by Smoke | Dec 13, 2018 | 2018 Event, Brand Management, Cannabis, Distributors, Law and Policy, New Products - Brands, Politics, Vertical Brands
The Farm Bill of 2018 just passed the House and Senate and sits on the President’s Desk. Here are some thoughts on its impact on the Hemp and CBD industries as well as information on our activities in the space, I have shared in a number of interviews.
Here is our Vertical Wellness operation getting started in KY in October
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by Smoke | Feb 2, 2018 | Blog, Business & Finance, News
VERTICAL EXPANDS EXECUTIVE TEAM; CEMENTS LEADERSHIP IN LEGAL CANNABIS INDUSTRY
Courtney Dorne, J. Smoke Wallin bring significant executive experience in Food and Alcohol Beverages to one of country’s leading medical cannabis companies
Los Angeles, CA (January 25, 2018) – Vertical, one of the country’s leading vertically integrated medical cannabis companies, announced today the addition of Courtney Dorne and J. Smoke Wallin to their leadership team. Dorne is an entrepreneur and food industry leader who joins Vertical as a partner and President of Vertical Brands Co. Wallin is a serial entrepreneur and thought leader in the beverage alcohol industry and has joined as a partner, Chief Marketing Officer and President of Vertical Distribution Co.
Vertical was founded in 2014 by entrepreneurs who saw the potential created by the transition of cannabis to a legitimate and legal business. Drawing from results-driven expertise in a variety of industries, the Vertical team has a synergistic energy that offers proven experience from seed to sale.
“I’m thrilled to welcome Courtney and Smoke to our executive team,†said Todd Kaplan, Founder & CEO of Vertical. “Smoke’s deep knowledge of alcohol distribution and scaling new businesses in highly regulated industries, combined with Courtney’s perishable food distribution and extensive network strengthen our competitive advantage in the rapidly evolving legal medical cannabis industry.â€
According to The Arcview Group, the U.S. legal cannabis industry represented over $6.7 billion 2016 and is expected to grow to between $22 and $50 billion over the next 10 years. Legalization of the medical cannabis industry began in 1996 with California’s passage of the Compassionate Use Act. Since then it has operated in a quasi-legal environment with conflicting laws throughout the land, while growing exponentially. 2014 marked the beginning of adult recreational cannabis legalization with Colorado and Washington leading the way. Today there are 29 states that have legalized either medical only or medical and adult recreational cannabis production, distribution, retail and consumption. Gallop recently reported 64 percent of Americans support cannabis legalization nationally. In this vibrant space, Vertical is a pioneer and is the first to offer fully integrated services from legal compliance and operation of cultivation to extraction, product development and marketing.
Dorne brings literally a lifetime of experience in food services and the restaurant industry to Vertical. From her family’s restaurant to founding the giant Fresh and Ready Foods, Dorne has a proven track record in food manufacturing and perishable packaged food distribution and has built an extensive network of customers ranging from airlines and hospitals to convention centers, the military and convenience stores, all the while working under the rigorous scrutiny of FDA and USDA regulations.  She is a member of the YPO Global One chapter and is the current Chair of the Women’s Network (WYN).
“After years of suffering from debilitating pain and crippling migraines as a result of extensive surgical procedures, I learned first hand about the efficacy of cannabis on pain management,†said Dorne. “All too often our culture is quick to treat pain with a pill and we’ve all seen what that has gotten us. I believe that legal cannabis can be a part of a legal, safer and healthier alternative and I’m thrilled to join the team that can help make this happen.â€
Wallin comes to Vertical by way of Taliera, a company he founded in 2005 to create, acquire, manage and advise brands in the beverage space. His career in beverage alcohol has included serving as Chairman & President of the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) and EVP and CFO for National Wine & Spirits (now part of RNDC/Breakthru). He is also active in YPO as Chair of the Beer, Wine and Spirits Network and has been active in legislative and regulatory affairs.
