Diverse team behind CannaVer’s goals of product variety – including CBG and THC-V

CannaVer has applied for two dispensary licenses in St. Louis and St. Peters, three cultivation licenses in Hazelwood, and two manufacturing licenses in Hazelwood – a total of 8 licenses.

Dillon Gross, CMO & Co-Founder of CannaVer, told Greenway Magazine the vertically-integrated application group will focus on providing variety. CannaVer’s motto is “merging science and nature for consistent relief.” CannaVer is a convergence of several companies that have pioneered medical marijuana in other states with in-state doctors, businesspeople, and former law enforcement.

Gross also serves as CEO of Pure CBD Exchange and the Aspen Valley Group. He has also worked with Native Roots Colorado. CannaVer was co-founded by Gross and his partner, Alex Romero.

“CannaVer’s team carries over 40 combined years of experience in legal cannabis markets, including regulated MMJ businesses in 17 states and 5 countries alongside years of experience in the hemp-derived CBD industry nationwide,” Gross said. Our team has founded and operated some of the world’s most successful retail, edible/concentrate manufacturing, and cultivation businesses.”

CannaVer will produce a high-quality affordable flower, concentrates, edibles, and topicals with varying ratios of THC, CBD, and other emerging cannabinoids like CBG and THC-V. “We also anticipate conducting R&D on various types of cannabinoids, formulations, and corresponding products that drive consistent and safe relief for qualifying patients,” Gross said.

Gross said their vertical model allows the operator to be self-sustained.

“Our state of the art manufacturing and cultivation campus will use proven best practices to provide a reliable supply of safe, effective ingredients and finished products to other licensees in the state of Missouri,” he said. “The manufacturing component focuses on our ability to make a diverse set of consistent, reliable, and impactful edible and concentrate products,” Gross said. “A manufacturing license will allow us to use our expertise to make multiple product lines for a wide array of cannabis patients across Missouri, addressing specific conditions with specific doses of several cannabinoids. Our operations have repeatedly created proven formulations established across the 17 different markets in which our team has operated.”

The operation is prioritizing compliance and effectiveness alongside product variety.

“Compliance, consistency, effectiveness, and a variety of product offerings that will address a variety of needs for diverse, qualified Missouri patients. We intend to operate in Missouri for the foreseeable future and look forward to becoming reliable and responsible members of this community. We look forward to building upon our team’s decades of experience — both as leaders in the cannabis industry and as business and community leaders here in Missouri — to create safe and sustainable infused products in a way that will help patients and the community for many years to come.”

Their out of state experience provides market perspective – and Gross says Missouri is set up to succeed.

“Missouri has taken a business- and patient-friendly approach to the formation of this industry and I believe that the state has positioned itself to be a leader in Midwest cannabis, setting standards and precedent for other Midwest states to succeed in their own legalization efforts,” Gross said. “The Missouri cannabis industry is set to thrive, create jobs, improve statewide healthcare, dampen the opioid crisis, and create general economic stability.”

Gross hopes the state’s licensee choices provide depth for the state.

“Our hope is that the state is able to select a diverse group of applicants that merge cannabis experience with Missouri values, creating an industry where each licensee contributes to a greater ecosystem that benefits Missouri residents and the greater Missouri economy.”

Gross said their concerns lie in industry-based responsibility, saying a responsible industry is a successful industry.

“Specific to concerns, our team places a major emphasis on the responsible use of MMJ products in all the markets in which we operate, as responsible use is synonymous with industry success.”

CannaVer’s building of a diverse team of experience is both their biggest asset and was their biggest challenge in the application process.

“Creating the right team with the right experience,” Gross said of the biggest barrier to industry entry. “It takes a village of experts in everything from policy, extraction, medicine, agronomy, cultivation, retail, and more. As many MMJ businesses have learned in other states, there are many pitfalls created from a lack of experience. It takes a lot of work to pull together a team that covers all of the bases and we believe that we have done that at CannaVer.”