The Future Of Cannabis Consumption Lounges - Branding Bud Live Episode 9
THE SUMMARY
With the pandemic behind us, and more states legalizing cannabis, a number of cities around the country have announced they’ll allow cannabis consumption lounges. Join co-hosts David Paleschuck and Adriana Hemans along with their guest, Maha Haq, a cannabis consumption lounge consultant as they discuss “The Future Of Cannabis Consumption Lounges” on Branding Bud Live.
THE CO-HOSTS
David Paleschuck, Adriana Hemans
THE SPECIAL GUEST
Maha Haq
THE FULL TRANSCRIPT
David: Welcome to Branding Bud Live, the live stream that’s 100% THC and 0% WTF. Every week we speak with business people about the business of cannabis. I’m David Paleschuck, founder of Branding Bud Consulting Group and author of the first book on cannabis branding. I’m joined by my co-host Adriana Hemans, a Marketing executive with over 8 years in the cannabis space. Hi Adriana!
Adriana: Hi David. Thank you for that intro. I’m so excited to co-host the show with you. We’re bringing amazing guests from across the cannabis ecosystem to share their perspectives. What makes our show unique is that we focus on building a community - and we encourage audience participation. It’s not just about us talking, it’s about all of us building something together. So feel free to drop your questions and/or opinions in the chat, and in a minute, we’ll share them too.
David: Thank you, Adriana. And thank you, everyone, for joining us today. There are many hot topics we’re going to touch upon today – all surrounding cannabis consumption lounges. And we’ll be chatting with Maha Haq, a cannabis consultant based in CA with a focus on consumption lounges. Some of the things we’ll be chatting about are:
The current state of consumption lounges?
What exactly is a consumption lounge?
What laws affect consumption lounges?
Do cannabis lounges pose a threat to the bar industry?
Will there be collaboration in the future?
And many other hot topics
OK, Let’s introduce our guest today – Maha Haq. Maha is an independent consultant for retailers, consumption lounges, brands, and events. She was recently the Director of Retail Marketing for StateHouse Holdings and the Director of Retail Strategy for Green Thumb Industries. Maha sits on the board of the Cannabis Chamber of Commerce and the Los Angeles chapter of NORML. She is also an instructor at Oaksterdam University. Welcome, Maha!
Adriana Hemans
Hi Maha!
Maha Haq
Thanks for having me. I’m excited to be with you guys today!
Adriana Hemans
So Maha Let's kick it off. I caught part of your Twitch stream last night Hi, Maha, which was so much fun. When you're not doing Twitch streams when you're not helping clients and advising them on the best way to run lounge, open a lounge? What are you up to? What are you passionate about?
Maha Haq
I'm passionate about consuming cannabis; and working in the industry. but also working on it. I you know, I'm in LA. So whatever that helps. The LA cannabis market thrive. I'm involved in it, whether it's going to cannabis events, supporting lounges in West Hollywood, or even just going to my local shop and buying some of my favorite products. I'm very passionate about weed in general. But you know, you mentioned my Twitch, I've been doing that a lot and have a segment called Dabby Hour. So I love concentrates. That's definitely something I can say I'm passionate about. I love hash. I love concentrates. And I'm very excited to see how it plays out in some markets, because there's going to be some interesting laws that I think we're going to, we're going dig into deeper.
David Paleschuck
Which states currently have cannabis consumption lounges?
Maha Haq
So as of right now, there are 10 states that have regulations that allow social consumption. So that's Alaska, California, Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Nevada. And this is adult use social consumption. But of those 10 states, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Nevada have passed language for it. But they have yet to issue any of those licenses. Nevada did actually have one and it was on Native American territory. But at the moment, there's only lounges open in about half of those tents. So like, you know, we're getting there, hopefully all 10. And we just we just read in the comments. There's one in Missouri. So, of course, there's a couple of states that have different types of lounges, either through a medical program or through a private model, like a members only model. But as it concerns regulation, there's 10 states.
Maha Haq
oh, just like Ron said in the chat. So yes, Nevada did issue their licenses, but none of them have been open just yet. Still, still, I think, you know, they're working on either build out or making sure they're locking in property. But yes, Nevada did have one, it was on Native American territory, they just issued out licenses, they have 4, new lounges that are going to be opening up. So that's exciting. So I don't have enough fingers and toes to count all the lounges that are going to open in Nevada. I might need your help. We're going to we're going to help you
Adriana:
Does the consumer experience differ from state to state? Can someone purchase and consume in a consumption lounge?
