Founded in 2019, Dope Flavors is an equity brand challenging the false weed narrative of the past through justice advocacy and high-quality cannabis.
Dope Flavors was founded by Steven Abundis and Joey Sayong, who advocate on the policy level for social equity in cannabis from Contra Costa County, California. The brand’s passion is to spread awareness of social equity brands, the legacy marketplace where growers risked everything, and dedication to quality and quality equity within the cannabis industry. Dope Flavors is operated and designed by the justice impacted. They seek to be a true jack-of-all-trades for the industry, in both lifestyle apparel and cannabis products.
Dope Flavors sources all materials exclusively through equity supply chains. “We put quality control at the forefront for the connoisseur,” Dope Flavors’ founders tell Hall of Flowers. “We are proud members of the Bay Area Latino Cannabis Alliance, Equity Trade Certification, and work hand and hand with our colleagues to aid and assist each other along our business paths.” The founders also volunteer their time at Success Centers of San Francisco, which offers resources and education to new cannabis business owners with prior nonviolent drug charges. “We believe in patients first,” the founders say, “while striving to demonstrate a positive example within our industry.”
The brand’s founder and CEO Steven Abundis was a justice-impacted student who served a 6-year prison term in 2016. When he got out, Abundis pursued his college education at San Francisco State University where he graduated a Project Rebound student class of 2020 with a BA in English Literature specializing in Policy. Abundis intended to utilize this degree to pursue Law school and continue his work in nonprofit for the justice impacted while also advocating for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated students.
While on this path, Abundis discovered the cannabis equity program offered by California and some of its local jurisdictions. It was at that point that Abundis and Dope Flavors co-founder Sayong added advocacy for cannabis equity to their agenda. While navigating the cannabis equity journey, Abundis attended Oaksterdam and was mentored by equity operators in the Bay Area who furthered his knowledge. Abundis learned how crucial equity in cannabis is for persons of color, justice-impacted individuals, those affected by prohibition, as well as small mom-and-pop cannabis brands who don’t have the ways and means to start a company in a capital-heavy and highly competitive industry.
The road Abundis and Sayong worked hard to find the right partners who didn’t have nefarious intentions or predatory offers. Dope Flavors started as a streetwear clothing brand and has evolved into an equity cannabis business under the umbrella of the operator Seventh Wave LLC. Its founders advocated for social equity policy in cannabis in Pittsburg, PA, and Antioch, CA. “We are relentless with our advocacy work and kill our city council members with kindness while trying to push policy,” the founders say. “We have achieved equity commitments and declarations with the city of Antioch working closely with their cannabis committee, on top of advocating in other local jurisdictions within and outside the state of California.”
Today, Dope Flavors is in multiple dispensaries and delivery platforms across the state. The brand has recently won competitions for best extracts. Cannabis has been Steven and Joe’s passion since their youth. The duo were cannabis entrepreneurs ahead of their time. Dope Flavors now has a seat at the table and can educate others about social equity in cannabis as well as take the initiative within the industry, by leading by example amongst their peers through their advocacy work and leaving behind a legacy for the generations to come.
The brand’s beloved by consumers for its flower, concentrates, and infused pre-rolls. Dope Flavors flower comes from Bay Area exotic, hard-to-find genetics, and checks all the boxes for a clean and terpy smoke. We collaborate and partner with the breeders and cultivators of craft cannabis. Dope Flavors is obsessed with terpenes. Its award-winning concentrates are manufactured and produced in Humboldt, and they’re the same concentrates used in the brand’s potent infused pre-rolls. Dope Flavors infused pre-rolls are designed to taste great and be very effective for consumers in both high and burn.
Reach out to dopeflavorsllc@gmail.com for wholesale inquiries.
