Marijuana Business Magazine

G rön Chocolate focuses on planning and testing when crafting its artisanal edible products. But being a stickler for such details doesn’t mean the company produces boring products. Quite the contrary. “Keeping products relevant and new on the shelf is important,” said Grön founder and CEO Christine Smith. “We do a lot of throwing things against the wall to see what sticks.” For the solar eclipse in August, Grön produced 2,800 artisan s’mores kits that sold out in hours. “We were on the ‘Today Show,’” Smith said. “It was out of control.” Grön’s pastry chef, whose handmade marshmal- lows filled those s’mores kits, is collaborating on a culinary blog and recipe cards, along with limited- release peppermint medallions for the holidays and “new fun bar flavors.” The constantly changing product line is designed to appeal to a crossover market – educated 40-plus consumers who expect high-quality flavor experi- ences and haven’t explored infused products for pain relief and relaxation. Perhaps the best testimonial to the quality of Grön Chocolates is a line planned for next year: unmedi- cated chocolates. “People love our chocolate so much they just want the chocolate,” Smith said. – Lisa Greim KEEPING THE NEW PRODUCT PIPELINE FULL 82 • Marijuana Business Magazine • November / December 2017 In addition, Grön put aside money to bankroll early testing, something upstart edible manufacturers could ill afford. The first step for state approval was validation of the entire manufac- turing process: 24 lab samples had to be pulled from each batch of edibles, and the analysis was then sent to the state for review. “Every (different) product goes through it separately,” Smith said, add- ing that it cost $2,000-$3,000 per test. After process validation, random testing began of product for sale. Again, every batch was checked. Heavy Testing Oregon’s tough new rules for potency, pesticides and other con- taminants were supposed to set a standard for consistency and quality in the industry. Instead, some observ- ers predicted the changes would crip- ple the state’s cannabis business. Smith, by contrast, thought the standards provided clarity and offered “a roadmap to consistency” – and so were long overdue. “I came at the industry knowing that there was no way to be suc- cessful with edibles unless you could develop a product that is consistent and delivers the same effect time and again,” she said. It wasn’t easy. The original state potency rules mandated no deviation from the standard of 50 milligrams THC per unit, or 5 milligrams per serving for a 10-serving chocolate bar. Results can vary by cannabis infusion – oil, butter, isolate or distillate – product medium, temperature and sugar content, among other factors. “It was really, really hard to nail down with a lot of edible products, particu- larly those that are sugar-based,” Smith said. (The standard has since been revised to plus-or-minus 10%.) Grön was able to meet the initial stringent standards thanks to its partners Green Leaf Labs and Preci- sion Alchemy, which produces most of the flavorless distilled THC and CBD oil used in Grön’s products. Grön also relied on other cannabis suppliers and processors in addition to Precision Alchemy. Smith noted, however, that potency results can vary across labs by as much as 10%, and the other suppliers used different labs to test their oils. So Smith and her team took the extra step of ensuring that cannabis oil from other suppliers was quarantined and then sent to Green Leaf for retesting. Smith’s advice: “Whatever you budget for testing, multiply it by 10.” Grön, in fact, spends $20,000 on testing in an average month – and 25% of that budget is tied to two to three tests of products under devel- opment. Oregon law requires only that finished products be tested, but interim tests assure Grön that its new products are accurately dosed before they’re submitted to the state. With a 50-milligram chocolate bar, for example, Grön aims to exceed the standard. That means 47-53 milligrams of THC or CBD at least 95% of the time. “We are ridiculously accurate,” she said.