Maha Haq
the states I just listed have their own unique set of regulations regarding consumption venues, for example, California and Illinois lounges. Don't have restrictions on bringing your own bud, but Nevada does. So that's going to change the consumer experience quite a bit. You know, I can bring my personal stash into a local lounge in West Hollywood and not have to worry about it as much as I would have. If I'm walking into a Nevada lounge, so I can't bring my own products there. I have to depend on the menu offerings at that lounge. And quite frankly, you know, bringing your own cannabis is not always the safest option, but it does appease the consumer. So we're going to see a lot of a lot of that, like what states are going to allow consumers to have more freedom and what and what states aren't. So I think that's the biggest difference that I have, that I've read and anticipate on experiencing, you know, I'm not going to not going to be too happy if I'm not going to be able to bring my personal stash. But I also understand there's a safety concern, a liability concern, if you allow consumers to bring anything and everything, but how can we always control that, you know, you, you go into a bar or club, people bring all sorts of things, and but
Adriana Hemans
it might already be in their system when they come in the door.
Maha Haq
Exactly. So with consent, with different states, putting restrictions on bringing your own butter, not, I feel like that's going to definitely have different consumer experiences. I like the BYOB model, but you know, it's not always the safest. So something to consider, if you're trying to open up your own establishment. Are you trying to have an extra layer of security? Or are you trying to save yourself from any, you know, live liability concerns? So it's, it's a balancing act, but we'll see, we'll see how it's executed, especially in Nevada, you know, you got people carrying all sorts of things. So, you know, we'll, we'll see how lounges are going to control that I'm sure they're going to have to do some sort of checking process where I'm not going to say, like, search you completely, but they're probably going to say you can't bring your own products. If something looks unfamiliar, we're going to throw it away sort of practice?
David Paleschuck
Well, you know, it seems to me if you think about it, a restaurant and you don't bring your own food to a bar, you don't bring your own alcohol to you know, and we'll talk about this a little bit later, you know, yeah, that's the question, which I'm getting to, which is how big lounges monetize. And we'll talk about the business model later. But, I mean, right off the bat, it almost sounds more like a member's club than it does consumption lounge or a member's club that allows consumption rather than initially, what I thought of as a consumption lounge and again, my preconceived notions of what a consumption lounges, oh, it's like a bar, but it's for cannabis. Right. But, but again, that's a preconceived notion, maybe it's not at all like that, you know. And so that kind of gets us to the question of, what's, what's it, you know, what's the experience in in a consumption lounge? And again, we just spoke about that versus the laws, but, you know, how different is, is, is, you know, a cannabis consumption lounge, one from the other and what can you do and would be, would one be considered more of a member member's club versus, versus, you know, consumption?
Maha Haq
Yeah, most definitely. So, you know, most spots like or most lounges, it's like a dispensary that allows you to consume at some it's like a bar or Hookah Lounge. But as with any type of establishment, there are a few that stand out. One example that we most recently opened was the woods. They have a very beautiful, beautiful jungle Oasis type of interior design, which we can get into a little later but what we've got out here on you on the slide on your screen right now, there is the OG cannabis cafe on the top left, which has since closed but is reopening as the High Times Cannabis cafe. And that one is definitely you know restaurant bar type experience because they also have an adjacent bar alcohol bar. So although they are partitioned off the smoking area and the drinking area, you can access both substances under one roof essentially. So that itself has its own unique experience compared to NuWu which is right next to it the image right next to it. It is temporarily closed, but the new tasting room is right next to the dispensary. So you have a full you know dispensary experience customer journey and then you walk to the far right and then you see the tasting room. So you have to go through the entire dispensary to get to the to the consumption space that is very similar to artistry which I don't think I see on here, but artists treat it is a two three level building. The first floor is your dispensary, and you don't have to go through the entire dispensary to get to the lounge, but you do have to check in with the dispensary first and then check in again at the lounge, so you know all of them have their own different processes for getting checked in for that for I guess, going through the entire establishment, you know, what does the establishment offer like all three that I just mentioned are very