Cannabis Edibles and Drink Review had the pleasure of sitting down with Stephanie Daley, VP of Market Expansion for Wana Brands.
CEDR: Stephanie, which MMTC’s (Medical Marijuana Treatment Clinics) will carry your products here in Florida?
Stephanie: Wana products will be in MÜV™ as we’ve partnered with AltMed Florida. MÜV™is AltMed Florida’s line of dispensaries in the state. We also work with AltMed in Arizona, and our gummies are their number one seller.
CEDR: What’s the process been like expanding into new markets?
Stephanie: We started out in Colorado. Now we’re in eight additional states and onboarding in three more, including Florida, where we plan to launch in the next month. When we move into a new market, people may not be familiar with the brand if they haven’t been to other states where our products are sold. Now that Wana is the largest cannabis brand in North America, more people recognize the brand. When we first started out in Arizona, there was a lot of competition, so we had to prove ourselves to secure that top position. We became No. 1 because we hold quality and consistency as our top priority, and we have always 3rd party tested since Day One.
CEDR: Can you explain why lab testing is so important with edibles?
Stephanie: Arizona just began requiring testing on November 1, 2020. Previously there was no requirement for potency or microbial testing. As I mentioned, Wana has conducted third-party testing since the beginning, and we’ve always tested in Arizona since the day we launched there. I think that really helped us take the lead in the market, as patients know that they can trust our products.
In addition, Wana products are consistent. If you cut a Wana gummie in half, you’re going to get five milligrams on each side. It’s not going to be all shoved to one side. We take all of the compliance requirements very seriously. I think that’= really helped us in Arizona and will benefit us in Florida as well, even though the Sunshine State already requires testing.
CEDR: When will your products arrive in Florida?
Stephanie: We’re working very hard on it. I don’t have a solidified date yet, but I can tell you they are coming sometime in December. My team is actually training the AltMed team as we speak.
CEDR: Are Wana’s products similar in each of your markets?
Stephanie: Yes. We have some different SKUs in some different markets. For example, in certain markets, we may have a blueberry Indica and in another market it may be a watermelon Indica. That was a legacy issue left over from the beginning of Wana’s expansion. Moving forward, flavors and classes will become uniform across all of our markets.
CEDR: Are there any nuances that you’ve experienced so far in Florida?
Stephanie: Each state has its own set of regulations, and all can have their own set of challenges. Florida has been pretty challenging for us to work through the regulations and be able to launch. The biggest factor for us in Florida is that we can’t add any coloring to our gummies. We’re allowed to add the flavoring, but we’re not allowed to add the coloring. So, this is the very first time that all of our gummies are going to look essentially the same. None are going to have any color added to them, but they will taste different. So that’s unique.
CEDR: Where (in Florida) are your gummies being made?
Stephanie: They’re being made in Apollo Beach, which is near Sarasota and where AltMed is headquartered.
CEDR: Are your gummies strain specific?
Stephanie: We don’t really look at it as strain specific. We look at it more as class specific. You’ve got your Indica, Sativa and Hybrid. And we accomplish this by reintroducing terpenes back into the cooking process. The terpenes are really what are going to give someone those effects that they’re looking for. Our terpenes are actually botanically derived, which means that we can ship them across state lines. We have a company in California that has formulated specific terpene blends just for us. Our partners in all of our markets purchase those terpenes from that vendor, so the same terpenes that are in Florida are going to be in Ohio, Arizona, etc. You can really expect that same experience across all of our markets.
CEDR: Thank you Stephanie for the great information!
