For our first interview, Cannabis Edibles and Drink Review I had the honor of speaking with David Ellerstein, Managing Partner at Plant Life Co.
CEDR: David, please tell us a little bit about Plant Life and how you got into the business.
I’ve been in the cannabis space and he was running a cannabis fertilizer business since 2011. Scott and his family business had primarily focused on tree, shrub and turf business for fertilizer prior to that. Knowing of my background and the fact we were both in this burgeoning marketplace he had hoped that my targeting of niche markets was the missing element to achieve what he had initially set out on accomplishing when he branched out in 2011.
And when he called me, I kind of literally had one of those “aha” moments. I really liked the space and I was fairly familiar with the many fertilizers in the space and I thought there really is a niche that could be created here to put out a high quality product for a very fair price.
CDER: And what makes the products such high-quality?
David: Quite frankly, it just comes down to the expertise and experience of having the generations of concerted family businesses creating such quality products for so long. They have a great reputation within the field of turf, shrubs, trees and produce, etc. with sophisticated lab PhD’s on staff. And so we were able to just bring science into play along with the evolution of the cannabis market.
There’s over a hundred and sixty years of knowledge behind creating our fertilizers.
CEDR: And what about organic versus inorganic fertilizer?
David: With both plants and food, the better the ingredients, the better the final product. Whether it’s organic or inorganic, it’s the same molecule. The structure of that molecule is identical. The other thing is that the plant can only consume inorganic matter. So even though a nutrient might be organic in the media, it gets converted into inorganic matter, so that the plant can digest it.
CEDR: Any predictions relative to the drink or edibles space just in terms of growth and what’s coming down the pike?
David: Given that the USDA is now the governing body involved from the cultivation side to end-user consumable, it’s just a whole new world. The industry is waiting on their guidance to understand how they will draft their rules. Recognizing what’s at stake and the potential impact it will have on the industry the USDA is now accepting comments on their proposed 161 page guidelines. It’s potential impact, and possible curtailing of innovation is so great, Senator Chuck Schumer recently proposed that the USDA extend the time for potentially affected people to comment.
CEDR: Thanks David for the great insights.