different from one another. But they all have the ultimate common denominator of you can smoke weed here. local cafe or what was previously known as the OG cannabis cafe. You have a bar right next to it new tasting room. You have to go through the entire dispensary to access it. Artistry you got to check in two times. First, the dispensary. Second, not allowed. So all three very different. We also have Rhys Mundelein here which I got to work on. And once again, it's right next to the dispensary. So if anything, most of the lounges that we see here on up on the screen are I wouldn't want to say dependent, but they coexist with them with their dispensary. So if anything, it's more of a retail strategy to have a lounge or a tasting room or spot that you can consume what you just bought at the dispensary. But, for example, at artistry, you're finding a lot of patrons buy products from downstairs the dispensary as opposed to ordering from the lounge specific menu upstairs. There's not really a way to restrict that or control that, you know, it's all legal. You're buying legal product at a legal establishment consuming it legally at a social consumption venue. But it's you know, how are you going to make people buy from the lounge specific menu as opposed to the retail menu when prices are the same. And you have more options on your dispensary menu as opposed to the lounge menu. So Nevada, I think is going to be tackling this in a much different way. They just issued out 40 licenses. And some of those are independent lounge license types. So they are not associated or attached to a retailer. So that's going to be very interesting to see. And this kind of answers. Your previous question Adriana is, you know, how is this going to differ state to state, Nevada, you're going to have independent lounge, independent lounges that are not associated with a retailer. So that's going to be very interesting to see NuWu here. It is a dispensary and has a tasting room. So we are hopefully going to see some differences between lounges in Nevada I think that's going to be the first market where we see the different types of lounges What does better what, what doesn't do better. I feel like all of them are going to do great in their own way. But a lot of lounges right now are associated, attached adjacent, what have you to their retail dispensary.
Adriana Hemans
It sounds like there's a lot of different experiences that people can expect when they go in there. We talked about, you know, being able to purchase at the lounge, being able to purchase it the retail section being able to bring in your own. I'm curious, like since we're here talking about marketing and branding, of course, what is the draw? So if you're a consumer and you're like, Man, I want to go to a consumption lounge? What would what experience in your opinion are people hoping to have there?
Maha Haq
Well, every consumer has different expectations and that's what I quickly realized working with some of these lounges is everyone has a different expectation. They either want great service like they want someone to roll a joint for them or to packable for them some just want a really good variety like oh, I want to try products that I've never tried before or they're kind of curious they don't have are they don't consume cannabis regularly and or want a safe spot to consume cannabis in so you're seeing an array of people an array of expectations and to meet them all can be a challenge and navigating all of those can be a challenge but I would say those are the top three that I've seen is what services can I have like I need help rolling my joint I need help packing my bowl Can you do that for me? And you know, I want to make sure I have all the products that are all the product variety that I can choose from. I don't want this menu to be lacking. I want to make sure I see everything in anything available at on this menu just like you would at a dispensary. I'm not going to go to a dispensary that only has like, you know 10 skews. So and then the last part being is like am I going to have a safe consumption experience I think that's been a lot of that's been a request for a lot of the Canna curious is am I going to be safe here if anything happens, will your server be there for me? That is a request that I've heard often is you know, like if anything happened is to me, do you know what to do? And that is that is often a concern. And something that I urge not only lounge operators, but dispensary operators to teach their staff is how do you mitigate overconsumption? Or how do you help a patron? Who is having any issues with consuming cannabis? Or is having any adverse effects? How do you help? How do you help anyone who's going through that? Or how do you even give advice on that, because at dispensaries you get questions like that to budtender may have to answer you know, what do you do in the case of overconsumption? Or if you're not feeling it? If you're not feeling enough of your cannabis product? How do you address that? How do you self-titrate and dose to get the effects the desired effect? So that's I think that's what folks are looking for and, and experiences. Safety and customer service? You know, we
Adriana Hemans
know that edibles don't work on everyone. So that's a whole Yeah. Go ahead.
