The Company Behind the World’s BEST ALL NATURAL LEAF (Feat. King Palm) | Ep. 19

Voiceover (00:00):

Welcome to another episode of Cultivate. This is a show about you and your journey in the cannabis industry. It’s moving fast, but there’s room for everyone. Buckle up as we bring you the people and the technology that are blazing the trail.

Drew Emmer (00:16):

We’re ready to rock. Let’s have a podcast. You’re listening to and watching perhaps the Boveda Cultivate podcast, we’re bringing you the people and the technology that are blazing a trail in the cannabis industry. The cannabis industry is growing. It’s exploding, but don’t worry, there’s plenty of room for everybody. So buckle up and let’s go on a journey into what’s new and what’s happening in the cannabis industry. Scotty, introduce our guest for the day.

Scott Swail (00:45):

This is Brandon with King Palm.

Brandon Puett (00:48):

Hello, everybody.

SS (00:49):

Longtime friends, partners of Boveda.

DE (00:53):

Hand me that King Palm thing over there, I want to hold it.

BP (00:55):

Happy to be here, guys. Happy to be here.

SS (00:57):

We’re at MJ Biz live. If you couldn’t tell by the same background.

DE (01:03):

So these are…

SS (01:05):

The Rollies. That’s the deal.

DE (01:07):

That’s the deal right there.

SS (01:08):

Are you aiming them at a camera?

DE (01:10):

I think so. Isn’t that a camera right there?

SS (01:11):

Oh, I can’t see.

DE (01:12):

Is that okay? Did you want to hold them?

SS (01:15):

No, that’s good.

DE (01:17):

So that’s your baby, man.

BP (01:18):

That’s the baby Rollie. That’s our smallest size in the King Palm family. We got six different sizes guys. I’m sure you’re aware of, we’ve got the Rollie, the Mini, the Slim, the King, the XL, and for the party atmosphere, we have the XXL. You

SS (01:35):

Those things are massive.

BP (01:37):

They’re very big. Yes. XXL.

DE (01:39):

So the response to your product in the marketplace. I mean, this has been kind of a storybook success experience. King Palm, how did it come about? Give us the history.

BP (01:52):

Well, the history of it is we’ve been around for three years now established in 2016, it came about with a tight knit group of people, all like-minded. We started off in another venture inside of the cannabis space, which didn’t go as planned, a small grow up, indoor grow up. Didn’t go as planned due to some inexperience and team chemistry, but some good things did come out of that because two of the people that I was involved with there, we got together and we were doing a lot of research and development. We were sourcing different leaves while we were doing our other venture and we sourced speedy leaves. We sourced banana leaves.

BP (02:37):

We tried the corn husk wrap, and then we came across the Cordia leaf through a series of events that just kind of like… What’s the next wave? And we tried the leaf. We really loved it. We felt it was superior based on all those other leaves and looking at the market, we saw there was a hole, there was a space there because traditionally you have the hemp wrap, right? Or you have a blunt wrap or a cigarillo and cigarillos are basically a tobacco leaf. So the Cordia leaf is a whole separate leaf within those three major, two major leaves.

SS (03:15):

Can you explain the Cordia leaf a little bit and what tree it comes from or plant?

BP (03:20):

Yeah. So it comes from the Palm leaf family. The Cordia Borage leaf. Palm leaf family has about 200 different species of leaf and Cordia is one of them. And it’s been enjoyed and smoked in Southeast Asia for, I’d say hundreds of years, you can look into it. You’ll see pictures of people, very old National Geographic type pictures in the same type of shapes, same type of cone. But they use some sort of honey mixture. They add tobacco into that, notes of that tobacco-free Cordia leaf with the built-in filter. And they just enjoy their blends of herbs, all different types of herbs, whatever they prefer. I don’t know what they’re doing up there. But yeah, and we looked at that and we thought it was gold and we wanted to bring it to this current cannabis scene in the United States.

DE (04:20):

Your buddy James was just here from Ooze. We had a chat with him. He’s such a great guy.

BP (04:24):

Solid guy.

