MAVEN GENETICS ONE OF LA’S TOP DOGS AT EMERALD CUP

L.A.’s Maven Genetics became one of the state’s premier cannabis companies two weekends ago at The Emerald Cup with a top-five finish for French Laundry. 

While Maven’s rise around the state in recent years has been quick, this is the biggest accolade yet for the longtime OG cultivators (Kush and metaphorically) that transitioned to the recreational side of things at the dawn of the legal era. Even before the big win, the company found itself in roughly 400 shops at any given time.

XXX, Maven’s favorite OG these days.

We sat down with Maven’s cofounder and president Mike Corvington to talk about the win and their experiences transitioning to a fully vertically integrated company locally that still grows in some of its legacy gardens, distributes its own product and sells its cannabis through two storefronts on top of its hundreds-long client list. 

“Los Angeles is a beast man,” Corvington told L.A. Weekly. “From the regulatory compliance things to L.A. in general, it’s good for us because it’s home. This is where we’re from, we’re very comfortable with the situation as a whole. The industry is going through a lot of bullshit, as it has for a long time. I don’t think that’s just related to Los Angeles. I think that’s probably California as a whole. But, you know, all in all, L.A. is our home man,  our backyard. This is where we’ve been rocking for a long time.”

Corvington isn’t kidding. He admits up until a few years ago, they barely had to leave the L.A. bubble at all, as they pumped out awesome OGs for 15 years straight without a thought to creating what is now one of the widest lineups in the state. We asked Corvington if it was fair to call most of their cultivation and wider cannabis careers L.A.-centric?

“Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, we’ve really started pushing up in the NorCal territories and distributing up there probably two years ago,” Corvington said. “We went pretty heavy on that first group, first few years in transition from medical to rec market. We get out and just kind of grew up grassroots. Everything we’ve done has been grassroots where we’re self-funded, we haven’t taken on any capital even to this day. I’m not trying to push into the market more than what is being asked of us. So we’re just kind of doing our thing and it’s been working successfully. We’re still here.”

Blue Agape

But the “still here” part hasn’t always been easy. As for many cultivators, one of Maven’s main jobs is to get the cash for the flower they pump into the marketplace. As with many of their peers on the cultivation side of things, that’s often proven easier said than done.

Over the last few years Maven’s been able to hone in on the problem accounts and who is actually going to pay them. Making sure the latter always has flower flowing their way is critical. 

“You, unfortunately, have to weed out people that just don’t handle their shit professionally,” Corvington noted. “And there’s a lot of people who just kind of are trapped in old ways and are having a difficult time evolving with things as they moved forward. But paying your bills is just kind of number one.”

One of the things Maven has done during these times is try to be as accommodating as possible to the folks they’re working with. They’d rather constantly restock you with the freshest flower possible rather than have something sit there that is going to degrade the consumer experience and the shop isn’t going to be able to make the payment terms in the original time frame. 

“We tell people we’ll come to deliver to you every day,” Corvington emphasized. “We don’t want to sell you anything that even has a potential opportunity to get old. We will happily, no charge, come to drop you fresh packs all the time. So we kind of scaled-down people’s orders a lot of times because sometimes these buyers don’t understand their own market or demographic.”

Kiwi Sorbet

Maven Genetics is available all over California. 

THE ZALYMPIX GOES NATIONAL

Over the last two years, L.A. Weekly has had a front-row seat to the rise of Zalympix. 

For the uninitiated, the Zalympix is the biggest contest in the world when it comes to recreational boutique pot. The few and far between that can actually hold up with the quality of the streets. It’s hosted by Greenwolf, one of L.A.’s most famous places to buy great pot. L.A. Weekly recently took part in the process to whittle down the 109 entries to 27, for this year’s California edition. 

We caught up with Greenwolf’s founders Brian and Adam to get their take on the Zalympix rocket now going national with East Coast and Michigan editions currently taking place. We started our chat by asking the pair what it had been like watching their event grow to three time zones since kicking things off in early 2021. 

“It’s awesome. I mean, it’s really cool. I just feel like down to everyone involved, the cup runneth over with benefits for everyone. And it’s just really cool to see,” Brian told L.A. Weekly. He very much appreciates how taken seriously the Zalympix are in different places. Especially in Michigan, there is a lot of fire out there they hope to highlight through the competition.

“It’s just humbling to talk to some of these, you know, top-tier people in the space and have them say this competition is the pinnacle. This is the one that really stands out amongst the others these days,” Adam added. 

