Future of Cannabis: Kiva Confections & Micro-Dosing
Kiva Confections is a brand that has been at the forefront of the cannabis industry since they launched in 2010. You can now find their products in California, Arizona, and Nevada and they have plans to expand to states like Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and Illinois in the future. Kiva has been widely recognized for their modern packaging, and pioneering the concept of “micro-dosing” in the cannabis industry.
We’ve all heard of, and some have experienced first-hand what happens when you consume too much of a cannabis edible..best case scenario you end up in some kind of comatose state, worst case scenario you experience high-levels of paranoia and anxiety. Kiva is getting ahead of this issue and looking to break the stigma associated with cannabis edibles. It was at the New West Summit while speaking on the “edible innovations” panel that Kiva Co-Founder and COO, Kristi Knoblich described their target market as “the more casual edible consumer, someone who’s looking for that beer or glass of wine at the end of the evening experience, that person who isn’t looking to get blasted.” Today Kiva offers four different product types; Bars, Mini’s, Bites, and Mint’s. Just last month Kiva launched it’s first non-chocolate product, Petra. Petra Mints are designed specifically for Kiva’s target market, those who are not looking “to get blasted.” The latest product launch demonstrates Kiva’s commitment to micro-dosing and that they are preparing for a HUGE new wave of their ideal consumers to come online in California by 2018. We asked Kiva’s Marketing Communication’s Manager, Christie Strong, to lend some insight into the past year and what we can expect from Kiva in 2017. We cover Prop 64, views on competition, company growth, challenges, and more:
How would you recap 2016 as it relates to Kiva?
2016 was a landmark year both for our industry and our company. Kiva’s greatest badges of honor were the release of our whole plant CBD bars and the debut of the Petra mint product line. For our CBD dark chocolate bars, it took us 2–3 years of product development to find a high quality CBD source, master the extraction method, and release these products to market. Our sugar-free Petra mints came from watching the small format trend take off in California. We felt that these mints hit our mission statement of providing our patients with innovative, delicious, and convenient products. The response has been overwhelming. In terms of challenges, issues around banking would be paramount. Fortunately, we can see the light ahead and believe forthcoming regulations will address both of these issues in the coming year or two.
Does the passage of prop 64 in California have an impact on your business? If so, how?
The expanded adult access that Prop 64 will create is going to be huge for our industry, and will directly impact Kiva’s business and operations. 2017 is really about planning and gearing up for the recreational market to take effect. When Colorado went from medical to recreational, producers there said they should have been ready for 5–7x the volume. As you can imagine, we are already looking for a larger facility that can accommodate that kind of scale.
As senior member of one of the most reputable cannabis infused brands in California you likely have some KPI’s that you’re measuring–what are they?
We have relationships with a number of analytics firms that provide us with context for our growth and standing in the industry itself and edibles category. We have been fortunate to double in volume every year since launch- which becomes a more difficult proposition the bigger we get. We are aiming to launch 2 new products in 2017.
What is the cannabis-infused landscape missing that you’d like to see more of today?
Surprising as this may be, we are thrilled that more edible companies are entering the space. In many instances these new companies seem more professional, better labeled, and simply boast better products. We welcome the competition because the more respectable players there are in the edibles space, the more our patients will find options for themselves in the category. Having a diverse range of respectful companies will boost the industry altogether, and bring it greater legitimacy.
What are you most excited about in 2017?
We are incredibly excited that a growing number of adults are going to have access to this safe, effective medicine soon- both in California and other states. Cannabis has significant medicinal benefits for human beings- and to think we have only scraped the surface of its potential! Supporting the re-emergence of this powerful plant medicine is a mission we take seriously and enjoy immensely… one might even say it’s a higher calling ;)