DE (04:25):

And how did this relationship evolve? It’s really mind boggling to think that you’ve done what you’ve done in three short years. I mean-

SS (04:35):

It seems a lot longer.

DE (04:36):

That’s incredible.

SS (04:38):

I think I met you in San Diego at a small show. I forget the name of the show.

DE (04:45):

Oh, is this the show you were at where you got your laptop stolen?

SS (04:51):

Yes, it was.

DE (04:53):

I’m sorry. I don’t mean to bring that up. It’s a sore subject.

SS (04:54):

It’s been brought up a lot today.

DE (04:55):

Yeah. Sorry.

BP (04:56):

You got a new laptop now?

SS (04:57):

Oh, yeah.

BP (04:58):

Don’t worry about it.

SS (04:58):

I’m rolling now with the new one. Yeah, no, I think that was, to my knowledge, the first time that we met. And then I know we did some research on different RH levels that worked best for the Palm leaf wraps. And we landed on 72%, but that ended up being a little bit too high and obviously 72 is way too high for a cannabis. So we determined that 62 was the best option or you guys determined 62 was the right option for the leaf and it allowed people to fill their King Palms up and then store them and have that bulb in there. And it’s keeping not only the wrap fresh, but also the cannabis fresh, at the same time.

BP (05:43):

Going from 72 to 62.

SS (05:45):

Yeah.

BP (05:45):

It just brings a different value to it because after they consume, smoke their King Palm roll, if that Boveda is still fresh, they can pop it into their cannabis flower.

SS (05:56):

Yeah.

BP (05:57):

Sort of a dual purpose move there.

SS (05:58):

It’s a great idea.

BP (05:59):

Yeah.

SS (06:00):

It couldn’t be a more perfect partnership. I mean…

BP (06:05):

It’s really nice.

DE (06:06):

Well, I’m impressed with the brand and I’m impressed with the quality. How hard was it to get it right? I mean…

BP (06:12):

A lot of trial and error.

DE (06:13):

But every package I look at of your stuff, it looks super consistent. Everything’s perfect. Is there a lot of failure around the edges than getting it right?

BP (06:23):

Yeah. In the early stages, but now we have it down to a science, so to speak, to where we know what we want, we know how to achieve it. We’re big on quality, really stress that, we don’t want to put anything out that’s not. So it kind of comes with that.

SS (06:41):

Your social media following has blown up quite a bit.

BP (06:44):

Thank you. Yeah.

SS (06:46):

It’s pretty fun to see.

BP (06:47):

It’s pretty cool. Yeah.

DE (06:48):

And you’re a podcaster now, you guys have your own podcast, Highly Motivated. Highly…

BP (06:54):

Highly Motivated, guys. Check it out. Great podcast.

DE (06:57):

So before we forget, connect him with social handles and stuff so people know how to connect with King Palm.

SS (07:03):

Yeah. So people want to reach out or check out your stuff, where do they find you?

BP (07:07):

So you can find us on Instagram @kingpalm. We’re on Twitter. We’re on Facebook. We’re on YouTube as well. Just look up King Palm and you’ll be able to find all the correct socials for all that. Yeah. Please subscribe, check out the podcast, follow us on Instagram. We’re really interactive there. We got a lot of cool things going on, on social media. We just like to get the people involved.

SS (07:31):

Yeah.

DE (07:32):

And King Palm has one of the coolest shirts. I saw the shirt.

BP (07:38):

Which shirt?

DE (07:39):

The King Palm shirt. Was that you? You had one.

SS (07:42):

I was wearing it. I think Ryan was wearing one as well.

DE (07:45):

Why does Ryan have one? I don’t have one.

BP (07:47):

Drew. We’re going to get you a shirt.

DE (07:48):

I’m serious.

SS (07:49):

Because they sent a big care package and I didn’t give you one.

DE (07:52):

Oh, because I wasn’t there.

BP (07:53):

Just let me know the size.

DE (07:54):

Anyway, they’ve got really cool swag. So maybe the Highly Motivated podcast will have some sort of contest to get you engaged in judging the quality of their product. It’s a premium smoking experience. King Palm’s doing this incredible cone. I mean, they’re really cool.

