Three celebrity TV chefs serve up live cooking demonstrations at Blaze, an upcoming cannabis consumer product showcase in St. Louis
Region’s Premiere Cannabis Brands Also Featured at the Hybrid Trade and Consumer Expo at Historic Union Station on June 3 and 4
A trio of celebrity chefs will star at Blaze, an upcoming Midwest cannabis consumer product expo to be held at historic Union Station in St. Louis. The celebrity chefs specialize in cooking with cannabis and have won awards and fame through cooking competitions and culinary shows produced by Netflix, The Food Network and ALTRD TV. At Blaze, each chef is scheduled to host multiple cooking demonstrations and will make other special appearances on the expo floor.
Blaze: Missouri Brand Showcase is the first-of-its-kind consumer cannabis product expo to be held in the midwest and is designed to let the general public conveniently and confidently learn more about the region’s legal cannabis programs, products and processes in a familiar expo format. The expo will be held on June 3 and 4 at the Historic Union Station in downtown St. Louis. Celebrity chefs include Chef Derek Upton, Chef Chris Martin, and Chef Mike Delao.
Blaze: a consumer cannabis products expo held in St. Louis at Historic Union
Station, June 3 and 4. Stars scheduled to appear include left, Chef Chris Martin,
right, Chef Derek Upton, and bottom right, Chef Mike Delao. | BLAZE
ABOUT BLAZE CELEBRITY CANNABIS CHEFS
Chef Derek Upton is a private chef and star of the
Netflix original program, Cooked with Cannabis, and
The Food Network’s famed foodie competition series,
Chopped. Chef Derek advances the cannabis food movement as an in-demand private chef hired to produce award-winning infused dining experiences, and a frequent talent featured on television news programs and in lifestyle magazines. Upton has been named among Phoenix’ best private chefs. www.chefderekaz.com
Chef Chris Martin has been innovating in infused foods for almost 15 years, becoming founder of one of the first edible companies, Zonka Chocolates. He is also the founder and CEO of Hempful Farms–a line of CBD products and multi-store retail and cafe concept in Arizona. Chef Martin is respected for his origin story. As a Kansas youngster, Martin vacillated between living in foster group homes and on the streets. He then became a victim of the war on drugs, arrested and imprisoned for almost a decade. Due to these foundational experiences, the cannabis culinary entrepreneur devotes his efforts to helping end cannabis prohibition. www.hempfulfarms.com
Chef Mike Delao is a two-time winner of Netflix’s cannabis cooking competition, “Cooking on High,” after having been the first chef to cook with cannabis on nationally syndicated television, Cannabis Planet. The weekly cannabis advocacy program debuted in 2009. Chef Mike remains the Cannabis Planet resident chef a decade later, and the executive chef at ChefMike420. Chef Mike’s pioneering work has been featured nationally on CNN, ABC World News, New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. Chef Mike, whose culinary training began in Southern California, is also a contributor to “The High Times Cannabis Cookbook” and “The Cannabis Kitchen Cookbook.” www.ChefMike420.com
About the Cannabis Company Participants
In addition to featuring edutainment by celebrity chefs, the expo will bring together regional cannabis companies to showcase and educate people on the consumer products being produced locally, and able to be purchased at the region’s licensed cannabis dispensaries. Expo producers expect over 75 cannabis company exhibitors. Cannabis products displayed at the expo will be legally compliant, non-dosed samples and mock examples. The product packaging on display will be exact to the items sold at the region’s dispensaries. Each cannabis company will have trained staff available to orient and educate attendees one-on-one, as well. Some of the cannabis companies and brands confirmed to be at Blaze include:
- C3 Industries’ Cloud Cover consumer brand and High Profile retail shops ● C4 Pharm: Carroll County Cannabis Company
- The Clear Concentrates from COCO Labs
- Double Bear Concentrates from Terrapin
- Float Cannabis, a downtown St. Louis cannabis-infused products company ● Flora Farms Cannabis
- Glaze Cannabis from C4 and Clovr Cannabis
- Illicit Gardens Premium Cannabis brands
- Rove Brands, a California brand now in Oklahoma and Missouri
Currently, the state of Missouri has authorized about 190 retail dispensaries to sell approved cannabis-infused products and has licensed about 80 manufacturers to produce consumer
product brands in various consumable formats, from traditional flower to familiar foods and beverages. All consumer products authorized to be sold to Missourians are produced within the state. Missouri’s medical marijuana retail sales are predicted to reach about $360 million this year, and the state’s cannabis industry is among the state’s top 10 hiring sectors, revealed a recent report from the Missouri Department of Labor.
ABOUT BLAZE
Blaze: Missouri Brand Expo is produced by Imaginarium Enterprises, the midwest event company that produces the cannabis industry’s MoCannBizCon+EXPO, as well as a Missouri medical cannabis edutainment series for medical dispensary personnel. Attendees must be 18 years old or older to attend, and there will not be any cannabis sold or consumed at the event. Attendee tickets begin at $50 and can be purchased at Blaze Missouri Expo. Cannabis companies and brands can learn more about Blaze sponsorship and exhibit opportunities through the expo website.