| This past fall, Mason Walker, CEO of East Fork Cultivars, reached out to the CBT team to let us know that East Fork, an Oregon-based craft cannabis and hemp breeder and cultivator that sells both wholesale and its own line of products, would soon be merging with longtime collaborator Peak Extracts, founded by Katie Stem, once the companies received regulatory approval. As Stem put it, “Both of us were at a place where we were doing fine. Although we’re surviving, we were not thriving in the way we wanted to.” After watching friends and acquaintances succumb to the pressures of Oregon’s cannabis market, they wanted to chart a different path for their companies. They agreed the best way to move forward was together, combining some of their expenses, improving efficiencies all while staying true to their shared values and founding missions. Walker and Stem said they hoped their story would serve as an inspiration to other cannabis businesses who are navigating challenging markets. "You can take two complementary, small craft cannabis companies and put them together and make an organization that can compete better and thrive in the market," Walker says. "My advice would be to look around and see who your friends are, and see if it makes sense to merge with them.” Read their story here. -- Michelle Simakis, Editor-in-Chief |