SS (08:12):

I have a question about the bag.

BP (08:14):

About the…

SS (08:15):

The bag. What is the bag? I’ve never…

BP (08:17):

Just a craft bag. Yeah.

SS (08:19):

I like it.

BP (08:20):

Nice craft bag. A lot of the wraps go with that shiny foil approach. We always started with the natural look.

SS (08:28):

Yeah. I like it.

BP (08:29):

[Braf 00:08:29] look. I don’t think that’s going anywhere. We like that approach as well. The see-through window-

SS (08:35):

Yeah, people want to see.

BP (08:36):

Want to see what they’re getting. Yeah.

SS (08:38):

Yeah.

DE (08:38):

Especially when it’s something that’s potentially regarded as fragile.

BP (08:44):

Yeah.

DE (08:45):

The consistency in quality is just beautiful, the way you guys have put them together. So congratulations. We’re really happy for your success. We’re really excited for the future for King Palm. It’s awesome.

BP (08:55):

Yeah.

SS (08:56):

What’s next?

BP (08:57):

Future for King Palm, we got some big things going on. In 2020, we’re going to be now making our way into the convenience store market. We have a deal going on with 7-Eleven. So we’re going to roll out in all the 7-Eleven green states. You’ll be able to go in and buy a two Mini King Palm for 1.99. So that’s going to be really great with Boveda included. We talked personally about how we wanted to get that one gram in there. And we came to an agreement and we really glad that you guys are on board for that.

SS (09:30):

That’s awesome.

BP (09:30):

So now Boveda, coincidentally is going to be inside convenience stores as well, if you think about it.

DE (09:36):

Well, once you get into the convenience store market and start getting some turnover in convenience stores, your brand is out there. It’s already out there, but it’s really out there when you’re in convenience stores.

BP (09:47):

It’s the next level for wraps. I mean, that’s where people usually buy their wraps. They stop-

DE (09:51):

The number of footprints in convenience stores is ridiculously high compared to any other model of smoke shop or…

BP (09:57):

Smoke shops is an older thing.

SS (09:59):

Yeah. I mean, why make a special trip to a smoke shop when you can go get your gas, your wraps, you need a snack, whatever it is, all at one store.

DE (10:09):

We’ve got convenience stores in Minnesota that are selling hemp flower now.

SS (10:13):

Really?

DE (10:13):

Yeah.

SS (10:14):

I didn’t know that.

DE (10:15):

Kwik Trip in Minnesota has hemp flower.

BP (10:17):

We’ll look into Kwik Trip. Try to get some King Palm there.

SS (10:20):

Yeah, good.

DE (10:20):

It’s a great company.

SS (10:21):

They’re a great company. How many stores does 7-Eleven have in green states?

BP (10:27):

Oh man. I don’t know right off the top of my head.

SS (10:31):

It’s got to be thousands.

BP (10:32):

It’s like 2000 or 2,500 stores, I think. Yeah.

SS (10:35):

Wow. It’s a lot.

DE (10:37):

Create opportunity for you guys.

BP (10:39):

Yeah. That’s happening right now. So it’s pretty cool. Got to go through the process of paperwork and the whole setup thing, which is a doozy, but it’s well worth it.

SS (10:49):

Now, do you have flavored wraps? Is that something I…

BP (10:54):

Yeah. That’s something approaching in 2022, we’re dropping flavored King Palms. The technology is a crushable capsule that we put inside our filter and it has certain flavors and we’re trying to come up with a terpene blend as well inside of that capsule. So when you crush it and activate the flavor, whenever you like, literally you can just smoke your natural King Palm roll. And if you’re halfway through, you’re like, “I want to throw some pineapple in now-“

SS (11:21):

It’s like the Camel Crush cigarettes.

BP (11:22):

Very similar, but different. Yeah.

SS (11:24):

Better for you.

BP (11:25):

Better for you.

SS (11:26):

Better tasting.

