What do chocolate-dipped fruit bouquets and psychoactive gummies have in common?
On the surface, not much. But Edible Brands sees connections between the products.
It’s why the company announced Thursday it is expanding from selling its iconic Edible Arrangements and other sweet treats into hemp products with federally legal amounts of THC through its aptly named platform, Edibles.com.
“For us, it felt like a natural fit, especially as we expand Edible Brands to be more about all things food, health and wellness,” Somia Farid Silber, the company’s CEO, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The infused edibles market, it’s a fast-growing market. There’s a lot of demand from consumers for safe, high-quality and reliable products.”
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com
That’s what Silber hopes Edibles.com delivers for the Sandy Springs-based company as it seeks to tap into what it estimates is a $28 billion industry.
It is launching first in Texas, selling drinks, chews and liquids from a variety of brands infused with THC and other cannabinoids. The company plans to expand to Georgia and Florida in the coming months.
Selling THC-infused products is legal because of the 2018 Farm Bill, a federal law that legalized hemp farming and its sale as long as the amount of THC did not exceed 0.3% by dry weight. Traditional marijuana remains illegal for recreational purposes under federal laws and statutes in many states, including Georgia.
There has also been pushback to THC-infused products and retailers in some states, including an effort to ban drinks in Georgia and a bill in Texas that passed its Senate that would ban most cannabinoids.
Edible Brands is tapping into its name recognition as well as its robust supply chain and logistics network to deliver products the same day or next day.
This is not Edible Brands’ first foray into hemp products. In 2019, it launched a line of CBD-infused smoothies and chocolate-dipped products called Incredible Edibles. But it is still a surprising expansion for some, including the person tapped to lead the effort for Edible Brands, cannabis industry veteran Thomas Winstanley.
“When I heard from Edible Brands, I won’t hide that I was like, ‘Is this a real thing? Like, is this really going to happen?’” said Winstanley, executive vice president for Edibles.com.
But it is, in fact, real and had been in development for a while. The company acquired the Edibles.com domain last year and has quietly been establishing partnerships with businesses like Cann, which makes THC-infused flavored sparkling water, and gummy brand Wana.
The platform is also part of Edible Brands’ goal to attract younger customers, a goal of Silber’s when she took over the reins of her family’s company last year.
“Definitely a heavy push when it comes to Gen Z and millennials, and you’ll see that in our content development, what we’re posting on social media, how it’ll start to come to life as the brand shows up online,” Silber said.
The company plans to open an edibles store in Inman Park this year.
Edibles.com will have an educational component, Winstanley said, answering questions like if the products are legal and the difference between hemp and cannabis.
“That’s where we hope to really be a steward in the category, is to dispel some of the confusion, the myths,” he said.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Last fall, a Georgia law went into effect regulating the hemp industry in the state by limiting sales to consumers over age 21, mandating product testing and banning some products, such as prerolled, smokable hemp cigarettes.
But challenges to the industry are cropping up in state legislatures. On Wednesday, the Texas state senate passed a bill that would ban the sale of all THC products in the state, which could impact Edibles.com.
“The proposed total ban on hemp-derived products through the Texas Senate Bill 3 (SB 3) is not the solution. Bans, as reflected in the bill, force the good actors out and allow the illicit operators to grow,” Winstanley said in a statement after its passage.
The company, however, supports better regulations related to caps on products' potency, child-safe packaging, prohibiting marketing to minors, restricting sales to consumers 21 and older and an excise tax to fund enforcement and compliance.
Legislation currently before Georgia lawmakers could ban THC-infused drinks, which would “effectively kill the hemp industry in Georgia,” said Jake Bullock, co-founder and CEO of Cann, one of the brands stocked on Edibles.com. Bullock said his peers are working with the alcohol industry to try to keep that legislation from passing.
But despite the legal challenges to hemp and its products, Bullock is bullish about Edibles.com and what it means for his industry.
“I really think it’s about the mainstream-ization of these drinks,” he said, “Bringing those two halves together of the broader cannabis ecosystem, which can be very scary and opaque to some folks, and a really known, familiar, comfortable brand in Edible Arrangements.”
But if people were hoping to bundle a fruit bouquet and edibles, that’s not in the cards … yet.
“Believe it or not, we get this question a lot from Edible Arrangements consumers,” Silber said. “No plans for a collab right now, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we have one in the near future.”
— Staff writer Mark Niesse contributed to this report.
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