is everything we do we will never make a slow acting product it's core to delivering to consumers what's a great experience the second thing is about how do you give people specific effect like I love smoking Jack Herer I love smoking Durban poison I love certain strains because I know how it's gonna make me feel now how does that work in smoking we know about the entourage effect of terpenes and cannabinoids that give you that different effect when it comes to edibles like terpenes just don't work so terpenes are basically aromatherapy those are volatile organic compounds that are released into the nasal cavity when combusted and it makes you feel a particular way if you eat limonene or myrcene it has no effect on you because that's not the way our body digests it otherwise you'd be finding myrcene gummies for anxiety and relaxation in Whole Foods for instance all of the brands out there that unfortunately are touting like terpenes in their gummies it's a bunch of marketing gimmick and consumers should be careful about buying anything based upon marketing gimmick we create that entourage effect through other dietary supplements and plant medicine so limonene is uplifting when it comes in a sativa strain caffeine is uplifting in our go strain in our go experience myrcene is more relaxing and sedating in smoking indica strains our L theanine and Magnolia does the same in chill so we took the whole concept of the entourage effect and then took the science behind how our actual body processes these different compounds and that's how we got to our scientific formulations that work like flower so fast acting so it hits you as fast as possible and secondly science based formulations with dietary supplements not terpenes that also give you that strain specificity that you would expect as a flower smoker how does that the rapid onset technology actually work that enables it to your products to have such a more rapid effect than other markets other products on the market the fancy name for it is called lipid microencapsulation I like to think of it as like it's a bullet train a bullet train with the cannabinoids as the passengers in the bullet train so when you ingest normally edibles will sit in your stomach degrade a little bit go through the liver the liver processes it into 11 hydroxy it gives you that stone feeling kind of 45 to 60 minutes later

the way 19: 12:48

06 edibles work is that that bullet train once you ingest it it bypasses the liver goes through the intestinal wall and drops off the cannabinoids the passengers into your bloodstream directly so what you get is No. 1 it's fast hits you within 20 minutes number two is that it bypasses the liver so you get a delta 9 high not the 11 hydroxy high of typical edibles and number three you know how long it's gonna last it lasts about two to three hours versus a six hour date with an edible so at the end of the day the reason why we do fast acting also is it because it gives you control