BP (11:27):

Better tasting. With our corn husk filter, crush the capsule, activate the flavor. And it’s a really a great taste. We’re doing a lot of research and development right now about it. So it’s going to be released sometime in 2020 full swing. Started with a few flavors to test the market, see what happens. But honestly, from the feedback we’ve gotten from some online sales and from just people we’ve given the samples to try, it blows their mind. They’re just like, “Wow.” Because when you smoke a flavored wrap you don’t really taste that pure flavor as advertised on the wrap. Right?

BP (12:09):

Like they say, “It’s great,” but it’s masked in the wrap. This, the smoke is passing through the flavor that you just activated. And you’re getting this very full on flavor effect to it. I know people, there are the purists who, I want to taste the flower, strictly the flower. And that’s great. We love them as well. Because we’re all natural. And we’re still going to have that natural roll available for them. But this is for the other people who want to try some flavors, we’re going to try to get a nice terpene mix in there to save the terps. Talk about the terps.

DE (12:45):

It’s all about the terps, man.

BP (12:47):

Yeah.

DE (12:47):

Flavor and aroma and the sensory experience. People have a good quality experience. It’s not harsh.

BP (12:55):

No.

DE (12:56):

It’s friendly. They come back over and over again. You guys are building a great reputation as a quality brand. That’s a really big deal.

BP (13:03):

Yeah.

DE (13:04):

It’s not easy to do.

BP (13:05):

No.

DE (13:05):

So congratulations. We’re really happy for your success.

BP (13:08):

Yeah. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. Are you guys excited about Boveda making its way to convenience stores with us?

DE (13:14):

Yeah. This is going to be great for us.

SS (13:16):

I think it’s going to be huge.

BP (13:17):

They’re going to know about it.

SS (13:19):

Yeah. It hasn’t been a big focus for us recently-

DE (13:24):

Realistically it was probably too big of a project for us to bite off short term and for us to have a up and coming major brand take us into the convenience store market, we couldn’t be prouder to be a part of it. So thank you for taking us along. Thank you for allowing us to ride your coattails.

BP (13:44):

No, no. It’s not like that. It’s necessary because we have a product that needs to stay fresh and you guys really come through with that. So I think it’s going to be big. I think it’s going to be big for all of us.

DE (13:55):

Oh, I think it’s going to be awesome. Congratulations for making that happen.

BP (13:59):

Yeah. Yeah. It’s going to be tight.

SS (13:59):

Cool.

DE (14:00):

It’s been fun to see you guys out there representing your brand and doing your thing.

BP (14:05):

Thank you.

DE (14:06):

A great group of people, wonderful partners for Boveda. We couldn’t be more proud to be a part of it. Thank you for including us.

BP (14:13):

Always. I really appreciate it.

DE (14:15):

Thank you. And you’re doing a great job. You got to know that you’re doing a great job.

BP (14:18):

Yeah. It means a lot coming from you guys. You guys have been around for a little bit.

DE (14:23):

Well, I have. Scott’s pretty new.

BP (14:24):

Have that thumbs up from you guys.

SS (14:26):

I’m young, he’s really old.

BP (14:28):

So hot topic going on right now, like the cannabis becoming federally legal. What do you guys think is going to happen there?

DE (14:37):

It’s coming. It’s coming.

BP (14:37):

How do you think that affects everything? The small growers, like you got big tobacco, maybe getting into cannabis, dispensaries, smoke shops-

SS (14:46):

It’s going to be interesting.

BP (14:47):

Or they’re going to sell it at convenience stores. Like how is this…?

SS (14:51):

We live in Minnesota, so we haven’t experienced living in a state where it’s been legalized and we have a medical program, but it’s no flower.

DE (14:59):

Yeah.

SS (15:00):

It’s been hard to get-

DE (15:01):

It’s pretty limited.

SS (15:03):

A card, essentially. So we haven’t experienced like you have in California, what it’s like having cannabis.

DE (15:12):

The ease of access.

SS (15:12):

Medically [crosstalk 00:15:14].

BP (15:14):

Yeah.

