Collaboration within the cannabis industry is critical, especially for underrepresented entrepreneurs and their businesses, for so many reasons. If you want your cannabis brand to expand beyond your state, collaboration can help. Even marketing cannabis, whether on a national or local level, is incredibly challenging due to the regulations and lack of normalization. Collaboration opens a door that allows cannabis businesses to share scarce marketing resources and be exposed to existing cannabis-friendly consumers while building a culture of support within the industry. We chatted with Timeka Drew, an operating social equity license holder, a seasoned cannabis industry executive, and the founder and CEO of Biko, a California-born cannabis brand, to get her valuable insights on the power of collaboration in cannabis.
What are the main factors people should consider when deciding to collaborate with a particular business? What approach should be taken?
Value-alignment is key to managing and producing a collaboration where both parties will be happy with the outcome. Both parties should consider what resources they have and what is needed to be able to bring the project to completion. A good collaboration will be beneficial to both parties and will not require one party to carry a heavier load than the other.
Instead of thinking about a collaboration as a transaction that will lead to financial gains, first look at it as an opportunity for community-building and marketing. When a collaboration has a prominent financial aspect to consider, it is important to understand the regulatory compliance and logistics around profit-sharing and payment. Often, if a collaboration will lead to financial gain for a business that has not been disclosed to cannabis regulators, it will need to be reported.
Can you share a specific example of a successful collaboration? How did you identify complementary strengths between your businesses, and how did these play a role in your decision to collaborate?
Biko has done several collaborations with value-aligned businesses over our three years in the California market. One of my favorites was with a women-led, Sun & Earth-certified cultivator based in Northern California called Midnight Gardens. I had dinner with cannabis icon Nina Parks in the Bay Area, and she gave me a beautiful Raspberry Parfait strain from Midnight Gardens. She told me that they were having a hard time moving the rest of the batch and wondered if I might be able to use it in my Biko products.
A common problem that cultivators often face is that when they sell bulk flower to manufacturers to sell in completed goods like eighths and pre-rolls, no one knows where the flower is coming from. Even if a consumer wants to support women-led grows, they don’t know how because you can’t simply buy flower directly from a cultivator. I connected with Midnight Gardens and found that their price was more aligned with what I was paying for flower living in my Red Series product line, my everyday selection priced to be affordable. In order to be able to support this women-led cultivator, I created a new collaboration SKU, Red Series Select, meant to shine a light on unique outdoor cultivators producing flower that competes with, and even sometimes outshines, indoor grown selections. This product blended our logos and was the first time Midnight Gardens would get recognition for their flower on finished goods in the California cannabis market.
It allowed Biko to tell a story about the importance of supporting female cultivators and sun-grown flower nurtured in living soil. It was a way for Biko to market our values and lift up the work of another small, family-owned business. This partnership was easy because it only required Biko to create a unique label for the collaboration and to purchase the wholesale cannabis from Midnight Gardens.
In what ways has collaboration impacted your business’s growth and overall success?
My friend Aryana Gathings, the proprietor of Plant Bitch (for bitches who love plants!), came up with the idea for the beautiful, 420-friendly independent music festival Flowers & Flowers, which Biko sponsored in 2022. I met Aryana at the event and indicated I would love to collaborate on the next festival and perhaps offer a festival-themed product for compliant purchase at the event. I learned that Aryana was working to bring her Plant Bitch brand into the cannabis market, and we discussed a vision to grow the festival and create a solution to be able to do compliant sales on site.
This collaboration led Biko into a new role with the festival in 2023 as a co-producer, and the product that we created was a Biko x Plant Bitch “Flowers & Flowers” infused preroll that launched on delivery platform Eaze statewide before the festival. The collaboration helped her Plant Bitch brand become visible throughout the state as a producer of cannabis products and experiences, it helped us market and promote Flowers and Flowers Festival, and it lifted up Biko’s dedication to supporting women entrepreneurs in the cannabis space. Through this partnership, I also learned that Aryana is an incredibly talented fashion designer, and she has been utilizing her skills to help me launch Biko’s new streetwear line.
What are some potential challenges with collaboration, and how can businesses prepare for potential issues and how to navigate them?
Finances and timing are both challenges that can turn into issues while executing a collaboration. A project that was not fully considered could lead to costs and logistical needs associated with it that can be difficult to navigate if they were never discussed. It is important to have some kind of agreement in place with a collaborator. It can be as simple as a “Memorandum of Understanding” that outlines who is responsible for what and how any issues or unforeseen expenses will be handled. How the collaboration is discussed can be a sticking point as well – drafting language around the collaboration and ways to talk about the product or project on social media and in interviews with the press can be helpful. Having a project management document that is shared between all parties and regularly updated or checking in with a weekly call while the project is coming together are also tactics for addressing issues as they arise quickly and effectively.
The cannabis industry changes rapidly – assumptions about cost and timing must always be taken with a grain of salt, and collaborators should always be aware that the best laid plans often shift within this space.
Lastly, what practical advice would you give to other small business owners looking to collaborate without financial investment?
First, make a list of everything you could potentially offer someone looking to launch a brand, product, or project in your city or state. For example, as a California manufacturer and distributor, I can offer brand collaboration for placement on retail shelves I am already on, marketing support through our social media channels, placement in ads and mentions in interviews, etc. Then, make a list of what you need (i.e. Biko needs brand recognition and trademarking in adult-use cannabis markets nationally). Sometimes, as is the case with myself as a small brand with a manufacturing license, I will be able to offer the collaboration that you need. I could help launch a brand in California through my Biko brand and a New York brand could help Biko launch on the east coast. Neither party in this case would need to spend money to collaborate. Both parties could simply develop a co-branded label to support the launch and create a marketing plan that serves them both. After the launch, both brands would be able to share the information with their trademark attorneys to create legal protection. We can all be multi-state operators if we are willing to collaborate!
