Colorado: An entrepreneur makes cannabis-based sweets

Nancy Whiteman, 59, is a co-founder and co-owner of Wana Brands, a company that produces cannabis-infused sweets. Founded in 2010, the company ranked first among edible producers in the state of Colorado in 2016. The company generates millions of dollars in revenue each year.

She founded this company with her ex-husband, John Whiteman. They experimented with infusing cannabis into various types of sweets. These include surprising creations such as fruit gummies, salted caramels, and even cocoa infused with varying levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis.

THC-Infused Sweets

THC-Infused Candies

In the state of Colorado, recreational cannabis has been legal since 2012. Since then, dispensaries offering cannabis and edibles are popping up everywhere. The cannabis industry has grown very rapidly in the state, which immediately piqued Nancy Whiteman’s economic interest. The company Wana Brands It thus generated $8 million in revenue last year. Today, the company has expanded into Nevada and Oregon and plans to expand into Massachusetts and Illinois.

«For me, being a leader in the cannabis industry is a combination of vision coupled with the ability to execute and drive things forward. «When I think of »vision,» that word is linked to the broader picture of cannabis and its potential to help millions of people—not just the ability to build a great individual business, although that’s also essential,” she said in an interview with HERB.

However, she cannot sell her edibles nationwide because cannabis is illegal at the federal level. Rather than trying to open stores in other states, Nancy Whiteman prefers to supply her THC-infused edibles to partners who are already authorized to sell them. Similarly, she avoids using the term «candy» to describe her products for fear that they might end up in the hands of children.

By the end of 2017, she hopes her company, Wanna Brands, will generate more than $12 million in revenue.

Mehdi Bautier