SS (15:15):

I’m excited. I can’t imagine leaving work on a Thursday afternoon and driving to a dispensary and buying weed legally and being able to consume it outside and have no issue. So I’m really excited to see what it’s going to do. And…

DE (15:32):

We’d love to get past all the boogeyman, the people that have all this fear about what it’s going to do to society and what it’s going to do to our moral fiber and all that. I mean, it’s been pretty well established in these other states that have had recreational and medical programs that it’s manageable. It’s not without social costs, but the benefits far outweigh what the costs are. So I just think it’s a big growing up process and it’s a generational thing, it’s getting over 70 years of prohibition, it’s kind of a big deal.

SS (16:04):

The boomers.

BP (16:07):

Holding people back.

SS (16:08):

You’re not, but yeah, you’re-

DE (16:10):

I’m the very tail end of it.

SS (16:11):

You’re not a typical boomer.

DE (16:13):

I’m not a typical anything.

SS (16:14):

You’re very unique and different.

DE (16:16):

Thank you very much for that. And so are King Palm, they’re very unique and different.

SS (16:21):

I’m going to bet within two years it will be federally legal.

BP (16:26):

Two years? How does that affect growers-

DE (16:28):

Mark that calendar.

BP (16:32):

And dispensaries?

SS (16:33):

I think it’s going to hurt.

DE (16:34):

Yeah if the U.S. agricultural market is any model for what happens when you get major operational farms in the family farm world, it’s really challenging. So I think as much as we’re attached to craft cannabis, and we’d love to see everybody have a seat at the table, there’ll be significant disruption. It’ll be hard.

BP (16:52):

Right. And dispensaries as well.

DE (16:54):

Yeah.

BP (16:54):

You’re going to be able to get it in possibly convenient stores or something like that. What happens-

SS (17:01):

In Canada you now go to Shoppers Drug Mart and get, it’s medical, but you can get your medical cannabis there. In Canada too, like with dispensaries, a lot of the big LPs have invested or have some sort of invested interest in certain dispensary chains.

BP (17:19):

Yeah.

SS (17:21):

And those thrive. But the hard part about that too, is then they control a lot of the… or they influence a lot of what goes on the shelf. So you might walk in and 50% of the products is just their brand. So you’re limited on options and what you can purchase. But I don’t know, think it’s going to be fun to see it play out. And it’s going to take years and years to really figure it out, but it will get there.

DE (17:48):

It still feels like a real ground floor opportunity.

BP (17:51):

Yeah.

DE (17:51):

So once the regulations change and more of the big money comes into the game, we’ll figure out new and different ways to coexist and to find a way to help people succeed. That’s really all we do. We’re not the main event in anybody’s program. We’re just an asterisk on the label or in your case, a beautiful badge. You promote our brand beautifully on King Palm and we thank you for that.

BP (18:13):

Yes, definitely.

SS (18:14):

It’s a seal of freshness.

DE (18:15):

It’s really a privilege to be associated with a quality brand like King Palm.

BP (18:20):

We appreciate it, guys. We appreciate it.

DE (18:22):

Well, we appreciate you.

BP (18:24):

Thank you. Thank you.

DE (18:25):

Yeah.

SS (18:26):

Another episode of Cultivate. You already did that part, but-

DE (18:29):

Yeah, but where do we go to get connected?

SS (18:32):

Yeah. So you can find us at Boveda Cannabis on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram @bovedainc.com. If you have questions or want to watch some FAQ videos, check out all of our products. Where can we find you guys?

BP (18:50):

You could find us @kingpalm for Instagram. Everybody who’s watching this, if you DM us on Instagram and let us know you watched the Boveda Cultivate podcast with me on there, we’ll hook you up with a nice care package.

DE (19:04):

They’re going to hook you up. There it is, you heard it.

BP (19:07):

Watch the podcast.

SS (19:07):

That’s really going to test how many listeners and followers we have.

DE (19:10):

Nice. Nice.

BP (19:12):

You can find us on all of the social medias as well.

DE (19:14):

Awesome. Thanks so much for being with us. Happy to be partners. Look forward to the future. A bright future ahead.

BP (19:20):

Hey, thank you guys.

DE (19:20):

All right. Thank you King Palm.

SS (19:21):

Appreciate it.