From the outsider’s perspective, it all seemed pretty rapid for sure. Basically, as soon as the first boxes went out in 2021, people were believers. The quality of entries made it easy, as the top-shelf entries in the box mirrored the quality Greenwolf’s shelves has been famous for.

We asked the pair when they knew they were really on to something with the event as a whole. Adam and Brian debated when they first got the vibes about Zalympix possibly taking off the way it has. While the initial gut feelings are debatable, when 4,000 people showed up last year to celebrate, they knew things were looking up for the future.  

This was also the first time they were ever worried. They’re not party guys per se. They wanted to ensure everything checking in that number of people went smoothly. Adam was standing out front himself grabbing VIPs and handing them wristbands. 

That evening saw Zalympix go from 700 people at the inaugural awards show to 4,000. The Zalympix between the two events featured a digital awards show due to a COVID spike in L.A. But the jump in attendance raises the obvious speculation of just how big the event can go? The likely answer is pretty huge. It’s not unreasonable to think 20,000 people will be attending in the not-too-distant future. One lesson from last time is, they plan to have more delivery 

Right now they are looking to lock down where they will host the Zalympix growing footprint for the upcoming awards show. Some of the possibilities they are tossing around right now could see them hosting up to 6,000 people. One thing they’re sure about is, they want to start the party a lot earlier, so vendors have more time before the 10 p.m. curfew on legal sales.

While expectations are high for the next California edition, many in the cannabis community are excited to see Zalympix branching out from California. The two had initially pondered the idea, but when their Michigan partners at Exotic Matter hit them up, it was on. Everyone believes bringing the Zalympix to Michigan will benefit the state’s best cultivators.  

Adam said it’s been great working with their Michigan partners. They’re getting ready to celebrate the winners of Michigan’s second edition on April 14. 

“We know they’ve had a long medical time frame there. When we got there last year, we just were shocked at how amazing the quality of the product was out there,” Adam said. 

We asked the pair how the flower in places like Michigan and the East Coast stacks up with the competition back home in Los Angeles?

“I’d say, there’s a lot of good stuff in a lot of places. A lot of people are doing things out there. Especially in Michigan, they’ve always been,” Brian said. “I think it’s the second closest in terms of like, Cali quality. There are real breeders out there. They’re really doing their thing out there and they have been, so for me, it shows.”

As for the differences between the trio of Zalympix contests now happening around the country, the main thing is scale. Michigan is the smallest of the three — they have to keep things a bit more low-key and were not able to have vending at the event. Nevertheless, the vibes carried the show. Many called it one of the best events Michigan’s legal market has seen, noting it’s one of the few times all of the state’s hitters have been inside the same room. They’re hoping to push the bar further next year and be the first event in Detroit to do compliant sales. 

Detroit has been a trouble spot for Michigan’s cannabis industry, and with things opening up, it looks like the time is ripe to bring things a bit closer to the population center. Back in the day, events occurred well outside of the city. 

“It’s similar to being in an Adelanto or a San Bernardino. You know, they weren’t here,” Adam explained. ”They were quite the drive from like the city, and so we knew our whole goal was, as with the L.A. Zalympix to keep it in LA, in Michigan, do it in Detroit, not be an hour and a half away from town. And then same with New York, we looked at doing other spots, but you know, we just think it’s imperative to be in Manhattan.”

New York is looking dope. It’s a little different for the Greenwolf team not being there, but they’re thrilled with the lineup for the festivities on April 19. A big contingent of California’s best cannabis minds is heading east to NYC for the holiday anyway, so the timing worked out perfectly for the Greenwolf team. They’re expecting somewhere between 2,500-3,000 people for the show. Brian noted they’re going pretty hard for the next couple of weeks.

What’s the difference between the contest entries? It varies. Last year there was so much Runtz in the Michigan Zalympix, it was no Runtz allowed this year. Brian found that interesting. 

“I’d say there is a lot of Z everywhere but also like more on the East Coast you see more candy, gassy stuff. I definitely know OG over there, and some OG over here (in the entries). But you know a lot surprised me. There were a lot of Exotic Genetix entries and I noticed there were some different breeders with different gear,” Brian said about the entries. 

One thing that’s interesting about Zalympix’s expansion is watching its perceived value from place to place. Obviously, it’s huge here in California. But it seems like a lot of the time it’s reaffirmed many people’s takes on names like Blueprint, Deo, Zushi, and Wizard Trees. In New York, there is this different kind of quest for brands trying to catch lightning in a bottle out the gate with a win. 

And boy are they. Sixty-seven brands came out in an attempt to qualify for the finals in NYC. They were narrowed down to 20. The qualifying idea in New York inspired the team to bring it back to California. The Greenwolf team selected 25 tastemakers to pick out the finalists. 

