“We are the global leader in the development and distribution of ancillary cannabis products. We are the best positioned company to provide access to the top brands and the top products in the world.”
If you’re going to make such a bold statement, you’d better be able to back it up. And Greenlane certainly does.
“A big part of our goal is to position Greenlane as not only a distributor, but more of a solutions provider,” says Charlie Hoch, SVP of Product, Brand, and Marketing. “When it comes to ancillary cannabis products, our global footprint, strategic distribution hubs and our network of suppliers and vendors is deeper and larger than probably anybody else in the industry.”
As a pioneer in the cannabis space, Greenlane has an incredible acumen for detecting opportunities in the marketplace. We proudly own and operate a diverse brand portfolio including DaVinci Vaporizers, Pollen Gear, Higher Standards, Marley Naturals, Eyce, and the newly launched Groove. Additionally, Greenlane strategically partners with leading multi-state operators, licensed producers, and brands, such as Storz & Bickel (Canopy-owned), Grenco Science, VIBES, and CCELL, to develop and distribute innovative and high-quality products.
Founded in 2005, Greenlane came on the smoke shop scene with a focus on desktop vaporizers. The story goes that founder Aaron LoCascio came across the popular Volcano from Storz & Bickel and started selling it on eBay. Business was so good that Aaron formed a partnership with Adam Schoenfeld, to create Vapeworld.com. Before long the company evolved into a worldwide distribution platform serving an expansive customer base of thousands of retail locations, including smoke shops, licensed cannabis dispensaries, and specialty retailers. Today, a catalog of more than 3,500 SKUs fills company-owned and partnered warehouses.
Behind the scenes, Greenlane confidently operates with an unrivaled depth of experience between industry-seasoned employees, management, and board of directors. CEO Nick Kovacevich is one of the true OGs in the space, having previously been co-founder, CEO and Chairman of KushCo Holdings, another industry pioneer, which merged with Greenlane in September 2021.
Greenlane’s NASDAQ listing (GNLN) is not something to be overlooked. And with an international reputation to uphold, the company is hyper-focused on product development, brand acquisition, and customer service.
“Cannabis consumers really enjoy the products and it’s very much an experience-driven space. There’s a lot of freedom in product development and you can be ultra creative and it’s cool to be able to play with the integration of art and function,” Hoch says. “Greenlane represents products that do two things — solve a problem and differentiate itself in the market.”
DaVinci is a perfect example of a brand that solves a problem, that being the need for a dependable, efficient portable vaporizer, and one that sets itself apart with a unique form factor and appearance. DaVinci establishes itself as a leader in the marketplace with its “clean first” technology that delivers the ultimate in purity to the cannabis connoisseur and takes the products to the next level by incorporating a proprietary app that extends functionality and customization for a truly personal user experience.
“We only sell the best products that deliver the ultimate experience for the end consumer,” Hoch says. “We are perceived [as carrying high end products], and we intend to continue to be seen that way.”
With that said, Greenlane’s newest in-house brand, Groove, was designed and developed as a “borderless” line of essential quality products at value prices. The tagline for Groove, launched in October of 2022, is “Simple, Functional, Reliable.” Groove’s debut product is a concentrate dab pen dubbed CARA (from the Latin word cārus, which means “friend, beloved, darling, loved one’’). Smokegroove.com is where you’ll find the full suite of products coming for Q1 of 2023.
“We’re positioning Groove to fill a gap in Greenlane’s catalog where price point is concerned and satisfy demand in every category with a full assortment of grinders, glass, vaporizers, rolling papers, and lifestyle products,” Hoch says. “With Groove, we’re leveraging our deep portfolio of intellectual properties and expansive network of vendors, factories, and internal talent to develop products that deliver excellent pricing and quality.”
Groove may not be as recognizable YET as others under the Greenlane umbrella. Greenlane puts a lot of effort into promoting its brands because as Hoch points out, brands are everything to retailers and consumers.
“You can build brands quickly, but at the end of the day, good brands take time because you need to build a reputation with the consumer,” Hoch adds. “I think it was Jeff Bezos who said your brand is what somebody says about you behind your back. So until you build that reputation, you might have a logo, you might have a name, but you don’t necessarily have a brand.”
Adding to Greenlane’s commitment to customer service and being a solutions provider, the company recently added a robust shopping portal to their website. The platform, which gives wholesale customers convenient 24/7 access to product ordering and fulfillment, is extremely user-friendly and even includes a promo tab with exclusive sales and specials.
For those who would rather deal with a live person, Greenlane still has that option as well.
“Everybody on our sales team is an expert on our entire catalog,” Hoch says. “Because we work with so many customers across the country, we have the data and understanding of what products sell well in what markets so we can guide our customers into profitability.”
“We’ve designed our products, feature sets and price points to where a retailer who’s purchasing from Greenlane can take advantage of our entire catalog,” Hoch adds.
“You can come to us to stock your shelves and we will provide custom solutions for your store,” Hoch continues. “Nobody has more knowledge, more experience, more data, and more quality product assortment than Greenlane.”