David Paleschuck
I'm sorry, earlier you mentioned is your as we were talking through the different lounges, and what you were talking about, it almost reminded me of like, you know, museums and like the Exit Through The Gift Shop strategy, right. But it's interesting, now we're talking about safety. Now we're talking about, you know, bud tenders and or waiters, or waitresses, or people packing bowls, or, you know, explaining about titration, or explaining about dosing, and it just brings up so many more issues. So, I mean, just in the, in the two topics we've just spoke about, we just span such a wide gap in terms of what of consumption, a cannabis consumption owner even needs to think about. I mean, it's, it's pretty wild that, you know, yes, you're thinking about the experience and, and how to keep that experience within, within the rails, right, and not going off the road for people? And if they do, what do you do, and I've once had a personal experience, many years ago, in college, I was in Amsterdam, and, you know, the next thing, I knew I was on the floor, and somebody was making me drink lemon juice, and, you know, hidden picking me up. So I know, that can happen to anybody at any time. And, you know, especially when you're trying new things, or sessioning over a longer period of time, there's more likelihood that you'll consume more. And those are things that we need to talk about. So just coming up, I mean, we should just at least mention some of the debates that's that are coming up, which is dosing, dosage regulation, driving while under the influence, odor control, and secondhand smoke. You know, some people, some people don't want to smoke. Some people are only into beverages and edibles. Do you separate? Is there a smoking room versus the edibles and beverages room? So are we looking at this, based on a form factor? So it's just interesting. And then finally, which I don't think is really brought up is equity of academic permits of underrepresented people. Right. You know, because when you think about what a license costs what, what, whether to own a building rent a building to build out a lounge, that's some heavy capital, and then especially with perhaps two AV e coming in around, you know, involved in, in some of the tax laws, that's, that's some heavy, heavy, heavy lifting, so we should get into those things.
Maha Haq
Do it dosing regs, let's start it off with that. That's the first that's the first topic so dosing regulation, although dosing regulation is necessary, it also is not a one size fits all situation, just like you said, you know, someone may only want to consume one product type because they either have a very low tolerance and someone may have a huge through the roof tolerance. So one size does not fit all, but it will be interesting to see how single use products will make an appearance in the Nevada market. I do think this will be a challenge on the production side like overall costs, but the product itself will definitely be successful among consumers because that will be offered. But in I guess in specificity, single use cannabis products in Nevada are limited to no more than a 3.5 grams, which is an eighth of usable cannabis, under the regulations with extracted inhalable cannabis products such as vaping or dabbing products are limited to 300 milligrams or 0.3 grams of THC See, all single use products with more than one gram of usable cannabis, and all extracted and available must carry written potency warnings, individual servings of ready to consume edible products are capped at 10 milligrams of THC, which is pretty standard across a lot of other markets. So it's, you know, we're going to see how this single serve 0.3 concentrated 0.3 grams of concentrated product is going to serve that, that consumer, there's going to be a lot of R&D associated with that as well. Does that encourage more purchases? If anything, does that satisfy a heavy consumer? Probably not. But you know, that's going to probably promote some additional sales for the lounges. So that's a revenue strategy to think of. But in general, I always urge consumption venues lounges to offer nano emulsified ingestible products in lieu of traditionally infused edibles and beverages. So nano tech improves the delivery of active THC, and thus provides a quicker onset compared to traditional edibles that take around two hours to hit. So you know, with that being said, a lot of the lounges I work with, I try to implement a 90 minute table limit, just like you would experience at a restaurant. And if you are giving the patron the customer, or rather the consumer enough time, to sober up, if they take an edible, for example, like the moment they get bolt, that's not going to happen, they're not going to consume the moment they get there. But let's say they consume 15 minutes into their 90 minutes, that edible or ingestible, would hit them in another 15 or 20. So minutes, and then hopefully, by the time the end of their 90 minute table limit comes, they should not feel as high but if they are high, still it is up to the server, the staff of the lounge to assess that consumer and make sure that they are ready to drive. So that's, that's an additional step of service that lounge servers have to incorporate as assessing the, the sober level of the of the consumer. So that can be hard. Sometimes not everyone is the same. Not one, not one size fits all situation. So it's a challenge. And this is a big concern that local city council officials have. So this kind of goes into the second point, which is you know, driving while high. This is the number one question that local officials ask if there's a proposal for a consumption lounge or a cannabis event is how are the consumers the patrons getting home safely? How are they you know, transporting? Are they driving themselves? If so, what do you do? The best part about weed compared to alcohol is you can sober up a little quicker than you can with alcohol with alcohol and, you know, takes far longer for your liver to metabolize blood alcohol content as opposed to THC. So there's a benefit to that, but it is something that we urge our staff to make sure that their patron is ready to leave is able to drive or has a safe way of going to their next destination. So there's a lot of there's a lot of initiatives where there may be an Uber, an Uber code or a Lyft code that is off offered to the patrons like oh you get a discount if you get your ride you know within a five mile radius, so I have found that a lot of consumers appreciate that. So maybe for a little bit they will go do some shopping at a nearby store or a mall and then come back and then you know make their way home so want to make sure that people are driving safely leaving the establishment safely some lounges have even signs like you know, don't drive it's not worth it. Wait You know 30 more minutes if needed.