“I think there’s going to be some very surprised winners in there. Some brands that you know, people may not have ever heard of, including ourselves,” Adam said. 

Tickets for the New York Zalympix are still available. 

MISSOURI CELEBRATES FIRST ADULT-USE CANNABIS SALE

Missouri’s first weekend of legal cannabis sales is in the books. 

The nearly 200 dispensaries dotting the state netted $12.6 million in sales in the first three days of adult-use sales. There is an argument to be made that number may have been higher had the permit release timing been a little clearer; even operators didn’t realize they would be allowed to commence sales Friday. 

John Mueller is the CEO of Missouri’s largest operator Greenlight, a multi-state operator that has 15 retail permits in Missouri. Mueller, a Missouri native, told L.A. Weekly that Greenlight had its fair share of action over the weekend, with sales doubling overnight once adult-use kicked in. 

Mueller notes the tail end of last week was a bit of a gray zone. 

“Then what happened is, on Thursday, the state said they would start issuing out the licenses and you didn’t have to wait. We thought they would have all licenses at open at whatever time on the sixth,” Mueller explained.

They would get the permit at 8:30 a.m. Friday morning and be open in an hour and a half. But unlike the big lines we’re used to seeing outside dispensaries on opening day, at first it was a quest by consumers to confirm the news on shops opening earlier than expected. Mueller says the phone continues to ring off the hook in that regard. 

Even with the traditional first sale not the spectacle it’s been in other states, dispensaries did great. Mueller noted some places saw up to four times the amount of usual foot traffic depending on where. 

Mueller said there is plenty to be happy about besides the numbers. He feels dispensary operators got a lot to work with in the regulations. 

“Thrilled with the performance, but there is a whole lot of stuff. You know we got drive-through here authorized, express pick-up windows in the lobbies and then also making sure that that patient wasn’t relegated to a bad status.”

Greenlight has separated the adult-use and medical lines at the dispensaries to make sure none of the state’s 200,000 medical cannabis patients feel left behind in the transition over to adult-use sales. 

Mueller doesn’t feel like things have been overly restrictive on operators, apart from the normal childproofing packaging and things like that.

“We carry about 300 products per store, so we’re a pretty wide selection and we’ve got a pretty robust cultivation and manufacturing side of this equation,” Mueller said. 

He noted the dispensaries currently operating are able to acquire flower from 28 different cultivators in the state. He thinks there are about 50 different manufacturers in the state that are all cranking out products too. 

While that number may sound small to Californians, it’s still a decent number of producers on day one. We asked Mueller if it was enough for a real level of competition similar to the fight for shelf space we’re seeing on the west coast. 

He was quick to argue, sure. Currently, Greenlight’s discount eighths are running $25, with the top shelf clocking in at $45. 

There weren’t a lot of surprises for Greenlight during the transition. The company was able to lean on its past experiences transitioning from a medical market to adult-use in Nevada. Greenlight also has operations across the southeast and midwest in Arkansas, West Virginia, Illinois and South Dakota.

NY’S FIRST DISPENSARY DID $12 MILLION IN 6 MONTHS

New York’s first recreational marijuana dispensary sold $12 million in sales in the first six months of operations. 

When announcing the figures this week, Housing Works Cannabis Co boasted the store has already directed millions of dollars to some of the city’s communities in the most urgent need of support. Sales are directly supporting programs that provide New Yorkers a variety of services. Housing Works noted those services include health care, housing, job training, harm reduction, case management, advocacy for health equity and social justice initiatives, LGBTQ+ youth programs, and sexual health services.

The shop’s manager noted these kinds of services were a keystone of what Housing Works does long before cannabis permits were a thing. 

“Our goal, going back over 30 years ago through Housing Works, has been to empower New Yorkers through advocacy and bridge communities to life saving services,” said Sasha Nutgent, retail manager at Housing Works Cannabis Co. “From the resources we’ve rolled out, to the brands we carefully select for our customers, everything we do here has a greater purpose, and we’re humbled to see the support our mission is receiving.”

Things Started Strong

As expected, New York’s first recreational dispensary was a madhouse when it opened a couple of days before the new year. Housing Works notes the shop did an estimated $40,000 dollars in sales in just its first three hours open. Over the course of the next month, the numbers would get up to $1.6 million with sales continuing to roll on to hit that $12 million mark at the tail end of July. 

What are New Yorkers buying?