like we like to think of 19: 13:29

06 as cannabis for control freaks you get to control when it's gonna hit you how long it's gonna last and what kind of experience or or high you're gonna get you mentioned the go product a few other skews you have how did you decide thinking back to those those those early days when you launched with those initial need states excuse how did you decide which need state should be a part of the core launch lineup or the ones that you knew had the most confident were gonna have the most demand for it that's it like the thing that we did is we are maniacally focused on listening to our customers right so we asked consumers what is it used cannabis for and they came back and said I use it for sleep I use it for pain I use it for anxiety you know those are the top typically three reasons why people use cannabis and then the other reasons why is we've got people who use it for energy we've people who use it for focus and creativity you know from artists and songwriters and other professionals who've been using cannabis to help them with focus and productivity cannabis is one of the most amazing aphrodisiacs out there and as humans we've been eating different plants and fungi and other things like that to help boost our our our libido and then also for mood enhancement so now we've covered the major reasons why people use cannabis energy focus mood enhancement sex anxiety sleep and pain and then I would say like you know the other area that we're focused on is uh women's health as well so you'll see products coming out from us over the next 12 months that really target the needs of women either going through menopause or post menopause as well as for menstrual cramps and conditions so I think once we cover that really big and important piece of women's health we will have covered like the 90+ percent of reasons why people turn to cannabis for health and wellness once you decide you're going to develop a new product based on you know a specific need state you're focused on what does that process look like in terms of to test whether the advertised effect is actually what consumers are are looking to feel what they do feel and that they feel the same effect consistently I'm I'm really happy to say that we have by far the best product development team in the country in the industry when it when it comes to cannabis based products and we have a really rigorous discipline process when it comes to product development you know we first start and it first starts with okay what is it that the consumer wants what makes for a really good energy experience for instance and what we heard from consumers is what they want is they want something that's fast they want something that will give them a boost of energy they want something that won't make them feel like they're overstimulated they want something that also doesn't have the crash for instance and so then we take a look and be like okay this is what defines a great experience of energy or this is what it means to boost your libido or this is what it means to have a reduction of anxiety without sedation and then we go through and we be like what are the different ways in which we can achieve that so what are the different dietary supplements and plant medicines that meet those specific needs and we've our science team then will filter through hundreds of different compounds that could possibly achieve for instance energy without the crash and we look at the data we have a lot more data about these dietary supplements than we do about cannabis so caffeine is well studied l theanine is well studied ashwagandha is well studied and then we look at safety efficacy and the interaction with cannabis then after we do all that that's what we call kind of our desk research phase then we start formulation so we will have a list of you know 10 15 20 different potential compounds that go through that that pass that first screen of safety efficacy and interaction with cannabis and then we start formulating so we do a lot a lot of product testing with ourselves with consumers and that process you know can typically take from months to potentially years as an example we launched our pain products at the end of last year pain is something we've been working on literally for two years and it took that long to get it right because there's so many different elements of pain so many different factors associated with it and then once we actually get a product that works then we put it out into market and typically in pilot so that we start to get real customer feedback and only then do we start launching it nationally so that discipline approach you know it takes time it takes science and it takes time and it takes engagement with customers but and then often you know what it takes is then then then we tweak it over time based upon as we get more customer feedback what is it that customers like what is it that customers would like to see added to it and then we make modifications on the margins then to continue to meet those needs so we think of ourselves as like product first a product innovation company first grounded in science and grounded in customer feedback yeah our our our beta folks love people who are part of our beta team love being part of our our product development cycle as well oh yeah I'm sure I think a lot of people would probably love to be part of that team what's been your um what's historically been your your best selling skew it's fascinating it definitely differs like Colorado it was much more a chill and a sleep product New York is much more about go and bliss for instance so as you would expect given kind of who the consumers are in each market the demand definitely does change you know across the board our top 3 selling skews are bliss because who doesn't need more bliss in their life chill because don't we have like we have so much anxiety particularly in this modern day and age and then our in the markets where it's available our pain product 55 million Americans suffer from chronic pain with little hope in sight for relieving their pain so we're introducing our pain relief products it's now available in New York Massachusetts and online it's soon gonna be available in New Jersey we're just launching also in Oklahoma and Missouri as well so I would expect our pain products to be you know at the top of the list um as we as we expand that out but Bliss Chill and pain are are the top and then after that love cause sex we all could use help with connecting better with ourselves and with our our partners kind of that's that's next in the queue um and then genius and go thereafter but genius and go are our top sellers in New York don't sell as strongly in you know Colorado and some of the West Coast markets for instance shifting gears a bit from what I know you guys have primarily focused on growth across the US at least via partnerships via co packers and you know licensing partnerships a lot of different operators do in this space everyone has their different strategy and approach but versus generally opening your own facilities as investing in Cap ex and what not you know it seems like I think across CBG there's a challenge but it seems like in Canada in the cannabis space it seems to be somewhat like littered with the skeletons of a lot of failed partnerships and seem like you guys have had a lot of success I'm just curious from your perspective when you look back what's been key to building a really successful partnership in all these markets that you're in and you have some kind of checklist your due diligence process that's helped you hone in on who were gonna be the best partners yeah one of you know I I remember it was uh what when we first were looking at uh expanding out back in 2,019 you know how are we gonna expand across the country and this is before hemp was really a thing and if you're a brand you really didn't have good options like so one option is you can go out and buy licenses and build facilities that's expensive takes a lot of time it's a lot of overhead or you can just do a licensed partnership where you basically send them your packaging and hope that they'll do a good job creating their product I remember spending a lot of time with Nancy at Wona with the folks at Kiva for instance to learn from their experience'cause they were the ones who were the early trailblazers in expanding across the country and I remember those leaders sharing with me some of the trials and tribulations from partners that were underperforming to legal disputes to not being able to get enough product and focus from them so early on I was really attuned based upon the experience of other great brands about how to do it and what what we said is for us to expand and because we're a product focused first company

we must own the product like so at 19: 23:10

06 we make all of our products it's our employees who are making all of our products cause quality is never something that we will sacrifice the second thing is that we needed to also sell our own products who better knows how to sell than us

