From Recipe to Retail: Scaling Production

The Blend

Transitioning out of the “wouldn’t it be cool if” phase into the “oh shit we have to start doing things now” phase proved to be a demanding challenge. However, it was equally as exciting. We began by addressing the obvious elephant in the room: why would you put THC in a pre-workout? We were certain there was a growing movement in support of its use in exercise as observed from mass anecdotal evidence, in our own lives as well as online. However, we wanted to know what scientific claims had been made surrounding the subject. Additionally, we wanted to ensure we had the most effective and synergistic blend of pre-workout ingredients to make it the best possible experience. The 5 months following the inception of the idea were spent sifting through Pubmed studies, fact-checking industry-leading labels, and guaranteeing we were bringing a superior product to market. 

After combining a terribly bitter bunch of raw compounds, the next hurdle was turning it into a tasty beverage, without stuffing it full of the artificial garbage we often find in our favorite energy drinks or pre-workouts. After countless variations and taste tests,

we are proud to say we landed on a delicious, bold flavor while committing to using naturally sourced flavoring agents.

If you would like to hear more about the blend itself, check it out here! 

Production

After finalizing the recipe, the next challenge was finding a way to mix and package our product safely and efficiently. Initially, we created each dose by hand, weighing out each of our 12 ingredients to the milligram, ensuring a proper dosage of each compound. A few hundred hand-measured prototype servings later, we were ready to scale to a more sustainable batching system. Investing in a quality mixer was the first step in streamlining the production process. After a week-long deep dive into commercial powder mixing, we landed on an industrial-grade v blender that can combine our ingredients seamlessly and ensure the homogenization of the blend. To verify the effectiveness of the mixer, the next step was to send in some samples to an independent lab that could verify the potency of each dose. We partnered with Kaycha Labs, a company known for providing some of the most consistent and accurate testing services in the cannabis industry. They ensured the correct dosing per serving, and this gave us the green light to move forward to the packing stage.

Packing

Initially, we looked at outsourcing the packing process to companies known as “co-packers” but quickly decided to keep the production process in-house. Co Packers can be helpful to scale, however, very few are willing to work with emerging cannabis businesses. Additionally, while a co-packer may have helped us avoid upfront machinery costs, outsourcing this could have led to higher MSRP, and we were confident in our ability to systemize the packing ourselves. Since we were committed to maintaining reasonable retail costs and higher agency over the production process, we found ourselves before another informational roadblock: how exactly were we going to take loads of powder, and turn it into a premium pre-workout experience? 

After many more long nights surfing the web, we discovered how to create our single-serve packets. We needed to acquire custom rollstock film for the packets which then needed to be fed into a large machine that folds and seals the pouches while simultaneously filling them with the precise amount of product. Once we devised this method, all that was left was to find an artist who could capture our vision for both the pouches and the secondary packaging they were confined in. It didn’t take long after browsing Fiverr’s extensive selection of graphic designers to settle on an amazing artist, Irem Ipek, whose portfolio reflects our values and aesthetics.

Creating a market-ready product has been one of the most challenging experiences of my life, but it has been so satisfying to push all the pieces into place. Learning how to craft and test the blend, building out and managing the supply chain, and designing an efficient manufacturing process have been but a few steps on this journey. Thank you to everyone who has helped us get this far. We have big plans, and we are excited to continue growing the 420 Flex community together.