Starting a business is one thing; building a team is another. Sitting down to interview Ron, the owner of the newly formed Vangarde Group LLC, it’s immediately apparent what his priorities are. With him, everything is “we”; in 2018, it’s heartwarming to see a business owner who’s so focused on developing the talents and contributions of everyone on his team. The trouble is, it’s almost impossible to tell where his team ends! Because not only has he pulled in a massive amount of talent to launch the various brands that will fall under the Vangarde umbrella, but his focus extends to other non-affiliated brands, and even to the most casual of consumer. You get the sense, talking to him, that while he’s passionate about his business, his ultimate goal is building up the culture. As he says himself, “we look at ourselves as a group of individuals who sit on the forefront of advancement cannabis industry, as well as in the social change that’s going on right now. ”This guy is an idealist with a plan, and he was good enough to sit down with us and go over every detail.” Millia page 5
So
on
First things first, hat s our a orite slang term or
marijuana? aha
ou now, ve always li ed
it s partly a strain or the
ost part,
ir les go around with, hear it don t now why.
ush,”
now
ut in the
ost prevalently,
eed” has always een there
and synony ous with it,
ut or so e reason,
ush” ust has a really appealing vi e to it.
What ďŹ rst drew you to the annabis industr ell to
e honest it s
younger, and
don t
een around
e always, sin e
was
ean that in a parental sense
ust
ean growing up in
, in
ali ornia, it s always
een
around...and was never a le to use it, prior to this was in the e e utive an ing industry or seventeen years, heavily regulated, heavily tested, it was really rowned upon.
ut
having played sports a lot growing up, su ering in uries, nor al
edi ation is always pain
retire ent ro
y early
edi inally and see how this
nd so ever sin e then, it s een our years, and it s
li e wow, ve never had to go a ever.
o a ter
an ing a out our years ago, it was really
y irst delve into trying this wor s.
eds.
to any sort o pain
nd that really was the hoo
or
e, to
eds,
e honest.
So then hat ins ired ou to start angarde rou ell there was a really
lose parallel to what we were
trying to do in the vape industry.
o si
years ago
laun hed a o pany on the vape industry side that reated e li uid, and really saw s o ing and what
ene its o
uitting
oving to that alternative. eing a le to see
reating a
ove you ro
o pany, and a produ t, that s a le to
one or
healthier, an do...so we
or un tion to another one that s arried the two with a group o
people that we ve nown or said hey,
people
thin
uite so e ti e, and really
there s so e synergy here that we
an put together, put a good oot orward in ter s o trying to
ring this industry out o
the shadows.
Millia page 7
o hear ou gro our lants in both indoor and outdoor a ilities. hat made ou de ide to go ith this double ronged a roa h s
a l
an
n
s
a
n
al a
n
a
s
a
an g
owers indoors, as long as you have great growers, and we have a great team that manages it. But what we’ve seen the n
s
la l
s
all
ls an
s lla s
we think that there are a lot better properties in live resin, in being able to do ower runs that are produced for oil production, and a lot of that requires a lot more space. So to a
all
s
a
an
a l
n
shelves, we need a balance of both indoor and outdoor.
So that brings u
another uestion hi h is that or a su h a ne om an ou gu s ro ide an in redibl ide range o di erent rodu ts. hat dro e ou to reate su h a broad o ering aha, and we re pro a ly gonna laun h even ti e this arti le o es out
ore y the
e ause we re literally gonna
tou h on every aspe t that we re a le to do in the anna is industry. very point in delivery is our target we already now how to do lower produ tion really well, we already now how to do oil produ tion really well, ut we ve got partners that are great edi le
a ers, and
ust ta ing andy and sprin ling on T they re
don t
ean
.
ean,
or
a ing edi les and ho olates ro
the ean, and
getting to really good thresholds, and al ost
ero
toleran es or outside T
ontent. Those are the people
that we ve
eet and in orporate into our
een a le to
group over the last year. The
ore talent you ring in, the
ore innovative produ ts that you re a le to do, the
ore
delivery syste s that you re a le to provide, you re ust ene itting
the
onsu ers
e ause it s really a out it gonna it or another. o people who are li e
all
the
way
hat its or one person isn t
e ve got a really ig de ographi only s o e lowers, and then
you ve got a lot o new o ers who are li e wanna try this ro
around.
really ust
the oil perspe tive, and there s a lot o
people now who ust want edi les, or lotions, or oils, or rea s... it s not a out itting people into a
old, it s a out
itting produ ts into what people need or their li estyle. Millia page 9
hat an ou tell me about the
dis ensar
ou re lanning to o en in . .