so for me and for 19: 23:31

06 that was the two most important things to control the product and also the messaging and the sales and so we developed this model which has worked really well for us where we have a mobile tabletting operation I think Breaking Bad except that we don't make stuff in an RV and we have a mobile tabulating operation that goes from state to state we set up shop in our operating partners facilities and over the course of two months we will produce enough supply for 3 4 months we hand over to them millions of our drops they package and they distribute it and then we have a sales team on the ground that sells our products so that gave us control over product control over sales and also because we're investing the time and the energy and making of our product we get more of the economics there so that also gave us the ability to invest in sales to invest in other things like that and it means that our partners get to do what they do best operator facility compliance and distribution collections AR that and it allows us to do what we do best make products and sell products and I'm happy to say that you know that's worked out really well it's what's helped us expand profitably at scale to you know multiple states I mean we opened up 11 markets we've shut down five markets so one of the other things that it has the advantage of is like if a market's not working Arizona wasn't performing well Michigan wasn't performing well Pennsylvania wasn't performing well for instance we can exit it out cost effectively and then redeploy our resources to where the best opportunities are and where consumers are willing to meet us yeah yeah I think this is one of the the more intelligent expansion models that I've seen in cannabis so commend you for that you touch on messaging a bit from a from a from brand identity and visual identity packaging standpoint I think I've heard you talk about say something along the lines of sometimes you just have to just ignore the data as it only reflects the limited choices consumers have which I think is kind of you know similar to that saying where I think I can't remember what it was but if Henry Ford had just listened to consumers everyone would just be asking for a faster horse and we never have the Model t or whatever which feels similar but yeah in the context of your needs based approach versus what's been his his typical sativa indica hybrid approach which we I think we all know that and maximum potency approach which we all know a lot of limitations there like thinking back to those days when you're really designing that brand identity the packaging what were some of those key variables that were top of mine for you when you were building I I remember visiting dispensaries in 2,015 as we were getting started and you asked people dispensary owners and bud tenders like what do people want and you know what they would say is they want cheap and they want potent and it was like huh yes there are people who want that but that's not me and really what we did is we put the consumer first or we put ourselves first like we wanted to make products that work for us and we said okay I don't need cheap and I don't want just potent what do I want I want control I want beautiful I want efficacy and that infused everything that we do it's gotta be quality it's gotta be beautifully designed it's gotta work it's gotta be clear and simple and whether it be through the use of our simple names or through the use of colors how is it that we then communicate those traits quality efficacy safety and that was our design brief so we took that as the North Star here is who our consumer is it is not the 25 year it is it is people like us who um want quality are willing to pay for quality don't want to take any chances with respect to safety and efficacy and then we said part of our mission is also to make cannabis accessible so you know whether it be our pouches that only contain you know 10 mg how do we meet customers where they are from a from a price point perspective as well so it isn't just about price per milligram because that's not the way most consumers or or people think like people don't buy beer on price per proof or or or otherwise all we'd be drinking all day long is everclear so even when we think about things like price it isn't about the price per milligram it's about I only have $10 in my pocket what is gonna help me achieve the desired state I have for just $10 so making things that have lower volume for instance so it's much more price accessible as an example of how we meet you know price sensitive consumers where where they need to where they need to be at and um you know we're thankful because it's worked consumers have told us it worked cause they keep coming back to buy more and you could see it you know as they always say like imitation is the best form of flattery and now we could see many brands who have leaned into the use of colors or the use of names to tell consumers what it is that they're gonna get yeah like the the dispensaries thought we were crazy they're like nobody's gonna pay this much for it or this is all that customers want and we we stuck to our convictions yeah you did I mean I think that you touch on a lot but it it feels like the at least the regulated dispensary market it feels like it's the follows that typical 80 20 rule where it's like you know people will say 20% of the consumers are responsible for 80% of the sales and that's the people that's going to the dispensary every week or every two weeks it's often the people that are spending a good chunk of their paycheck on cannabis looking for the higher potency fairly fickle consumer whichever promotions running that week they can get the most for their dollar you you guys have obviously bucked that trend I feel like there's been a lot of other brands that have tried to focus on everyone says that soccer mom consumer and a lot of them have tried and frankly I feel like a lot of them have not had a whole lot of success like the sales just haven't been there but you guys have had some success how do you feel like you guys have had so much success and you know gotten the sales and revenue numbers that you've gotten where everyone else has tried a similar thing you know first I I think it's a pay it took it took patience right if you wanna chase a buck then yeah then it's much more expedient to be doing high dose high potent cheap product because because that's where the initial money is like if you just looked at the data all you would do is just make another gummy make another you know infused pre roll joint and what we did is said OK thank you very much that's the data today but we have to imagine a different future and part of the problem was that dispensaries weren't it's less so today but dispensaries weren't friendly places if you were a female consumer looking for low dose products like you'd walk in there and be like okay nah I don't see anything here and you walk out and so if we don't actually create that future and give ourselves the time to let consumers adapt to that then yeah that then it could be a failed experiment so that patience thankfully you know is what we had as well and now as you can see like you know lower dose products while it's not the majority of customer purchases because you still have high dose consumers who are probably that have the highest velocity there but it is a emerging and growing segment like the population of heavy user stoners it's not growing I mean let's face it like more and more people aren't gonna come in and say okay I really wanna start smoking or I wanna start doing dabs that population is by definition going to be limited so if you keep chasing after that same group of people you end up in a price war and that's what's happened you know that's why you have markets like Michigan or Arizona where like the bottom has has fallen out because you're going after that same 20% of people with nothing new and if all they want is is cheaper and more potent like you get to a place where the marginal returns on that get to zero and that's what's happened we have to go after the 80+ percent of people who are not coming into the market and we have to have the patience and the time to bring them into the market and that's where the big growth is gonna come from like the growth is not gonna come from lots more people smoking high dose high potency weed the growth is gonna come from my mother

