Even a new category could use an Old Pal.
Launched in 2018, the Venice, Calif.-based brand is already a veteran by cannabis industry standards, where it has cultivated a reputation as a reliable, approachable and affordable option. Rather than boutique whole-buds, Old Pal’s signature is its up-to-1 oz. bags of pre-ground “ready to roll” flower meant for sharing; rather than promising new-age wellness, its attitude is unapologetically stoner-friendly and steeped in classic Americana vibes.
That approach is now being tested in a new format, as Old Pal makes its delayed entrance into beverages with Plant Potion, a line of powder drink sticks packing 5mg THC per serving. The delivery mechanism may be different, but the essential concept is the same: gather friends, open a bag, and get the party started. As its tagline goes, “It’s just weed, y’all.”
The brand had been happy to keep burnishing its reputation in flower and vapes, with some dabbling in edibles, but the arrival of hemp-derived THC drinks at mainstream retailers like Total Wine & More and Gopuff indicated a significant sea shift was underway.
“Honestly, for the first iteration of this space, I’ll say a lot of us in regulated cannabis were like, this is going to be here for a few months. It’s a cash grab,” explained OId Pal co-founder and CEO Rusty Wilenkin. “It’s not really something with longevity, and for us, that’s just not interesting to go put our brand on something and then pull it off shelves six months later. Even if it’s lucrative, you’re sort of doing the customer a disservice, and you’re not really doing anything for anyone.”
In a market quickly flooding with new products, RTDs were and remain an attractive prospect — the brand has designs for cans ready to go, said Wilenkin. But the prospect of immediately jumping into a “knife fight with heavily funded businesses” was less so.
Staking a Claim to Drinks
Instead, Plant Potion’s 10-count bags present a first step into the category that reflects Old Pal’s “classic shareable cannabis” ethos, and that presents a new canvas to showcase what it does best. Compared to more neutral tones on its smokable products, Plant Potion is bright and psychedelic, while the name and flavors (Galactic Grape, Cherry Chill) don’t shy away from the old-school hippie aesthetic that’s worked for Old Pal thus far.
“We’re not manufacturers of any products,” said Wilenkin. “We do branding, marketing, design, demand generation, and we do an amazing job at that.”
“When you think about CPG, leaning into color – because of flavor and taste and what that does for a consumer when they see it – was also something that pushed us to really have some more fun and to pop off the shelf,” added Linda Gonzalez, the company’s VP of marketing.
Compared to hemp-infused RTDs touting additional functional ingredients, flashy packaging or a bold brand mission, Plant Potion aims to just deliver the goods in an attractive package, and at a broadly accessible price point. A single bag runs for $30 on Old Pal’s website, breaking down to around $3 per 5mg serving.
Of course, the real opportunity is in converting canna-curious consumers – and turning them into loyal shoppers – at brick-and-mortar retail; the product landed Wrightsville, N.C.-based BevvyMart as its first store account back in July, so it’s still early days. With Old Pal’s smokables in around 15 states, there’s hope that the brand’s credibility and awareness in regulated markets will help seed growth in states where adult recreational sales are still blocked, like Texas (where the product is manufactured), Arkansas and Florida.
“If we can put Old Pal into mainstream retail, we sort of think it lifts the entire brand, whether it be in regulated cannabis or outside of it. And that it’s just more eyeballs on our products and more consumers having great interactions with our brand,” said Wilenkin.
That position is somewhere between most current players in cannabis drinks, which tend to be either entirely new beverage-centric brands – headlined by names like Cann, Uncle Arnie’s and BREZ – or subsidiaries of large multi-state operators. Old Pal, in contrast, is a small brand trying to make the connection between traditional cannabis and the hot new format of drinks, rather than redefine the space. After all, it’s just weed, y’all.
“For us, the goal is to be everywhere people want to consume cannabis, and to provide them great products at fair prices so they have a good time,” said Wilenkin. “I think it makes all the sense in the world to be in hemp, and I hope it becomes a big part of our business.”