“I have always loved innovating, doing deals and building enterprises to scale, particularly in the beverage alcohol space,†Wallin said. “I’ve been studying high potential growth brands and companies, and Vertical and is at the forefront of the rapidly growing legal medical cannabis industry. Both industries are highly regulated and for some time I have been expecting them to converge. The recent investment by Constellation Brands[STZ] in Canada’s Canopy Growth [WEED] validated my premise, and I couldn’t be more excited to be part of the team building brands and distribution in a market worth $100s of billions globally.â€
Wallin continued, “I can’t help but think of Sam Bronfman in 1933 at the Repeal of Prohibition who went on to build Seagram into the alcohol industry leader it became before selling to Diageo and Pernod Ricard. Vertical is positioned to achieve that level of success.â€
About Verticalâ„¢
Vertical is one of the first and largest vertically integrated companies in the legal medical cannabis industry. It’s operations in CA, AZ and OR combined with strategic partnerships in CO, MI, and NV position it well to take advantage of the rapid legalization and normalization of cannabis globally. Vertical is led by an executive team of entrepreneurs and business leaders from the alcohol beverage, agriculture, CPG, distribution, entertainment, food and medical industries. Vertical’s operations include planning, permitting, development and operation of cultivation, extraction, manufacturing, distribution and retail facilities. It has world class capabilities in product development, co-packing, branding, marketing, education, and legal compliance, Vertical does Everything Pertaining to Green. For more information visit www.vertcos.com.
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by Smoke | May 18, 2015 | Blog, Brand Management, Brands & Distribution, Distributors, News
Fortune Magazine published a story by Chris Morris May 14th that is getting a bit of attention, posing the thoughtful question: Is craft beer in a bubble?. The New York Times published Craft Beer Is Booming, but Brewers See Crossroads asking the same question on February 4th. I am now getting this question quite frequently from my friends both inside and outside the industry. I’m in Chicago at the National Restaurant Association Show #NRASHOW and this was a hot topic last night over cocktails. 
It is particularly relevant given the amount of new outside money (many of my YPO and friends from other industries are investing in local breweries and increasingly distilleries.) I read the statistic that there is a new brewery opening on average every day in the US this year. In Fortune, they increase this by end of year to every 12 hours.  This statistic is a bit alarming on face value, but let us dig a little deeper. To answer the question, one must answer two others:
1. Market Growth: Where is the market going – meaning is the growth in craft share going to continue and to what level?
2. New Capacity: Given the market assumptions from #1, can the size of the market absorb the growth in total capacity?
Market Growth: First, a little perspective: In craft beer boom 1.0 (circa mid 1990s), Chris Miller correctly points out there was a slow down in late 1997 and then flat to low growth for more than a decade before the current much larger boom. My company at the time was actively investing in and building multiple craft beer brands both on the distribution front in Chicago (Goose Island, Sierra Nevada, Pete’s, Bells) as well as regionally/nationally (Goose Island, Rogue).  Fortunately, we also had a healthy import business (Grolsch, Staropramen, Tennant’s) that continued to boom during the slowdown. At the start of the current boom, we helped Flat12 start-up in Indianapolis and acquired Napa Smith Brewery in 2009 (sold in late 2012).  There is very little comparison this time around from the 1990s. The degree of craft beer penetration into the beer market is fundamentally different.  It is much deeper and wider, and is touching every market in some way. That said, the current level of craft sales as a percentage of the beer market is still quite small nationally (11% of volume according to the Brewers Association) vs in select highly developed craft beer markets (Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, Denver). That number has roughly doubled in the past 5 years.  I predict craft beer sales will double again and exceed 22% of the US beer market by 2020. This mean approximately 22 million barrels of new craft sales on top of the existing 22 million.
(NOTE: one aside/caveat: craft beer is narrowly defined as independent brewers excluding cross ownership by larger companies in the alcohol industry. This is more political than it is any reality with consumers. Therefore the current share is actually a bit larger than 11%, adding in brands from companies like Goose Island and Craft Brewers Alliance (ABI). My 22% number includes craft taken over by larger brewers).
New Capacity: This is where the “new brewery every 12 hours” statistic is not the most relevant one.  The important question is how much new capacity is actually being added to existing breweries combined with new breweries? 95% of the new breweries (and existing breweries) are more like restaurant businesses with a touch of manufacturing, than they are breweries.  They will never sell any meaningful volume outside their four walls of the tasting room. There is nothing wrong with a local brewpub being a go-to stop for local people and there is clearly a market for this form of on-premise account. The real question is how much capacity are the production breweries adding and how many of the start-ups actually believe they are going to sell beer outside their four walls. This is where the true competitive dynamic in the marketplace will come into play. Most new breweries that intend to go to market through distribution and retail will fail. This is not because they have bad beer (some might but will die quickly) but rather they cannot make their brand relevant to the consumer in such a crowded field. This lack of differentiation and branding will prevent them from having any meaningful distribution and retail penetration.
