Marijuana Business Magazine November December 2018

products into that network.” Organa Brands’ distribution market continues to grow, and the company is working on getting into six other mar- kets, including Illinois, Maryland and Washington state, Driessen said. Research Is Key While the company's vape pens and oils are their best-selling products and the items they lead with in most mar- kets, having a diverse array of products helps the company sustain its presence in new markets. Organa Brands decides what types of products it wants to develop based on research.The company has a “very close relationship” with BDS Analytics, a cannabis-focused data firm also based in Colorado, that allows Organa Brands to monitor market share, average sales price, units per share, transactions for its brands and rival brands. “We monitor categories that we’re not even in yet,” Driessen said. In fact, research is how the infused tablet Pressies was born this year. The company's analyses revealed that only a handful of companies in Colorado were making pressed tablets, which were generating $1.2 million of revenue per month. Organa Brands figured it could make better tablets for less cost – and given the small number of pill competitors, it could win what Driessen said was “an outsized portion of the market share.” The company began manufactur- ing its first tablets this summer, and within six weeks of launch were in 150 Colorado stores with plans to break into California and Oregon. Driessen noted that 15% of those stores that picked up Pressies were completely new accounts for Organa Brands, giving the company new outlets to sell its oils, extracts and other products. The Business Model Another key aspect of the company is its model. Organa Brands holds everything of value that is not cannabis – such as intellectual property, distribution agreements, real estate and equipment – allowing it to function like any other company because it’s not a plant- touching business.That company then licenses to partners with state-legal extraction labs to make its products, including extracts, infused beverages, gummies and tablets. “A good analogy is Procter & Gamble,” Driessen explained. “P&G is Organa Brands grew to become a multistate dynamo by leveraging mass extraction for consumer-facing cannabis products. Photo courtesy of Organa Brands 72 • Marijuana Business Magazine • November/December 2018