The General
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Seattle is now home to the first business in Washington that is licensed to produce edible forms of marijuana. Db3 Inc. had its producer license and processor license granted by the Liquor Control Board on July 9. Db3 will be growing and producing its own edible marijuana products, as well as supporting independent producers by buying marijuana from them to use in the creation of its products, all of which will be marketed under the brand name Zoots. (While Db3 was first in the state to be granted a license to produce edibles, Green Chiefs of Granite Falls made it to market first, at a retail outlet in Bellingham, on Wednesday night.) Db3 and Zoots were founded by Michael, Dan, and Patrick Devlin. The three brothers each have decades of business experience; one has experience in food production. The idea for Db3 struck them last November, when I-502 initially passed. While their families got together for Thanksgiving, they formulated the idea.
Working with family
Dan, Patrick and Michael come from a family of seven kids and grew up in a small Oregon town. Db3 is their first business venture together. "For anybody to get into this industry and do it the correct way, it is very challenging," Dan Devlin said. "We don't know how a sole proprietor, one person starting off in this industry, could do it. The three of us are working full-time and have been for a long time." But despite the challenging environment, the brothers have been able to overcome all the challenges they've faced so far. "We certainly have those jobs that you want to have, where you are happy to go to work and can't wait to get things done," Michael Devlin said.
Developing the business
"We read I-502 very thoroughly. We knew the law, we knew the rules. It was never a question of if we would get a license, it was just a matter of when and what hoops we would have to jump through," Michael said. They had a market study done which led them to focus on low-dosage products. Michael said a lot of bad experiences with edibles often come down to overconsumption. If people had a way to try it in a lower dose, they believed, a positive experience would be much more likely.
According to Patrick Devlin, the edible marijuana industry normally takes food products and simply puts the edible cannabis in them without thinking how they might be complimentary. "We have these complimentary ingredients in with the product itself. The idea of growth in that area is really unlimited," Patrick said. "You could think of a non-alcoholic wine that's infused with cannabis to the same degree that a bottle of wine would be that people could then enjoy. That's what getting to lower doses allows you to do."
As they went to low doses, the brothers found a different type of cannabis experience. Michael says it's not about getting stoned, it's more like having a glass of wine or a beer. "It's a different type of experience and I'm more excited about people understanding that and exploring that," Michael said. "It also brings people back in who aren't heavy users. It's almost like a 'social drinker' concept." The brothers say they are trying to create products that can fit into people's lives more easily without falling into the stereotypes and stigmas people have about the use of marijuana. Db3 is starting with three products: Energy shots, drink additives and edibles. Zoot Blasts, cannabis-infused single-energy shots, were compared to 5-Hour Energy in size and design. The brothers described them as similar to a 5-Hour Energy, but "cleaner" and with all natural ingredients.
Consumer control
Each of the company's products is labeled with very clear THC levels, as the state requires, so the consumer will be able to control serving size and level of effect. "A big part of this is education of the consumer," Dan Devlin said. "Just like with alcohol, each consumer has to learn what their level is before they feel comfortable or not. It's a bit different than a shot of liquor or ounces of beer, but it's the same concept."
I-502 states that producers cannot also be retailers, so Db3 will be working with retailers to supply the stores and keep them in supply without delaying product. "I think this is going to create a very healthy market because you are going to have stores that can have a variety of suppliers like us," Michael said. Because marijuana was illegal under state law for so long, a lot of the people making extracts and oils did so out of sight and tried to keep it quiet. Now, with access to labs and analysis, that has changed. The Devlin brothers use the same approach that is used in other food manufacturing.
"You run a test, you send it out for a lab, you get results, you analyze it, you change your test and you move forward," Michael said. "By doing that we've greatly improved the manufacturing process of the extracts." Db3 tested 14 focus groups of people of various ages. The results helped Db3 design its products; the subjects in the focus groups wanted to continue to be physically active after using the products, for instance. "We designed the products around what the consumer was looking for and drove it from there," Patrick said.
