Winning In The Pleasant Peninsula
Can a bold vision and cutting-edge facility make Six Labs synonymous with Michigan cannabis?
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We discussed the path to starting Six Labs, building a cannabis business in Michigan, and more with Joe Ori, Six Labs co-founder and general counsel.
Can you provide some background on your personal path to cannabis? What led you to start Six Labs?
My belief in the health benefits of cannabis is very personal. I was an unreformed advocate for cannabis. As an athlete, I experienced similar trials and tribulations that you see from a lot of professional athletes in regards to how to manage their own pain. I was very sympathetic to that.
I played football from an early age — I was recruited to play at the United States Military Academy at West Point and Columbia University, but multiple back surgeries ended that dream. Cannabis helped my pain without the side effects I got from opioids, and I realized that I wasn’t alone. People in chronic pain will try anything offered if it will give them relief, and cannabis is likely the least dangerous and harmful alternative to current treatment practices.
When an opportunity came to build a business around cannabis, I was immediately interested. As the co-founder of Six Labs, our goal was to create a cultivation facility that offers cannabis products so trustworthy and valuable the average person would feel comfortable getting them the same way they would over the counter meds from a pharmacy.
What drove you to personally to go “all in”? How did the team form?
The Six Labs leadership team formed quite organically. We never had to reach outside of our circle to get any of the skills we needed. All of my friends are leaders in their respective industries: banking, marketing, law. We each had personal connections and motivations that made this new business venture appealing. As leaders in the business community, it was a welcome challenge to bring our collective expertise to work in an emerging but immature market.
For me, going all-in was very easy. I recognize the benefits cannabis has for so many people and, having done it successfully before, I have faith in my ability to build a business. Plus, it’s encouraging when you know that your investors, friends, family, and business associates, they’re all counting on you to create something inspirational from millions of dollars worth of investment.
From a market perspective, the need and opportunity are clearly there. Cannabis was just named an essential business in the midst of an industry-altering, life-changing global pandemic. Cannabis has limitless potential to touch lives all around this country, and Six Labs approach is also novel.
We decided to take a different approach from everyone who came before us in the cannabis industry. We pulled together experts in every aspect of the cultivation process, and we’re on our way to creating what we believe will be the standard — and a very high one at that — for cannabis cultivation, testing, branding, and sale in this county.
Why Michigan? What do you see in that market vs. others?
Michigan is actually the perfect state in which to launch a cannabis business. It’s much easier to get a license there, and the expenses and red tape are not as onerous as they are in other states. It also has a strong foundation via its medical cannabis program. But that program was buggy, fragmented and ripe for improvement and change. It spawned a thriving, black market demand for cannabis, which led to raids and a litany of dysfunction.
That presented a great opportunity for legal companies like Six Labs to step in and make a difference. Knowing impurities are rampant in Michigan thanks to the water, and in other locations at potentially dangerous levels, we created a state-of-the-art cultivation facility that enables us to offer consumers better, safer, higher-quality cannabis than black market options — not only for their medical needs but for recreational use as well.
You’ve emphasized in our conversation how cutting edge your new facility will be. Can you provide more color here?
Our due diligence was substantive. We begged owners to tour their facilities, took copious notes and listened attentively to what worked and what didn’t with regard to equipment and facility design. Then, we came back to our drawing board knowing that we wanted to create something that would set the standard.
That extensive research and our desire to create something truly special in the industry, to offer the best amid our peers, helped us to create a state-of-the-art facility featuring an antiviral HVAC and climate control system, water purification, fertigation, and other systems that are currently the best the market has to offer.
What issues are you trying to tackle?
Six Labs has identified six core problems the cannabis industry needs to solve, and we hope to lead by example with our cultivation and branding practices.
Confusion and intimidation: Thousands of different strain names create a difficult shopping experience for consumers. Six Labs’ Ritual brand is simplifying that experience. We conducted deep market research to help us create names based on the experience cannabis users have in order to aid consumer choice.
Product quality: We want to create a better class of cannabis products than exists in the industry, which is just emerging from prohibition. There are still a lot of black market products floating around, and they can be dangerous. We provide a safe, high-quality option consumers can trust.
Lack of consistency: Different cultivators and processes make it difficult for consumers to replicate an experience, so each of Ritual’s products is designed to deliver a specific effect consistently.
Perception: We see cannabis as an aspirational product that needs an image overhaul, and Ritual aims to do that by marketing a luxury lifestyle brand to discerning customers who care deeply about what they consume.
Toxicity: When we founded Six Labs in 2019, much of the product in Michigan was testing positive for pesticides, heavy metals, and other toxins. Creating better products and standardized testing protocols eliminates this problem and creates safer, healthier options for consumers.
Transparency: A lack of transparency in the industry means consumers don’t know where their cannabis is coming from. We see an opportunity to shed light on the process from bud to bowl. Ultimately, we want to give consumers everything they need to educate themselves and make the best choices to suit their particular medical or recreational needs or wants.
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At Cannablurbs, we’re excited to share the varied perspectives of different leaders across the industry through profiles, interviews, and Guest Articles. If you’re active in cannabis and think you have an interesting viewpoint to share, shoot us an email to talk about collaborating.