using 19: 32:16

06 for sleep and for pain the growth is gonna come from the uh uh the the professional nurse who is now you know take a chill to relax at the end of the day for instance and that's our North Star and if we stick to our North Star then the the consumers will uh will come there but we gotta give them a reason to come and I think that's been a big problem in the industry is that all they've done is chase after that small and not growing segment and then that's why we end up in a place where it's like what's gonna be next 105% flour you know yeah totally yeah like really I mean do we really need 40% flour no it's gonna get you high so maybe it takes two puffs or three puffs or four puffs so this arms race to just higher potency flower and higher potency products it doesn't make sense it's a disservice like what happened to the good old days where you could smoke a joint and enjoy the joint like not just take one or two puffs and you are blasted seeing purple dragons so I I think this industry has gotten off the rails by focusing way too much on potency and way too much on price personally like for me an 18% flower that has really nice turps is gonna give me a way better high and a way better experience than something that is supercharged 35% THC that doesn't have good turps in it for instance yeah it'll all get you high be patient just take another puff enjoy the experience yeah you know it's it's um you know when when like when Covid happened and everything went to like curbside pickup or just delivery it seems like that whole concept like it got exaggerated cause everyone was just looking at digital menus for what they're gonna order and buy and the way that dispensary menus are set up it just focuses on the potency number or what not platforms are set up cause that's what retailers have told them that they want it it definitely feels like in a lot of ways that's where kind of an exacerbated cause people aren't going into dispensaries asking bud tenders what I should get and getting a bit more of a holistic understanding a product they're just looking at digital menus okay this is the highest potency here's the price those are the two variables I'm gonna look at that's so right Adam like if we look at the dispensary shopping experience whether it be online or in the store let's face it it's terrible it is terrible it's gotta rank you know in like the worst customer experiences ever uh uh uh ever created if we look at it like we typically give people three pieces of information we give them a name and often the name doesn't mean anything what is you know what is some of these strain names that make absolutely like no sense to a to a customer right so so we give them a name but the name you can't tell anything about the name second is we give them a number which is the potency and we give them a price so we give consumers three pieces of information one of which contains no value and then the other two okay usually consumers price lower is better and um and secondly potency which higher is better so I think part of the issue is that you know you can't blame consumers for it it's because we've created a a really bad shopping experience and that's what drives that consumer purchases into higher potency lower price what other experience is like that you don't go in and buy alcohol and everything is just oriented around the percent the proof and the price no what you get when you go into a liquor store is here's a description of how it's gonna make you feel or how it tastes or the heritage there so I think like I said the problem is not about consumers the problem is what this industry has created as this Frankenstein of a customer experience that is driving customers to okay you've just given me a name that means anything a price and a potency so how else am I supposed to make a decision here yeah totally agree let's just talk about hemp side of things I think there's a lot of excitement just from your perspective like what's the where do you feel like we are today in this market and where do you feel like it's it's heading over the next five to 10 years or say like our mission is to make cannabis uh accessible we didn't start the company to say we wanna sell weed through regulated dispensary channels we said nope as consumers as Americans we should have access to cannabis so hemp represents probably the most exciting moment that we have seen since we've started the pace of legalization like it was very exciting early on more and more states were legalizing cannabis and that was creating momentum but what happened is we created this way overburdened regulatory environment like we're treating cannabis more restrictive than than than we're we're treating far far more dangerous drugs like let's face it cannabis is no more harmful and probably a lot less harmful than things like nicotine