Budder Pros, LLC manufactures cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-infused candy, cookies, and chocolate, and is located 25 miles north of Albuquerque, in Placitas, NM. CBD is a cannabinoid found in cannabis that is mainly used for medicinal purposes, as opposed to THC, which has mostly recreational uses. Budder Pros use their Memjet-based Afinia Label L801 Color Label Printer to support their Medical Marijuana (MMJ) Dispensary and online clients by printing variable data prescription labels for their three product lines: Karma Candy, Karma Cookies, and Serenity Chocolate.
From Medical Marijuana Grower to Food Manufacturer
Trevor Newburn, owner of Budder Pros, was a successful MMJ grower in California for 20 years. Edibles were his forte, but when he moved to New Mexico he found that the regulatory environment there required a different business model.
In New Mexico, there are a limited number MMJ dispensary licenses, as opposed to the 10,000 dispensaries in California. New Mexico also has tight regulations for food processing, but with Newburn’s solid track record, he received the appropriate license to produce CBD and THC-infused foods that would be sold at wholesale to New Mexican MMJ dispensaries, and CBD-infused foods to be sold online.
Budder Pros’ Unique Business Model
Budder Pros’ business model is unique. Their dispensary clients supply them with extra product (trims and/or buds), from which Budder Pros creates oil. They decarboxylate this oil to activate the psychoactive elements. A second benefit is that “Decarbing” also reduces the moisture content and, therefore, the risk of botulism.
Budder Pros has their oil laboratory-tested, so they know the exact THC content. They then use the oil to infuse and very accurately dose a number of high-quality products for their dispensaries’ patients. Budder Pros products include eight different bars (made from white, milk, and dark chocolate), cookies, and ten flavors of candies.
On the other hand, since CBD-infused foods contain no psychoactive elements, they are legal to sell in all 50 states. Much of the CBD oil they use currently comes from overseas suppliers that manufacture it from non-flowered hemp, so it contains no THC. “We have an online store that sells products containing pure CBD. We sell raw CBD, tinctures blended with fractionated (removes most of the long-chain triglycerides, yielding a long shelf-life) coconut oil, and products with transdermal properties.
Choosing the Afinia Label L801 Color Label Printer
Budder Pros’ graphic designer, Jeshua Booth, previously worked for an eCigarette company, where he printed labels in-house. Before Booth joined Budder Pros, they were outsourcing all of their label printing. They would take one of the outsourced labels and then add stickers, which quadrupled the labor. It also didn’t reflect well on the Budder Pros brand, and in some instances, generated complaints from clients.
“20 Million Times Better”
Booth was initially going to buy the brand of label printer that he used in his former position. He did some research and found that “the Afinia L801 blows the other model away. We love the Afinia Label printer. It functions 20 million times better than the one that I used at my previous job.”
Saving $20,000 in Label Inventory
“When we get an order, we print all of the custom information, logo, batch date, and use date in one pass. We’ve eliminated $20,000 of pre-printed label inventory,” explains Booth.
“Now, we only stock blank labels that we can sell, if need be. There are tons of tedious things that must be on our labels: batch number, dispensary, etc… each order is different. The MMJ marketplace forces you to buy a printer and have a designer in-house. Stickers look corny.”
Complex Labeling Applications
MMJ Dispensaries operate like pharmacies in that they package their products for their individual patients. There are a number of labeling challenges. Some of the packaging is so small that it is completely covered with labels. In New Mexico, there are as many as ten different pieces of information on each label.
Many dispensaries buy bulk labels that they place on their packaging. Then, they have to add an additional label with information that is patient-specific, such as doctor’s name, prescription number, dosing, and membership number.
“We’re printing labels for our dispensary clients that contain all of the variable data, which saves the dispensaries tons of time and has made us a preferred partner,” Booth says. “In fact, we have won three new dispensaries as clients because of our labeling capability. We used to put five labels on our packaging and the dispensary would add two. Now, we print everything on one single label for them.”
