Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
Cannabis cookies, candies and brownies are mainstays at medical-marijuana dispensaries. Next up: infused coffee.
House of Jane, a medical marijuana collective, has drawn inspiration from Amsterdam's coffeehouses. Yet the new San Jose company actually blends medicinal cannabis into coffee and other hot-beverage products. It packages these at a downtown facility and distributes the products through dispensaries.
House of Jane opened late last year to positive reviews in the cannabis community. It's looking to serve a more mature patient - one who doesn't medicate using candy, calorie-laden cookies or harsh smoke or vapor.
"We wanted to establish something that didn't have the stigma of smoking a joint, smoking a bong or taking a dab," said cofounder Jill Amen. "Because there are lots of people just like you, me or any other professional who would prefer to medicate this way instead of taking a prescription drug. We felt that this would be a great delivery system for someone who didn't want the stigma, but wanted the benefits of a well-calibrated, cannabis-infused product."
Amen said she had an interest in medicinal cannabis and its cultivation for 36 years, but it was the very coffeehouses in Amsterdam that inspired her when she visited there with her sons.
She found help getting started with Ben-David Sheppard, cofounder, and Mothership Holdings, which recognized the industry's potential – if correctly harnessed – and decided to invest.
"One of the things we wanted to do is create a quality brand, ensure quality packaging, dosing and things of that nature," Sheppard said. "And that was something the industry really needed – some serious, mainstream business acumen."
Starting in April 2014, House of Jane began making preparations.
The founders partnered with Oaksterdam University, a cannabis advocacy and education group in Oakland, to learn the ins and outs of the industry. They developed their business to comply with licensing, production and distribution regulations, and imposed strict quality standards.
Those standards were put in place largely at the behest of the facility's general manager, Richard Eggleston. Eggleston, who formerly held a quality-control position at Starbucks, knew that quality and consistency in the coffee were almost as important as the medication.
In order for the product to work as intended, it needed to not smell or taste like cannabis, and it needed to not get the drinker too, well, stoned. Eggleston pointed out, however, that there is a slight grassy taste to differentiate it from regular coffee, to avoid confusion.
Eggleston, with the help of a food scientist in Colorado, came up with formulations that taste like standard coffee, hazelnut, French vanilla and caramel.
They also come in 20-, 40-, 80- and 120-milligram doses. For reference, most edibles come in either 60- or 120-milligram doses.
Each batch is made on a relatively simple, five-step assembly line system.
House of Jane makes a proprietary blend of the medicated concentrate, and then mixes it with the coffee products that are packaged as individual packets. They're put in packages of two, and sealed and labeled with the batch number, date and best-used-by date. The packaging resembles that of the Starbucks Via packets you might find at the grocery store. But it's also labeled clearly as being a medicinal cannabis product with the dosage in milligrams printed on the front.
Consumers also can buy the medicated concentrate separately.
House of Jane's space, which is sanitized and disinfected daily, pumps out between 1,500 and 2,000 units a day, and Eggleston said they still can't quite keep up with demand.
House of Jane, a private company, declined to disclose the amount of funding it has received, or its financial results to date. Yet it has seen some early signs of success.
Oaksterdam University honored the company with its Best Business Practices recognition. Jane's Brew, the business' cannabis-infused coffee, won the Hempcon 2015 Best Edible award and Connoisseur's Choice.
The company partners with close to 40 dispensaries that offer House of Jane products, and it recently made an offer on a larger, 6,000-square-foot facility.
House of Jane's aspirations include its own bottling facility, cold liquid products and even House of Jane dispensaries. For now, staff members said they are just glad to help people in need.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: House of Jane coffee targets mature adult medical marijuana users - Silicon Valley Business Journal
Author: Philip Beadle
Contact: pbeadle@bizjournals.com
Photo Credit: Vicki Thompson
Website: Business News - The Business Journals
House of Jane, a medical marijuana collective, has drawn inspiration from Amsterdam's coffeehouses. Yet the new San Jose company actually blends medicinal cannabis into coffee and other hot-beverage products. It packages these at a downtown facility and distributes the products through dispensaries.
House of Jane opened late last year to positive reviews in the cannabis community. It's looking to serve a more mature patient - one who doesn't medicate using candy, calorie-laden cookies or harsh smoke or vapor.
"We wanted to establish something that didn't have the stigma of smoking a joint, smoking a bong or taking a dab," said cofounder Jill Amen. "Because there are lots of people just like you, me or any other professional who would prefer to medicate this way instead of taking a prescription drug. We felt that this would be a great delivery system for someone who didn't want the stigma, but wanted the benefits of a well-calibrated, cannabis-infused product."
Amen said she had an interest in medicinal cannabis and its cultivation for 36 years, but it was the very coffeehouses in Amsterdam that inspired her when she visited there with her sons.
She found help getting started with Ben-David Sheppard, cofounder, and Mothership Holdings, which recognized the industry's potential – if correctly harnessed – and decided to invest.
"One of the things we wanted to do is create a quality brand, ensure quality packaging, dosing and things of that nature," Sheppard said. "And that was something the industry really needed – some serious, mainstream business acumen."
Starting in April 2014, House of Jane began making preparations.
The founders partnered with Oaksterdam University, a cannabis advocacy and education group in Oakland, to learn the ins and outs of the industry. They developed their business to comply with licensing, production and distribution regulations, and imposed strict quality standards.
Those standards were put in place largely at the behest of the facility's general manager, Richard Eggleston. Eggleston, who formerly held a quality-control position at Starbucks, knew that quality and consistency in the coffee were almost as important as the medication.
In order for the product to work as intended, it needed to not smell or taste like cannabis, and it needed to not get the drinker too, well, stoned. Eggleston pointed out, however, that there is a slight grassy taste to differentiate it from regular coffee, to avoid confusion.
Eggleston, with the help of a food scientist in Colorado, came up with formulations that taste like standard coffee, hazelnut, French vanilla and caramel.
They also come in 20-, 40-, 80- and 120-milligram doses. For reference, most edibles come in either 60- or 120-milligram doses.
Each batch is made on a relatively simple, five-step assembly line system.
House of Jane makes a proprietary blend of the medicated concentrate, and then mixes it with the coffee products that are packaged as individual packets. They're put in packages of two, and sealed and labeled with the batch number, date and best-used-by date. The packaging resembles that of the Starbucks Via packets you might find at the grocery store. But it's also labeled clearly as being a medicinal cannabis product with the dosage in milligrams printed on the front.
Consumers also can buy the medicated concentrate separately.
House of Jane's space, which is sanitized and disinfected daily, pumps out between 1,500 and 2,000 units a day, and Eggleston said they still can't quite keep up with demand.
House of Jane, a private company, declined to disclose the amount of funding it has received, or its financial results to date. Yet it has seen some early signs of success.
Oaksterdam University honored the company with its Best Business Practices recognition. Jane's Brew, the business' cannabis-infused coffee, won the Hempcon 2015 Best Edible award and Connoisseur's Choice.
The company partners with close to 40 dispensaries that offer House of Jane products, and it recently made an offer on a larger, 6,000-square-foot facility.
House of Jane's aspirations include its own bottling facility, cold liquid products and even House of Jane dispensaries. For now, staff members said they are just glad to help people in need.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: House of Jane coffee targets mature adult medical marijuana users - Silicon Valley Business Journal
Author: Philip Beadle
Contact: pbeadle@bizjournals.com
Photo Credit: Vicki Thompson
Website: Business News - The Business Journals