According to Housing Works’ data from the last six months, New Yorkers are buying for strength. The biggest determining factor in purchases so far is potency. Some would argue that means consumers are uneducated, but that’s not necessarily the case. There is certainly some balance between potency and quality even if the weed with the highest THC number isn’t the best one on the shelf. People that try and disenfranchise the importance of potency in cannabis may be trying to cover for inferior products that don’t get the numbers needed to be commercially viable in this market. In a fun surprise, Housing Works noted that people are leaning towards sativas and sativa-leaning hybrids. Once there is a bigger data pool in New York, it will lean toward gas and dessert weed for sure, with the exception of great diesel. 

Stocking The Shelves 

While sales have been great, getting the product to stock the shelves and drive those numbers has not always been an easy task for Housing Works. 

“One unforeseen challenge and a pain point for both retailers and customers has been product rollout,” said Nutgent. “There have been major improvements with the state’s product testing timeline, for example, but the feedback we still hear from some Black-owned brands is that there is not enough funding to get their products into the market.”

In recent months the dispensary has added over 200 new products.

Delivery

Make no mistake about it, cannabis delivery has been an extremely popular thing in NYC for decades, with various services coming and going over those years. Housing Works has lucked out in becoming the first legal delivery service in the state in addition to its retail site. The company noted this falls right in line with its quest to be accessible. 

“We’ve seen our delivery programs over the years forge meaningful and trusting relationships between our staff and thrift store patrons,” said Charles King, CEO of Housing Works. “To see the same positive dynamic emerge between customers and budtenders reflects our roots in the city, our deep understanding of New York City culture and the community trust we continue to nurture.”

Right now the delivery service is available in select zip codes in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens; anyone over the age of 21 with a valid ID can secure same-day and next-day delivery slots directly on Housing Works Cannabis Co’s website.

CA LEGAL CANNABIS FACES ITS BIGGEST BLIZZARD YET

Whether it’s getting all the way down the 5, to the farm or hoping the greenhouses don’t collapse, legal cannabis currently is experiencing plenty of headaches from the biggest snowstorm of its short existence in California. 

The biggest widespread headache will be inaccessible roads. Mixed-light farmers facing issues with power over the next couple of days could face the biggest challenges. Most farmers still afloat should be able to survive any stress. It’s still early in the year. Even if people do face some structural damage, they’ll have time to clean it up before things get popping. But if you’re a mixed-light operation running year-round, any hit you’re taking to power or structural integrity is going to lead to pure down take. At worst, it could cost you a crop. 

As people work to get their ducks in a row, it’s going to be a lot trickier to navigate some key stretches of California for the industry. Commerce itself most likely will be impacted by the close of Tejon Pass. With the snow level expected to be well below 1,000 feet, it’s going to be ripping up. Some experts are predicting two feet of snow right in the heart of one of the cannabis industry’s, and the rest of California’s, most vital travel routes. Even if the roads reopen, the ripping winds at the tail end of the storm are no fun for the sprinter vans the industry whips up and down the state in. 

Sure you could take the coast, but it’s going to be mobbed and add hours to the trip. 

The roads that many of the state’s cannabis farmers call home also will be an issue. While the frozen dirt might be easier to drive on in many cases than unplowed asphalt in a few inches, once it starts to pile up, it can get nasty quickly. One farmer in Southern Humboldt County said he was expecting about three feet when the storm was over. 

Josh Vert from Royal Key Organics said indoor farmers like him in Humboldt don’t necessarily worry as much as the outdoor farmers about any one storm in particular, but the season brings its own challenges as a whole. 

“Winter runs and cold weather, it’s the opposite for us as it is in LA,” Vert told L.A. Weekly. “Winter can be more challenging in the Arcata indoor scene than summer. Dew points and surface condensation create excessive moisture. Facilities need to compensate via extra insulation and dehumidification. Our trimming and storage require less air conditioning and everything stays cool. It’s really the cold humidity we have to fight all winter long. The storms have been a good mental break from the norm. Nothing other than that.” 

Closer to home, all the snow and rain have led to a flood watch in Los Angeles through Saturday afternoon. The areas impacted are Los Angeles County Beaches, Los Angeles County Inland Coast including Downtown, Los Angeles County Mountains, San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley, Malibu Coast, Santa Clarita Valley and The Santa Monica Mountains.

The National Weather Service noted rainfall rates up to an inch per hour are possible, especially in the foothills and lower mountain locations.

EMERALD CUP PICKS CALIFORNIA’S FINEST CANNABIS FOR 2023

The Emerald Cup was back for 2023 last weekend and repeat champions weren’t in short supply. 

