Matthew Kind of CannaInsider interviewed Assurpack founder Nancy Warner, who recently started a packaging firm focused on providing cannabis packaging solutions for primarily infused products manufacturers. While her company is new, Nancy has spent her entire career in packaging after earning a B.S. degree in package engineering from Michigan State and then working within the pharmaceutical industry.
Warner described her transition to the cannabis industry as FDA regulatory changes to pharmaceutical packaging were going to make it difficult for her company. She found inspiration to enter the cannabis industry while on a visit to Colorado in 2014 and decided to begin Assurpack by bringing a patented child-resistant blister card to the cannabis industry. Ironically, Warner’s custom creations for the cannabis industry are now drawing interest from pharmaceutical companies.
Assurpack, which also sells packaging machinery, goes beyond “bottles and bags” to offer creative child-resistant packaging. Warner has worked primarily with startups but also some more established companies. The custom packaging solutions have a threshold of a minimum of 25K units to make sense economically, but the company is developing stock items as well, like reclosable boxes with silicone lining for extracts or special packaging for pre-filled oil cartridges. The stock packaging sells for $0.25-65 per unit. Developing a new child-resistant package can cost $30-50K, including testing.
Key Takeaways:
[2:08] – What is Assurpack
[2:31] – Nancy talks about her background
[4:52] – High-level overview of where product packaging is in the cannabis space
[5:44] – Nancy talks about what can happen with poor packaging
[6:20] – Different packaging options for infused product companies
[8:18] – Nancy talks about where she fits in in a company’s lifecycle
[11:33] – Nancy talks about designing packaging
[13:38] – Price ranges for packaging
[15:32] – Timeframe for custom packaging
[17:39] – Process of packaging
[20:18] – Nancy talks about the evolution of the packaging industry
[21:53] – Transitioning from the pharmaceutical to cannabis industry
[25:10] – Most common questions Nancy gets from prospective clients
[27:39] – Nancy answers some personal development questions
[30:24] – Nancy’s contact information
Read the transcript or listen to “Packaging Options for Cannabis Infused Products”: http://www.cannainsider.com/packaging-options-cannabis-infused-products/