eah, we’re gonna have our flagship in . . and we’re in a position to get that up and running before the end of the year or right after the turn of the year.
nd the great thing is,
the group that we have in place for our dispensaries, we really want a professional, welcoming environment. hat’s what a lot of dispensaries have done really well...it’s no longer hiding in a hole in the wall.
hat you’re stepping into is a reflection of how we grow.
ause it’s all about transparency for me, for our group. t’s really, open up the lifestyle, show that it’s not bad, show that you’re welcome. he biggest thing for us is customer service there’s no udgement, no snootiness, we will not tolerate that at all. Because now that everyone’s able to do it recreationally in alifornia, you’re gonna have a million questions nd that’s what we want
hoever comes in the door, come in and ask questions
ell me about our artisan lines some o that talent ou re bringing in. o me that’s the key to any operation that whole artisan spin is what made me decide to go into it.
hen we rst started out, we really paid attention to how people are growing.
indof their processes, how they take care of it, but more importantly, can they go to scale t’s one thing to grow in small locations and take care of ve or si plants, but can you do that on thousands of plants people do you need to have in place
hat does it take
hat type of technology, what type of
nd that’s where the grower really come into play, and
that’s where the artisans really come into play, because they set the backbone for everything that’s gone out. hey’re the ones who are crossing genetics, they’re looking for different types of strains, that’s what good growers are looking for, and then nding out whether we can take that to scale, to make sure that all of the thousand plants that we’re putting out are all of the best strain.
nd it’s been quite a marvel to see...this is not about ust coming in and
growing for us, it’s what do
want to create
that you’re putting out is a reflection of you.
hat’s your masterpiece
his product
nd you’re gonna see that, you’re really gonna let the caliber of the grower to show through.
Millia page 11
So on that note hat s our ersonal re erred mode o onsum tion personally, espe ially as o late e ause o travelling a lot throughout the state and eing a le to use it on the go, really li e the pod syste s, espe ially the ones that we re o ing out with, haha t s ust an easier it or the li estyle that in right now. ut then again, nothing eats a good owl pa ed, or a good ong rip, i you ve got the ood, you ve got the ree ti e and a wee end, to e a le to really en oy it solutely nothing eats a good resh ong rip. hat s our ersonal a orite edible sad to say this, ut one o y avorite rands we used to get all the ti e, ade these water elon sli es, these gu ies that were ust so easy to ta e, and were really e e tive and potent to the proper e tent... u so eti es edi les are hit or iss, and we ve seen a lot o isses, so e that aren t dosed properly, so e that aren t e e tive at all, so e that the e e t o es on li e three hours later, those surprise ones aren t the ones that you want, you want standardi ation. ut there were these water elon sli es that were ust onsistent, they were really good and the e e t was onsistent every single ti e we got it, and now they re no longer around o li e great, now we have to a e so ething hi h is ine or us, ut it s also ni e to e a le to support other rands at the sa e ti e. nd that s the weird thing too right now, is you have a lot o rands that are o ing and going and really igure it s got a lot to do with li ensing. o eeping up with o who s produ ing what, what it s alled now, is ust a lot. hat are our long term ho es or angarde going or ard That artisan spin is really gonna uild a ni he or itsel , and thin it already has, seeing hey, these are di erent rosses and strains where you re used to hearing ust oh, d li e so e ush, or a herer, and those have een staples and lassi s or uite so e ti e and we re gonna ontinue to the produ e those, espe ially under our egends line. ut there s gonna e the oti line o ing out, and there s new ones, pple ritters and all these other di erent ones, edding a e s pro a ly one o y avorites these days, those ones are ust a a ing...and that really o es down to the geneti s and what the grower is a le to do. o what angarde s trying to do is produ e all o the di erent produ ts, all the way ro seed to shel , and every aspe t in etween. o what we re gonna laun h right o the at is our egends rand, whi h pays ho age to the lassi strains whi h we now everyone ta es en asse, it s their avorites, a lot o the lassi strains that people really gravitate towards. e really wanna pay our respe ts to where this industry s een, not ust where it s going. nd that s what the egends line is gonna do, and that s also gonna allow us to introdu e our pod syste . hortly therea ter we re gonna e releasing our ed line, and that s gonna e tailored ore towards the high edi inal properties. o we re gonna have a lot o high on entrates, and that s where the edi les will pro a ly all as well. nd as soon as we laun h all o the dispensaries, we ll add that to the randing and the ar eting and the release.
angarde has lans to o en a dis ensar in ith ho es to e e sure to he
be ore the end o the ear
and shortl therea ter in
them out i
orthern ali ornia.
ou see them ro u in a lo ation near ou
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