A Denver-based edibles manufacturer on the shelves in about 75% of Colorado’s cannabis retailers has decided to build its own cultivation facility, vertically integrating its supply chain. Blue Kudu, which employs 15 and makes 3000 pieces of chocolate each day, bought a new facility for almost $1mm and will invest $1.5mm to renovate it. Owner Andrew Schrot, who hopes to expand into additional states via licensing, believes that growing his own cannabis will prove economically beneficial to buying oil from third-party suppliers. In addition to lower cost of inputs, being vertically integrated allows cannabis processors to have better control over quality, especially given the numerous recalls that have taken place over the past year related to pesticides.
Read Amy DiPierro’s “Edibles startup sweet on new facility; wants to grow own cannabis”: http://www.businessden.com/2016/07/12/edibles-startup-sweet-on-new-facility-wants-to-grow-own-cannabis/