and things like alcohol we already have a system for the distribution the taxation and the sale of goods targeted for 21 and older adults right in states across the country you have to be 21 and older to buy cigarettes you have to be 21 and older to buy alcohol like why are we recreating the wheel and making the experience so much harder and so much more expensive so I think what hemp represents is the opportunity to make cannabis accessible to millions and millions of people in an infrastructure that already works today we know how to card people for a can of beer or for or for a bottle of wine or for a pack of Zin or for a pack of cigarettes for instance age getting we know we know works and so I think that that's that's why hemp is so exciting I mean at the end of the day it's the same molecule like whether you get THC from hemp or whether you get THC from the marijuana plant it's the same exact molecules like caffeine you can get caffeine from coffee you can get caffeine from guarana we stay away from all the synthetic cannabinoids and frankly I don't think they deserve to be in market this THC 0 and delta 8 and all this other stuff like it's there's no science behind it like why bother we know delta 9 THC it's a naturally occurring compound so focus on that and then distribute it through liquor through convenience stores where other 21 and older products are distributed today so I think that's what makes the hemp market so exciting and that's why um consumers are flocking to it how is it that Texas has become the biggest cannabis market in the country crazy it's not because of regulations it's because consumers want it consumers want access to their cannabis and they'll and they'll you know in the form of hemp so let's stop fighting customers let's stop forcing customers into a very difficult and very expensive regulatory scheme and let's embrace hemp and let's embrace these other distribution models that that work yeah recently like what when did you guys decide to jump in why did you feel like that was finally the right time I mean we jumped in a year and a half ago cause we saw the success of the beverages like can and others and then um that that's when we jumped in in in December of 2023 and it's been a phenomenal ride the most important thing is that hey we've met consumers where where they wanna meet what does your strategy look like in terms of d to C versus you know some of those retailers you mentioned where you can buy products that you know 21 and I mean where we're focused is so we have three channels we have the legal regulated market where you can buy higher potency products you know and also that's where you can get educated so we love the dispensary channel because that's where you can talk to a budtender you can see a lot of options you can get the education and you can get higher dose products online the convenience and the fact that a lot of people don't have access to a dispensary or don't have access to a bartender and then beverages sold through liquor stores you know because that's what people walk into a liquor store for I wanna be able to consume in a liquid format but I don't necessarily wanna drink alcohol but I also you know want to feel the euphoric effects the mood enhancing the social inhibition effects that I like from alcohol but I don't want the hangover the calories and the negative consequences to my to my health so that's the way I look at it dispensary has its place DC has its place and liquor retail has its place which is this powdered beverage additive tell me about how that thought process around expanding into this form factor and how did the hemp market play into that decision if at all yeah so first it's a liquid actually so it's not a powder that one's powder got it look what we saw is like yeah it's a it's a liquid which is which is even better so you don't need a spoon to stir yeah that's great you know we saw much of the market was focused on these ready to drink beverages in a can and those are great but there's a lot of places where you can't carry a can around I'm at a bar I'm at a wedding I'm you know I am at the gym for instance and I don't wanna carry a can around second is you're tied to a specific flavor you're tied to a specific volume you're tied to a specific dose it is the antithesis of control and flexibility a can is the most inflexible way to deliver a beverage product there and what we understood you know and what we believed you know from ourselves is that I wanna be able to do social drinking I want something that's portable I want something that's discreet and I wanna be able to mix it into anything and so off duty it comes in a beautiful little snap pack that you can just fold pop and drop into any liquid no spoon required no flavor no sugar no calories it's 5 mg of THC 5 mg of CBD so if you want a higher dose great