The lack of experience in running a full service brewery with a restaurant, attached to a major manufacturing operation, attached to a distribution business, attached to a consumer marketing company will be the downfall of many.  Here at the NRA, the 1000’s of operators can attest to the competitive nature of the restaurant aspect alone. There are a lot of smart investors in restaurant companies that have leadership teams with deep experience fighting hard for their share of the consumers’ purchasing dollars. Breweries that want to scale must both run a brew pub that competes with them and figure out how to sell in their beer to a limited number of tap handles available.
My conclusion as of today: The market can absorb many more breweries and capacity than exists today. The ones that remain focused on serving their local clientele will have the best chance of success. The ones that enter the fray of production and distribution will enter one of the most competitive and tough businesses that exist.  Those that do not bring an experienced team, significant capital, creative and compelling branding and distribution to the table will fail. There is a bubble of inexperienced entrepreneurs combined with inexperienced investors who are entering the market. I look forward to the shake-out and the opportunities it will create for those prepared. In the meantime, I love capitalism at work and entrepreneurial spirit the craft beer market is demonstrating for all to see.
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by Smoke | Feb 11, 2014 | 2014 Event, Blog
We are in full planning mode for the 10th Annual WITS… hard to believe that a few of us sat around brain storming ideas for a “technology extravaganza for the wine industry” almost 11 years ago. Â Please plan on joining us this year in Napa, CA as we celebrate a decade of WITS, for what promises to be our most exciting and well attended event. Â Here is the link to the press release and posted below as well.
10th Annual Wine Industry Technology Symposium to Unite Wine Business Leaders, Technology Experts on June 30 & July 1, 2014
(NAPA, Calif.)  —The 10th Annual Wine Industry Technology Symposium (WITS)®, the premier event showcasing the strategic use of information technology and services for the wine industry, has been set for June 30 – July 1, 2014 at the Napa Valley Marriott Hotel. www.wineindustrytechnologysymposium.com
Executives from wineries, distributors and retailers gather annually at WITS, the only annual conference designed exclusively to foster education and debate around the application of technology solutions for the wine industry. The 2014 WITS program includes:
- Educational Tracks – Sessions on Technology Leadership, Small Business, Consumer Direct, Trade Sales & Marketing and Vineyard & Winery Operations
- Speed Dating – To celebrate the 10th technology extravaganza, WITS has introduced “speed dating†for winery CIOs and technology companies. This will provide opportunities for quality one-on-one time with key decision makers and thought leaders.
- Plus Beer, with BITS – WITS has united leaders in the craft brewing industry to add the first Beer Industry Technology Symposium (BITS™) that will run concurrent with WITS this year.
“In today’s rapidly changing business environment, where consumers are driving massive change throughout the industry, it is vital to get it right when it comes to your route to market, as well as the strategic and tactical use of enabling technology,†said J. Smoke Wallin, WITS Co-Chair. “WITS is the only place where winery owners and GMs can sit side by side for a day of learning and discussion with CIOs and other technology leaders from across the three tiers,†he added.
The WITS Steering Committee, comprised of technology and business leaders across the wine industry, is currently finalizing panel topics and keynote speakers. Past speakers have included the CEOs, CIOs and leaders from Amazon, Facebook, Groupon, garyvaynerchuk.com, FedEx Office, Nielsen and 1800-Flowers, as well as experts from IBM, Oracle, Cornell University, UC Davis, Sonoma State University and many others.
Attendees and sponsors are encouraged to register early, as space is limited and expected to sell out quickly. Registration will open March 1, 2014. For more information visit www.wineindustrytechnologysymposium.com.
About The Wine Industry Technology Symposium (WITS)
The Wine Industry Technology Symposium (WITS) was created to address the unique information technology and services needs of the wine industry. WITS is dedicated to bringing the world’s leading wineries, distributors and retailers together with the leading technology experts to foster learning and discussion. Expert panels and keynotes discuss leading edge case studies involving consumer direct marketing and sales, operations, financial management, trade sales and distribution, winemaking and vineyard management. www.wineindustrytechnologysymposium.com
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