Adriana Hemans
Shopping the place next door that's going to be great for retailers who are in the neighborhood that I'm sure people if there's a lot of foot traffic or people coming in who are like this looks so cool. I have to buy this. I just came from the lounge next door.
Maha Haq
Yeah, yeah, we're shopping.
David Paleschuck
Quickly get What sort of limitations are there in terms of where these consumption lounges are? Right? Because you know, I think Adriana to your point just a moment ago I'm thinking like, okay, cool, there's some great shopping right next door. But more often than not, I'm guessing these places are going to be limited in terms of where they can be. And just before you answer that Maha, it seems you know, a lot of people have commented on, you know, the rideshare service. And that just makes total sense. which just leads me back to my concept a long time ago, which was an idea called Duber. We're in the cars is, as you know, consuming the cars wherever they were going.
Maha Haq
It reminds me of a Hall Of Flowers, everyone was smoking in their Uber. And like the drivers didn't mind because they're like, Oh, this is going to be our entire week. Same with Emerald Cup, all the Ubers in Santa Rosa, we're quite used to it and we're equipped with a bunch of air fresheners. I even saw one. Uber hadn't had a I had a very popular brand that I've used at consumption lounges to eliminate, eliminate odor. And I think that is the next debate topic, if you don't mind me getting into odor control? So real quick odor control solutions. They exist and doesn't need to be overcomplicated. There's air fresheners. There's attachments, there's, you know, you can slap on a solid carbon HEPA filter on your existing H vac system. There's many solutions that exist. If you Google enough, or if you come to me and you want recommendations, I'm always happy to share. But there's even candles that have that have properties that eliminate cannabis specific odor. So there's a lot of solutions out there and does not need to be overcomplicated. And then I guess, yeah, like I think are the last or rather not the last second to last debate point was secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke is an issue only in small spaces with poor with poor air circulation. It is a requirement by the city to make sure both odor and air quality standards are met to be issued a license. And that is also very dependent on your odor control solutions. You know you can mitigate secondhand smoke if you have a great filter slapped onto your H vac system have a solid H vac system to begin with. And then last debate point and then we can I hope that's fine. So equity of access to consumption lounges consumption lounge permits for underrepresented people. So I love this question. Because I work under the social equity department in the city of Los Angeles. So the LA department of cannabis regulations, I work there. And I help social equity, licensees, applicants, licensees and operators, with their businesses because you know, they're given a license, but they're not given capital. They're not given any guidance or advice. So I I've been helping them out in the city of LA City of LA doesn't have lounges. However, Nevada issued 10 licenses to consumption lounge licenses to social equity applicants. So I love that that it there's a pathway for social equity in lounges. It's primarily been for other cannabis business license types. But Santa Ana is also city of Santa Ana in California. So Orange County is also doing something similar by heading up a social equity development program and issuing out consumption lounge licenses during the year of 2023. So it'll be interesting to see how that plays out. But I'm loving the I'm loving how cities are incorporating consumption lounge license types under their social equity development programs. So I do foresee that even in the city of LA maybe not yet, but it'll happen very. It'll happen and maybe two or three years.
Adriana Hemans
Always take longer than they say, right. Yeah. So as we're talking about, like, what's happening in these lounges and what people are looking for, and what we're solving all these issues that that have come up that like local regulators are concerned about and local residents are concerned about. But let's talk about like the consumers themselves. And let's throw a little demographic question on here. Let's do our audience participation. which is:
69% OF CANNABIS CONSUMERS AGED 18 TO 24 PREFER CANNABIS OVER ALCOHOL.
Is it a “Cannafact Or Cannafiction”?
