This video introduces Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's venture into the cannabis industry, founding a new brand called Ben's Best Blends (B3). Ben shares his thoughts on the similarities between the cannabis and ice cream businesses and his experiences in forming B3, focusing on promoting social equality. B3 operates as a nonprofit, channeling royalties from licensing to support black entrepreneurs in the cannabis industry and related social justice causes.

Ben explains the mission of B3 to deliver cannabis products with lower THC content, similar to the more moderate experiences of his college days. The brand is positioned as a disruptor in the cannabis market, aiming for a broader appeal through its uniqueness. Christopher Walsh and Craig Mitchell discuss their roles, emphasizing the focus on terpene-forward formulas and the science behind low THC cannabis products.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. stimulate [ˈstɪmjʊˌleɪt] - (verb) - To encourage something to grow, develop, or become active. - Synonyms: (encourage, motivate, provoke)

Since I started getting into the cannabis business, it did occur to me that it would have made more sense to do cannabis first and stimulate the demand.

2. legalities [lɪˈgælɪtiz] - (noun) - Matters that relate to the law or legal issues. - Synonyms: (lawfulness, legality, jurisdiction)

But there was the problem of legalities.

3. integrate [ˈɪntɪˌɡreɪt] - (verb) - To combine one thing with another to form a whole. - Synonyms: (combine, merge, unify)

What we found at Ben Jerry's was that there's a way to integrate your social values into your day to day business activities.

4. terpenes [ˈtɜːr.piːnz] - (noun) - A large and diverse class of organic compounds produced by plants, especially conifers, and by some insects. - Synonyms: (hydrocarbons, oleoresins, essential oils)

Secondly, I had just come off a year in Jamaica studying terpenes.

5. cultivation [ˌkʌltɪˈveɪʃən] - (noun) - The process of growing plants on a farm or garden. - Synonyms: (growing, farming, agriculture)

It's primarily a cultivation facility, but we also do all of our processing, manufacturing.

6. adhere [ədˈhɪr] - (verb) - To stick firmly to something, often by expectation or rules. - Synonyms: (cling, stick, follow)

This is a challenging room because we have to adhere to all the regulations of cannabis.

7. disruption [dɪsˈrʌpʃən] - (noun) - Disturbance or problems which interrupt an event, activity, or process. - Synonyms: (interruption, disturbance, commotion)

Ben was a disruptor in ice cream before that word, that term was even used.

8. hermetically [hɜːrˈmetɪkli] - (adverb) - In a way that is completely airtight, preventing the entry or escape of air. - Synonyms: (airtightly, sealed, impermeably)

It's hermetically sealed.

9. degradation [ˌdeɡrəˈdeɪʃən] - (noun) - The condition or process of degrading or being degraded. - Synonyms: (deterioration, decline, decay)

There's no degradation and no oxidation whatsoever with the flour.

10. expunge [ɪkˈspʌndʒ] - (verb) - To erase or remove completely, often used in a legal context. - Synonyms: (erase, delete, remove)

...working to get people that are in jail for pot out of jail and to help expunge records.

From Pints to Joints - Ben & Jerry’s Co-Founder’s New Cannabis Company

Since I started getting into the cannabis business, it did occur to me that it would have made more sense to do cannabis first and stimulate the demand. But there was the problem of legalities. But it would be interesting to know whether legal weed increases ice cream sales. I'm Ben, the Ben and Jerry's guy, and we're introducing B3, which is Ben's best blends. It's a new cannabis brand.

Jerry and I, we started Ben and Jerry's in 1978 as a homemade ice cream shop in an old gas station in Burlington, Vermont. He does some things on his own, I do some things on my own. I guess I'm more into cannabis than he is. The usual and more common belief at the time was that business could not use its resources to deal with social issues. It wasn't possible for business to do that, that if business did that, it would go out of business. What we found at Ben Jerry's was that there's a way to integrate your social values into your day to day business activities. And that's what we're doing.

The idea for B3 came about when a friend of mine and I were sitting around a campfire smoking a J and we were saying, you know, the problem with today's pot is it's just too strong. When we were in our college years, you know, that you would be able to spend a bunch of time smoking a J, that you could do it casually, you could pass it around amongst friends, and we wanted that experience. The idea just kind of stuck with me and I just felt like I had to do it.

It's an interesting structure. So B3, the parent organization, is registered with the state of Vermont as a nonprofit organization and it's a licensor. So we license our formulas and our brand and our trademarks and our packaging to a licensee who then has the exclusive rights to it. B3, the parent company gets a royalty and we use those royalties to provide loans and grants to black cannabis entrepreneurs and also to support the Vermont racial justice center and the Last prisoner project here in Vermont.

