August 2018

– edibles, including caramels, honey and chocolates, as well as topicals, vape cartridges and other items – to the dispensary in Newton. A large part of figuring out how Garden Remedies will fit into the new rec market will fall on the shoulders of Jeff Herold, the company’s chief operations officer. Herold oversaw the recreational application that Gar- den Remedies submitted May 30 and monitors the ongoing expansion of the company’s growing capabilities. His goal is to ensure the company has enough product to serve the new market without causing disruptions for existing medical customers. “We’re really looking to build on the quality medical brand that we have now and focus on health and well- ness,” Herold said. “Our differentiator is really going to be our fully inte- grated operation. Because we’re fully integrated, we can provide consist- ent, high-quality products.” Expanding to Meet Demand The Garden Remedies Dispensary opened in fall 2016. The follow- ing year, the company launched a delivery service to take its medical marijuana directly to patients’ doors. The next-day delivery service is available in Middlesex, Norfolk and Worcester counties, and in Bristol, Essex and Plymouth counties three days per week. Herold said the company’s second dispensary in Melrose is expected to open around September. And if the Massachusetts Cannabis Con- trol Commission approves Garden Remedies’ application, the company could start recreational sales as early as this summer — depending, of course, when adult-use sales begin in the state. The ultimate timeline for rec sales depends on when Garden Remedies receives approval. Mas- sachusetts awarded Sira Naturals the first cultivation license for the state’s rec marijuana program June 21. Ahead of the Cannabis Control Commission deciding on its license, Garden Remedies readied for rec- reational sales by hiring additional staff, expanding its grow rooms and manufacturing edibles that meet the limits of 5 milligrams per serving and 20 milligrams per package. In April, the company was granted “priority” applicant status by the Can- nabis Control Commission, giving the organization the ability to apply for a recreational license before new play- ers interested in joining the industry. Garden Remedies used its past licens- ing knowledge on how to share infor- mation about its operations, executive team and sites to submit an applica- tion for a recreational dispensary license in May. (Staff were still waiting for a decision when they spoke with Marijuana Business Magazine.) While awaiting the official OK, Gar- den Remedies continued expanding its grow and cultivation facility in Fitch- burg. The company wrapped up the second phase of construction on the building around the beginning of the year, increasing the facility’s growing capacity by 130%. The cultivation facil- ity went from holding room for 1,300 flowering plants to enough space for around 3,000 plants. Garden Remedies hoped to complete work on roughly 13,000 square feet of extra cultivation area in July, allowing for a total of 4,700 flowering plants. “We currently have an 82,000-square-foot building that’s being built out in stages. We’re about halfway into the build-out of that and making it fully operational,” Herold said. “Our focus has always been on maintaining an adequate amount of supply for our patients. We really do have a patient-first approach, so what we’ve focused on for the past one to two years is building capacity and then finding distribution after that.” In this case, the additional cannabis cultivation made possible by the expan- sion will be used to support sales at the Chef Bleu pours cannabis-infused fruit drops into molds at the Garden Remedies lab in Massachusetts. Photo courtesy of Garden Remedies Jeff Herold serves as chief operations officer for Massachusetts-based Garden Remedies. Photo courtesy of Garden Remedies 96 • Marijuana Business Magazine • August 2018