Maha Haq
Canna Club. We saw this a lot there. So for those who don't know what Canna Club is, it's a cannabis student organization, a nonprofit I founded in 2018. And college students love cannabis. I'm going to say that hey, they love alcohol too. But you know, I can say from firsthand experience that cannabis is being used more often at frat parties than beer. So there was even a beer pong games being played with not beer but with infused beverages.
David Paleschuck
Maha, what are your thoughts? Do you think this is a factor?
Maha Haq
I think it's a fact. Like I saw it firsthand. You know, just on campus, we there was a wine club. There was a beer brewing club. But Canna club, I would say was way more popular than those clubs.
David Paleschuck
Cooler. All right. Well, it seems like the audience is, is in agreement with the exception of Alaina and I always appreciate someone that goes the opposite direction. So opinions welcome. Yes. Bravo to you. Alright, let's, let's take a look. Is it CannaFact or CannaFiction?
Maha Haq
College nights happening that lounges now. To be at nightclubs. Now. It's that consumption lounges. I think it’s CannaFact!
Adriana Hemans
Correct! CannaFact! Also the 25 to 34 year old segment of cannabis consumers 70% interest over alcohol. I should call out to that this stat is from New Frontier data. Thank you very much for sharing this with us. Really interesting study.
David Paleschuck
Maha, how does brand in in you know, the function of brand play into not only cannabis but now we're talking about cannabis consumption lounges. How does how does brand play a role here?
Maha Haq
I’m very excited to discuss this with you because you are marketing and branding professionals. So, you know, one of lounges can identify with a particular experience or offering by having a solid brand and strong branding initiatives. You know, for example, The Woods in West Hollywood is owned and branded by celebrity Woody Harrelson. And the experience is very luxurious. It's a jungle Oasis theme. The interior was designed by the same designer of Tao which is a traditional establishment not a cannabis to start establishment. So additionally, most lounges are depending on their dispensary brand to elevate their retail experience first, so you know, I'm hoping that there will be lounges that are you know, not depending on their, on their retail brands. So we do see this with artists tree they call it the studio lounge as opposed to artists tree lounge. But in Chicago, the lounge I got to work on it was called the dispensary was called rise and the consumption lounge was called RISE smoke easy. So you know, it's maintaining the same retail brand and you know, it works it works in some in some cities, but I think a city like West Hollywood, Las Vegas, you really have to step outside the box and brand yourself or brand the lounge, as the experience being offered. So well, you know, we remember, you know, we remember names like Delilah, you know, we think of Delilah as a very fancy restaurant, you know, swanky experience in West Hollywood and Las Vegas, you know, but we have to, we could potentially consider branding, strategies like that, you know, maybe just have one name, or rather have something called the woods that describes the place itself, but I think there's going to be a lot of creativity in the space. I don't know what to ask. SPECT in Vegas just yet, nothing is open just yet from these new licenses that were just issued, but it's going to get crazy there, you know, there is a lounge that will be opening that will emulate an adult entertainment space. So thinking strip clubs. I wonder how a cannabis strip club will work in comparison to a traditional strip club with alcohol. So, are there going to be higher tips or lower tips? Like, you know, how is that going to play out, but, you know, adult entertainment is getting in, is coming into the space. So that lounge in particular is going to be branded as such. So, very excited to see that and I think branding is extremely important to set the lounges experience offering, and, you know, be able to convey what sort of experience they are offering to begin with. So it's going to be fun, it's going to be super fun to see what California Nevada markets do. And of course, New York, but, you know, we'll see what New York does. They've had quite the slow start, but they did just have their first recreational sale, which is awesome. So congrats to New York. It's only forward from here.
Adriana Hemans
It was a special moment
Maha Haq
But I think California and Nevada are going to set the standards for branding a consumption lounge, especially with the entertainment element. And of course, you know, one thing we did not talk about yet is like, incorporating food and beverage. So you know, when you're considering revenue streams, you know, I know we didn't talk too much about that. But food and beverage is going to play a huge role in being a service being offered at these consumption lounges. And if you can brand your food alongside your, you know, your cannabis offerings, then I'm excited to see that we'll see how that goes. You already see supper clubs, cannabis infused supper clubs. But having a stationary location is I think, a goal for a lot of these. A lot of the people who are hosting the supper clubs, and that, you know, that in itself is a brand. You know, branding it via food, branding it via experience, branding it via interior design and vibe. There's so much potential for it. And in branding is very important. So I highly recommend checking out David's book, but it's a really good book. had to slip that in.
