Fast Company – May 2019

PHOTOGRAPH BY JARREN VINK

( 2 )

FROM PENS TO

PASTILLES, THERE’S

A CANNABIS PRODUCT

FOR EVERY USER.

1–3. Beboe’s Calm

formula CBD oil pen,

Inspired sativa-blend

vape, and sativa

pastilles.

4. A Bliss vaporizer
   from Dosist.
   5–7. A mint milk choco-
   late bar, matcha white
   chocolate bar, and
   milk chocolate square
   from Defoncé.
   8–9. A bud jar from
   Lowell Herb Co.,
   along with packs of
   the company’s pre-
   rolled joints.
   10–12. Vaporizer pens
   and a flower bud from
   Statemade, the in-
   house brand of canna-
   bis retailer MedMen.


5. Cannabis-infused
   Royal Mints from
   California’s Breez.


6. Dark chocolate
   blueberries from
   Sonoma County–based
   chocolatier Satori.


7. The Elite (top) and
   Nova (bottom) vapes
   from G Pen.


8. CBD-infused Awaken
   arousal oil from
   Foria, based out of
   Colorado.


9. Sativa (top) and
   CBD (bottom) pens
   from California’s
   Bloom Farms.


10. Terra dark choco-
    late espresso beans
    (top) and Petra
    mints (bottom) from
    Kiva Confections,
    a chocolatier based
    in California.

executive, offers relaxation via delicate rose-
gold vape pens (from $60) and tins of pink
pastilles. High-end dispensary MedMen
recently launched a gender-neutral brand,
called Statemade, which features a squared-
off copper vaporizer ($72) that looks like
the Bauhaus of blunts. Ad agency Anomaly
helped develop the medicinal-looking white
vaporizers ($100) of the three-year-old Do-
sist. Available in California and Florida, they
are calibrated to address pain, anxiety, sleep
issues, and more. “This is a health and well-
ness brand, not a pot brand,” says Anomaly
founding partner Jason Deland.

To lure the stalwart consumers of the

cannabis industry—18- to 24-year-old men—

G Pen is using technology: It’s developing

an app for its rhombus-shaped Gio vapor-

izer ($20) that will track usage and flag

low-running cartridges. Ignite, a California

brand launched last September by Insta-

gram influencer Dan Blizerian, a party boy

known to eat meals off the backs of naked

women, is squarely aimed at the jet-skis-

and-Muscle-Milk set, with its black vapor-

izers ($45), goat-head logo, and bikini-clad

“spokesmodels.” “Everyone would love

to have Dan’s mansions and private jets,”

says creative director Mark Jacobs. “It’s an

aspirational lifestyle.”

Developing a brand that resonates lo-

cally is often the first step. With cannabis

regulations varying state by state, compa-

nies with national ambitions must either

build a vertically integrated operation for

each new market or test the waters with

less-regulated hemp-based CBD products.

But as legalization spreads (Illinois, New

Jersey, New Mexico, and New York could be

next), the ability to scale quickly will soon be

paramount—and like-minded brands may

find themselves consuming one another.

( 3 )

( 5 )

( 9 )

( 8 )

( 10 )

( 12 )

( 13 )

( 14 )

( 15 )