The Clever Root

Winter / Spring 2016

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1 8 | t h e c l e v e r r o o t C M Y CM MY CY CMY K FF Meet Bagman Vertical Print.pdf 1 9/9/15 9:36 PM IN 2013, JON COOPER AND DOOMA WENDSHUH took a look at the cannabis industry and came to a realization: While there were a lot of cannabis products on the market promising a variety of experi- ences, no one was really "branding the feeling." For example, if you knew one product at one shop made your creative juices flow or gave you energy, you couldn't be so sure that something at another shop would do the same for you. The average consumer was left guessing or missing the mark. So they took matters into their own hands. Since then, Cooper and Wendshuh, along with a team of some of the best scientists in the world, have found a way to distill cannabis to provide something definitive for consumers. They call it ebbu (pronounced eh-boo). Ebbu comes in five distilled cannabis feelings—Chill, Bliss, Giggle, Create and Energy—available both for consumers in a variety of forms and for manufacturers to add to their own cannabis-infused products. We took a moment to chat with Jon Cooper, CEO of the Denver-based ebbu, about how the prod- uct came about, where it's headed, and how his team has grown from just him and Wendshuh to a sizable 31 employees. FOODFORCE: Where does the name ebbu come from? JON: We made it up. We wanted something that didn't mean anything. It was short and it was available as a dot com. Since we were doing stuff that's never been done before, we decided that would be the way to go. FOODFORCE: So, when you and Dooma first entered the cannabis industry, what were the primary goals you had in forming a new company? JON: I don't know if you're a cannabis consumer, but when you walk into the store today, you're not really sure what you're going to get, right? You have crazy names like AK-47 and Green Crack, and most people don't know what that means. So the whole purpose behind the company was to come up with trusted, predictable products that, regardless of the store or wherever you're at, you'd be able to actually achieve the experience that you're looking for. FOODFORCE: It seems like once you and Dooma really got things moving in 2014 the team grew fairly rapidly. Obviously there isn't a huge pool of talent with an extensive background in the cannabis industry yet, so what do you look for in new hires? JON: We're just looking for people who are the best of the best. Almost nobody really has experience in the cannabis industry, but you look for the best knowledge and you bring it to the industry. FOODFORCE: What are some of the challenges you've faced in hiring people? JON: It's been challenging. A lot of it is people willing to take the reputational risk coming into this busi- ness. A couple of years ago, that was a big problem. Today, I think people are starting to get comfortable with the idea. e talent pool that's available in the marketplace is absolutely beginning to expand. FOODFORCE: What would you say are some of the perks of working in the ebbu office? JON: We're getting to drive science and create products that no one's ever been allowed to really explore. And I think the other part that's really important is that it's a great team. Everyone's here not because of the money or anything like that. ey love what we're trying to achieve, which is great. FOODFORCE: And finally, what have you felt was your biggest personal success in working on ebbu? JON: I'm most proud that we've put together arguably one of the top scientific teams in the cannabis space worldwide and armed them with the top equipment and the top research laboratory to be able to create these products. It's a major achievement in the cannabis industry, so I'm definitely very proud of that. —Lauren Weiss for FoodForce FOODFORCE BUDDING CAREERS PHOTO COURTESY OF EBBU ebbu CEO Jon Cooper. ■cr Looking for budding talent or a career in the cannabis industry? Email info@foodforce.com or visit FoodForce.com for more information.

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