Db3 sees its target audience as people coming back to marijuana and people who are trying it for the first time. The expected release date for its Zoots-branded products is sometime in the middle of September. "We have a saying, 'Stoned was then, Zoots is now,'" Dan said. "We are trying to create a different experience than what's traditionally thought of."
News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Blog.seattlepi.com
Author: Evan Pappas
Contact: Contact Us
Website: Meet Seattle's first edible marijuana producer: Db3 - The Pot Blog
Working with family
Dan, Patrick and Michael come from a family of seven kids and grew up in a small Oregon town. Db3 is their first business venture together. "For anybody to get into this industry and do it the correct way, it is very challenging," Dan Devlin said. "We don't know how a sole proprietor, one person starting off in this industry, could do it. The three of us are working full-time and have been for a long time." But despite the challenging environment, the brothers have been able to overcome all the challenges they've faced so far. "We certainly have those jobs that you want to have, where you are happy to go to work and can't wait to get things done," Michael Devlin said.
Developing the business
"We read I-502 very thoroughly. We knew the law, we knew the rules. It was never a question of if we would get a license, it was just a matter of when and what hoops we would have to jump through," Michael said. They had a market study done which led them to focus on low-dosage products. Michael said a lot of bad experiences with edibles often come down to overconsumption. If people had a way to try it in a lower dose, they believed, a positive experience would be much more likely.
According to Patrick Devlin, the edible marijuana industry normally takes food products and simply puts the edible cannabis in them without thinking how they might be complimentary. "We have these complimentary ingredients in with the product itself. The idea of growth in that area is really unlimited," Patrick said. "You could think of a non-alcoholic wine that's infused with cannabis to the same degree that a bottle of wine would be that people could then enjoy. That's what getting to lower doses allows you to do."
As they went to low doses, the brothers found a different type of cannabis experience. Michael says it's not about getting stoned, it's more like having a glass of wine or a beer. "It's a different type of experience and I'm more excited about people understanding that and exploring that," Michael said. "It also brings people back in who aren't heavy users. It's almost like a 'social drinker' concept." The brothers say they are trying to create products that can fit into people's lives more easily without falling into the stereotypes and stigmas people have about the use of marijuana. Db3 is starting with three products: Energy shots, drink additives and edibles. Zoot Blasts, cannabis-infused single-energy shots, were compared to 5-Hour Energy in size and design. The brothers described them as similar to a 5-Hour Energy, but "cleaner" and with all natural ingredients.
Consumer control
Each of the company's products is labeled with very clear THC levels, as the state requires, so the consumer will be able to control serving size and level of effect. "A big part of this is education of the consumer," Dan Devlin said. "Just like with alcohol, each consumer has to learn what their level is before they feel comfortable or not. It's a bit different than a shot of liquor or ounces of beer, but it's the same concept."
I-502 states that producers cannot also be retailers, so Db3 will be working with retailers to supply the stores and keep them in supply without delaying product. "I think this is going to create a very healthy market because you are going to have stores that can have a variety of suppliers like us," Michael said. Because marijuana was illegal under state law for so long, a lot of the people making extracts and oils did so out of sight and tried to keep it quiet. Now, with access to labs and analysis, that has changed. The Devlin brothers use the same approach that is used in other food manufacturing.
"You run a test, you send it out for a lab, you get results, you analyze it, you change your test and you move forward," Michael said. "By doing that we've greatly improved the manufacturing process of the extracts." Db3 tested 14 focus groups of people of various ages. The results helped Db3 design its products; the subjects in the focus groups wanted to continue to be physically active after using the products, for instance. "We designed the products around what the consumer was looking for and drove it from there," Patrick said.
Db3 sees its target audience as people coming back to marijuana and people who are trying it for the first time. The expected release date for its Zoots-branded products is sometime in the middle of September. "We have a saying, 'Stoned was then, Zoots is now,'" Dan said. "We are trying to create a different experience than what's traditionally thought of."
News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Blog.seattlepi.com
Author: Evan Pappas
Contact: Contact Us
Website: Meet Seattle's first edible marijuana producer: Db3 - The Pot Blog