Chris and Craig, CNC hire love. They're responsible for getting the product made and selling it and distributing it. My name is Christopher Walsh. I've been doing operations for Ben for the last two years and I also did all the formulas for all the products.

And my name is Craig Mitchell and I am in charge of sales. Being a licensee in the state of Vermont, which we're the first state to license bins, best means that we are the exclusive distributor and promoter of the brand in the state. I signed up because of the mission more than anything else.

Secondly, I had just come off a year in Jamaica studying terpenes. So Ben said, hey, I want to make effects based formulas. How do I do this consistently and repeatably in every state? So I came up with these terpene formulas. And as we're putting the ideology of our products out there, people are coming out of the woodwork saying like, finally, I don't want 30% THC, you know, I want to treat this like my glass of wine.

Chris and I, we met in Jamaica. I used to DJ spring break. He ran a spring break company. And me DJing down there is really the only times I would be able to enjoy a joint, because you could smoke a whole joint and not be out of your mind. Ben was a disruptor in ice cream before that word, that term was even used. And he's definitely being a disruptor in cannabis because this whole terpene forward low THC idea that he had is actually really accurate and it's the way the plant's meant to be used.

Part of what we were doing is inspiration, part of it was science and a lot of it was just throwing stuff at the wall. And I think we're going to get past that and really become a data driven company that makes really precise products.

We are in Brandon, Vermont and this is Grassroots. Grassroots started about 10 years ago. It's a great space. It's got radiant floors, it's got plenty of space for us to expand into. It used to be a furniture manufacturer and it's primarily a cultivation facility, but we also do all of our processing, manufacturing and up front is a very small medical disposal that by next week will also be an adult use dispensary. It'll be mixed use, we'll have medical patients and we'll have adult use patients.

This is the kitchen, it's where we make our edibles. It's totally climate controlled. This is a challenging room because we have to adhere to all the regulations of cannabis, but we also have to adhere to all the regulations of the health department. So the one aspect of cannabis that's most challenging are edibles, because flour, the other derivatives you don't literally put in your body. So you only have to adhere to the regulations of the cannabis board. This we're answering to the health department too. So it's an ongoing challenge.

This is a technology, it's a little pharmaceutical for most cannabis companies. But we use a torquer to put, put the perfect tension on a cap. Each cap Has a foil built into it that the torker puts just enough pressure seal so that when you run a cap under this induction sealer, it's hermetically sealed. There's no degradation and no oxidation whatsoever with the flour from not only terpenes, but you don't lose any of the cannabinoid potency as well.

The definition of Schedule 1 is no medicinal value. So our philosophy is, if, you know, beer doesn't have medicinal value, why isn't that Schedule 1? That's the message on the jars. And then the box that the jars go in talks about Harry Ainslinger, who was the first head of the federal narcotics bureau, which is a precursor to the dea, who made pot illegal and pushed mandatory minimum sentencing.

And so basically, today, his legacy persists. And cannabis is still a Schedule 1 drug that is in the category of things that have no medicinal value. And I think all it takes is somebody to try cannabis once, to immediately feel that there's something medicinal going on.

The problem in the. In the industry is that it's mostly black people who ended up in jail for this product that's now legal, and yet it's mostly white people that are making the money off the legalized industry. A lot of states, as they're legalizing, are now setting up these social equity programs so that they give priority for licenses to people who are negatively impacted. But the problem is that because of all the discrimination against black people that's gone on in the banking industry, the real estate industry, education, housing, you know, getting financing or jobs, many black people don't have the capital to actually start a business and use that license.

And so we're trying to use our profits to provide capital for black cannabis entrepreneurs. I'm not going to make any money off B3. At the end of our first 12 months in business, we've made a guarantee to do what we can to help right the wrongs that we're on drugs. At a minimum, we're going to provide at least $100,000 to new project to fund these black cannabis entrepreneurs. It goes to the Vermont Racial justice Alliance, which is a Vermont organization that works on the issues of racial justice.

And it goes to the Last prisoner project, which is kind of the preeminent national organization in the country, working to get people that are in jail for pot out of jail and to help expunge records and to help people reenter the society. If we were wildly successful, you know, the product would sell really well and there'd be black cannabis entrepreneurs in most legal states that wanted to license this brand and we would license it to them. We want to expand through black cannabis entrepreneurs that are owners. The way to do that is to license the brand. The idea is to provide the opportunity for black cannabis entrepreneurs to have equity.

Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Inspiration, Cannabis Business, Social Equity, Social Justice, Forbes