This year would see the Emerald Cup’s award show move to the Bay Area for the first time after a long stint in wine country before the pandemic and last year’s show at The Montalbán in Hollywood. While nowhere in the state worth having the cup could be considered neutral territory given how many competitors dot the state from north to south, the Bay is one of the better spots to have it because it’s essentially halfway between L.A. and Arcata — most of the state’s cannabis enthusiasts and businesses lie between that two points, too. The venue at Richmond’s Craneway Pavilion was undoubtedly the most gorgeous the cup has seen since it left the redwoods in the early 2010s for bigger venues closer to population centers.  

But the most beautiful sights to behold on the water’s edge were the glass cases filled with this year’s entries. As the judges, contestants and special guests entered the venue, they were greeted by the cases. The flower entries were the most packed, as people wedged in tight to get pics of all the pretty buds for the social media adventures. 

As the award show kicked off, it was like the final countdown to the big categories at the end began. After making its way through some of the more niche photography and product categories, it was on to the social justice awards. In one of the coolest moments of the night, Luke Scarmazzo came on stage to accept The Social Justice Award on behalf of his good friend Weldon Angelos. 

Angelos was released in 2016. He was originally sentenced to serve 55 years over a cannabis conviction with a mandatory minimum sentence but only served 13 years. After his release, Angelos began advocating for others who remained in the circumstances he was able to escape, eventually founding The Weldon Project. One of the people Weldon has helped get out of prison was his close friend Scarmazzo. 

As he took the stage, Scarmazzo noted he was celebrating 100 days since being released from prison after serving 15 years over medical cannabis. The news received one of the loudest ovations of the night. 

Other awards would include The Pioneer Award going to Amber Senter for her work on Social Equity and The Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award going to Mila Jansen for her contribution to the world of hashish over the last 50 years as an entrepreneur, smuggler, and inventor. 

From there we started into the big dog categories of flower and hash. This year’s theme was champions still crushing it. The rest of the evening would feature a carousel of repeat winners or those returning to the podium after a year or two off. 

One of the biggest returns was Ridgeline Farms. After being the only mixed-light cultivator to qualify for the Zalympix finals, the LANTZ hype rolled on this weekend with Ridgeline taking top honors. 

Founder Jason Gellman shared the experience with L.A. Weekly. 

“With all the competition going on these days, The Emerald Cup to me is still the most prestigious and authentic. The judging is taken seriously by a talented group hand-picked for their dedication to the plant,” Gellman said. “As our small cannabis communities have taken a giant hit from the challenges of the industry, it’s as important as ever to stay relevant. I take lots of pride in growing the best herb possible, so when I submit my entries I always feel they have a chance to win.”

After the near-perfect farming conditions up north for most of the last year before monsoon season hit, it was expected Southern Humboldt would be very competitive. Most of the years that a NorCal farmer didn’t win the cup it had something to do with mother nature. Gellman was proud to see what the county did this year. 

“This year, Humboldt County showed up big. Winning is huge, but it’s more about us representing our community as a whole than just one of us,” Gellman said. “Ridgeline took home multiple awards including first in mixed light with my new strain LANTZ, but what we were the most proud of is winning the Breeders cup.” 

Gellman had been working on creating this strain for over four years. 

“Lots of time, energy, money, fails and finally one giant win,” Gellman said. “I knew LANTZ was the one, but this just solidifies it. The cup was a giant success this year and was great to see so many real heads in the game. Overall, it was a great day in the bay” 

Rebel Grown took home top honors in the Full Sun. After regularly gracing the top 10 and top 20 over the years, this time they were able to take first place with their Double OG Chem. 

In indoor, Fig Farms would became the only indoor farm to ever win The Emerald Cup twice after now winning both the past two renditions of the contest. The Blue Face that won the indoor category was also the first-ever indoor flower to win The Emerald Cup’s prestigious best-in-show award. 

“The love we received at the Emerald Cup has elevated to a new level,” Keith Healy of Fig Farms told L.A. Weekly, “Two years at the top spot for indoor flower, and this year going a step further by receiving Best in Show. Fig Farms’s Blue Face is the first indoor flower to receive the Best in Show award, which has been given exclusively to Sungrown flower until now. I am so proud of our team, and truly honored in a way that cannot be put into words.”

Here are the 2023 Winners:

Sungrown Flower

Mixed Light Flower

Indoor Flower

Sungrown Greenhouse Flower

Personal Use Flower

Pre-Roll

Solventless Concentrates

Cartridges

Solvent Concentrates

Topical

Tincture

Edibles

Alternative Cannabinoids