Adriana Hemans
David is your guy for sure. Before we wrap up, Is it cool if we take one question from the audience? Let's go. Yeah, I love this one. Tonya asked, Are there any that offer a tasting experience similar to a wine enoteca?
Maha Haq
There are wineries that are looking to have a cannabis arm. So one example I can share is a Sunstone winery in Santa Barbara. They are looking to do a tasting room in the funk zone, which is downtown Santa Barbara, but they're also in the they're also in the works for setting up cultivation, and a dispensary, a cannabis dispensary. So there's going to be two aspects to it. So it's wine and we'd and we do see other brands doing similar initiatives in NorCal. So they're there, there will be tasting rooms for sure. And wine brands are already looking to do so with cannabis. So specifically to Sunstone, they have a wine tasting room already, they're going to just make the same vibe for cannabis that's been their experience experiential offering, they're going to carry that same standard, that same practice from their wine business into cannabis. So hopefully I'm going to get to work with them very soon to and that will be very exciting. But they're not the only ones there will be several that do that and NuWu they call themselves a tasting room. Although they have a setup like you see at a winery or brewery. I there's already lounges that do offer flights on a menu. So the Chicago lounge for example, that was called rise, and that was part of Green Thumb Industries. So GTI did have their own flower brand. They did have their own edible brands like they were vertically integrated. So we did get to curate menu items that would be sort of like a tasting. So having one gram of each strain that they had under or their flower brand rhythm. So that was really fun to do. And we're going to see this across all different lounges that will open, and will probably have some sort of brand partnership that they do specific to that lounge and have a unique set of offerings, you know, for that, for that brand. So, artists treat, for example, again, they have a very good relationship with the brand 710 Labs 710 Labs is extremely popular concentrate and hash brand. And they do, they do limited releases, and exclusive drops at that lounge specifically. So there's going to be a lot of brand partnerships. There's already tasting room concepts being built out by folks who've done traditional tasting rooms with beer and wine. So very excited about that. And I'm definitely going to be reporting back and letting you know how the Sunstone project works out.
Adriana Hemans
Oh, I can't wait to hear about it. Like just the cross-promotional opportunities. In general. my head is spinning. I also can't believe I'm saying that this is the end of our show. This went by fast.
David Paleschuck
The span of topics that we just touched upon in the last 45 minutes is broad. There's so many things that really need to be worked out and thought through that makes it right for consumers, makes it right for the public, and makes it right for everybody that wants a part to be a part of it. So thank you for sharing with us. We really appreciate it.
Maha Haq
Oh, thank you for having me. This has been a great discussion.
David Paleschuck
Maha, where people could reach you?
Maha Haq
I'm on LinkedIn. Also, I'm “highmaha” on Instagram. I also have a weekly Twitch episode which you can find at www.twitch.tv/highmaha.
David Paleschuck
Awesome. Thank you, Maha!
Maha Haq
Thank you, David. Thank you, Adriana. This has been fun “branding bud”.
Adriana Hemans
Anytime!
David Paleschuck
Wow! And that brings us to the end of our first show of the new year. Thank you for joining us. We’ll be back next Thursday, January 12th as we talk about “Why Women-Owned Cannabis Brands?” with Kristina Aducci. Find out more about Branding Bud Live on our YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@brandingbudlive), and more about our cannabis consulting services at (https://www.brandingbud.com).
Adriana Hemans
Don’t forget to check out David’s book, “Branding Bud, The Commercialization of Cannabis”, the bestselling book in two (2) categories (“Branding & Logo Design” and “Green Business”) on Amazon. You can find out more and purchase the book here:
https://www.amazon.com/Branding-Bud-Commercialization-David-Paleschuck/dp/1936807513
If you missed any of our episodes on LinkedIn, you could find them on our Branding Bud Live YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@brandingbudlive). Find out more about our consulting services at (https://www.brandingbud.com). Thanks, everybody. Have a great rest of your day. Bye!
David Paleschuck
If you miss us in the meantime, you can re-watch today’s episode, or any of our previous episodes, on our LinkedIn page, Branding Bud Live, or on our YouTube channel. There are links are below. Please listen in and give us a follow. Until next week. Bye!
Adriana Hemans
Bye!