just put two off duty into your liquid and it's portable and it's discreet so it's really revolutionizing the way in which people can socially drink and it's been a like a phenomenal hit that that's a a that we're great for because it works so well and that's what consumers want like yes there's a place and a time for a can beverage but there's a lot of other moments where a can isn't appropriate and that's the place that we fill in that's great I mean there's been just a lot of excitement around this cannabinoid THCV within the industry at least for quite a while whether people say it's the you know an appetite suppressant or it's much more euphoric energy standpoint I think it's definitely interesting but it just it hasn't really seemed to take off in a meaningful way I know it's one of the much more expensive cannabinoid so maybe just as simple as that but I'm curious from your perspective have you guys played around with this cannabinoid at all I'm just curious why you from your take why don't you feel like it's it's taken off as much as attention it's gotten first it hasn't really taken off I mean let's be real like let's look at the facts yeah it's sure that you know it hasn't really taken off and why I think it's two reasons number one it's very expensive and number two it doesn't work that well like it doesn't do appetite suppressant you know Ozempic does appetite suppressant so I think I think the claims are mostly bullshit around it and if you want energy like that's why we use caffeine for instance or other stimulants there because there is science there and we know it works and we know we can deliver it to customers at affordable price I think the more interesting compounds like CBG and CBC have a lot more science behind it have a lot more efficacy and and that's you know look we go where the science is not where the marketing hype is if there's more science behind THCV and and the prices come down for it you know we will incorporate it into our products but for now you know we see it as all expense and all hype yeah yeah I think that's totally a totally fair take I think I also I couldn't be wrong here but I think I also read that you guys have been exploring a product line that's gonna be focused on this other ingredient called canna or Canna K a N N a it's a functional ingredient that I've I've heard just started here been talked about a bit more assuming I read correctly I'm not totally off there like what is Canna and why is it getting more attention lately yeah yeah no actually we use Kona and skeleton that's what's in our Bliss formula so yeah yeah we are the we are the largest importer of Kona or skeleton in North America um we've been using Kana in our Bliss products since day one and it's a plant that comes from South Africa it's a succulent plant it is the closest thing to legal MDMA or legal Molly that that you can get it hits your serotonin 2 a uh receptors it gives you this mood enhancement makes you feel like the world is the happiest place it boosts your confidence so reduces your social anxiety and that's what powers bliss it's one of you know behind cannabis it's like one of my favorite plant medicines there it's amazing it's great to see that more and more people and more and more brands are incorporating it because it is it's the bomb just in terms of talent and kind of how your org structure is like what does your kind of leadership team look like and and core function look like and are you guys really you know right now yeah we um we've got a really strong leadership team in place with our CMO Sheeta our our operations team is world class where we're hiring for now is we've got some open roles on the DDC growth side we've got a an open role on the sales side to lead particularly are liquor distribution and liquor retail so those are the two major senior hires that we're looking for somebody to lead growth on the DDC side you know revenue generation owning the full PNL there and then secondly sales and particularly focus on the on liquor distribution those two hires both make a lot of sense what's the um what's the best place for people to follow along with you and then best place for people to follow along with

19: 47:42

06 these days buy it online have it delivered directly to your door

and then our Instagram at 19: 47:49

00 o six new highs N E W H I G H s DM US you know we're constantly online you know we respond to everything so that's the best way to reach us perfect awesome Peter great appreciate it this has been great I think that's the pod one of today's most exciting cannabis markets Peter yeah um yeah you know when we started everybody thought we were crazy just because that's the way these technology

I think that when we started 19: 37:01

06 as I mentioned and more curious like there's seem like any big important roles you guys are hiring for