Hall of Flowers’ Equity Grant Program is uniquely positioned to genuinely help new businesses who are awarded it. Not only do they get to connect with the leading buyers and retail storefront owners in the industry, but they get a platform of multimedia, social, and editorial support to share their brand’s story with the world. It’s unlike any other grant in the industry, and that’s because it shows actionable benefits to both the buyer and the brand.
The grant program is so successful because of our Board who helps us with brand vetting and company research. Three of those board members are even buyers for retailers themselves, and commit to buying the chosen equity winners’ product. Which means these brands are picked up in stores before the trade show even begins.
We caught up with our three grant recipients from Hall of Flowers Palm Springs 2022 to see where their brand is at, how growth is looking post-show, and what they have to say about the experience:
Dose of Saucy
“Winning the social equity booth at Hall of Flowers was a tipping point for our growing brand, which has a unique product form factor,” says Tess Melody Taylor, CEO and Founder of Dose of Saucy. “We have more than doubled our list of accounts, and it was a great opportunity to meet and continue nurturing relationships with professionals of varying expertise in the industry. Real opportunities that help social equity brands generate and increase revenue are impactful and a step in the right direction.”
“Honestly, the timing of winning this grant was impeccable because we were already on the brink of optimizing our supply chain to help us scale,” says Taylor, “so we were ready to take on the influx of new accounts and orders. Plus, it’s summer so there’s a lot of interest in our product that is perfectly themed for grilling season.”
“We have some exciting collabs on the horizon—like our Tempo Crackers x Saucy Chipotle Honey BBQ cracker coming soon,” says Taylor. “We hope to launch some of our new products at the HOF show in September 2022. We have been hard at work with our new manufacturer and are wrapping up our latest production run as we speak. We also onboarded to Nabis, which will streamline so many of our processes and make life easier (as easy as cannabis ops can be) for all parties. I will always remember this Palm Springs show as one of our company’s tipping points that led to our initial phase of growth and expansion.”
Blaqstar Farms
“We had a great time at Hall of Flowers and are grateful for the opportunity to showcase our brand and products,” says Atiba Boswell, founder and CEO of Blaqstar Farms.
“As you may know, everything takes time in the cannabis industry and it’s often longer than expected,” says Boswell. “We don’t have any new store sales data yet, but starting July 15th we will be onboarded at all Nug locations. We are looking at a similar timeline to onboard with the Leaflink platform and we look forward to utilizing their marketplace and inventory financing services. Our commitment from Nug & Leaflink are two big wins from Hall of Flowers.”
Naughty Dabs by Seventh Wave LLC
“We are currently in 8 additional stores since Hall of Flowers,” says Naughty Dabs co-founder Eliza Espinoza. “We would certainly do Hall of Flowers again.”
“The product has been steadily moving since Hall of Flowers, this event has been great in terms of placing us in front of buyers,” says Espinoza. “We captured a lot of data that helped us stay connected and meet with many prospective buyers since the show. The response has been amazing, people are really enjoying our products, quality and price points.”
