A little background. I have a lifetime of experience in both food and cannabis. I recently lucked into an interesting situation. Wealthy relatives of a friend came into town wanting to get high and eat delicious food. I picked them up at the airport and spent two days driving them on a stoner tour with amazing munchies. They paid me well and said the experience was worth twice what I asked for.
I would like to continue doing this - offering exclusive, customizable, private cannabis/foodie tours. Iāve done a bit of research so far and my biggest problem seems to be advertising/publicizing my new business. Iām not on social media at all anymore ( this site and one online dating site excepted), and not interested in paying an influencer.
Iāve been in touch with a friend in Los Angeles. Her friend is in the cannabis business and she suggested a kind of exchange program between west and east coast. This is the direction Iām leaning in right now, but I am open to any and all good ideas.
I have questions: Is this tour a āfoodieā tour in which you ferry stoned people to great food? Or, are you ferrying them in between great dispensaries and shops/ restaurants? Or, is this about taking people to the dispensaries with the best edibles (or specific types of edibles)? How is this different to the other foodie tours of a city (apart from openness to a baked clientele)?
What is that USP? Is there a market for that USP? (Personally, I think cannabis use has so many different purposes and outcomes, itās hard to imagine a consistent desire. But maybe I speak from personal opinion where depending on what Iāve consumed, I might want to sit, to craft, to bike and walk, or to eat. But fewer (less?) munchies with the new stuff, I find. But do I necessary want to talk to a stranger or spend time in a group of people without an escape plan? ā although now that I write that, I should say needing an escape plan is always on the table for me.
The food delivery apps have been the best thing for stoners though, pretty much removing that detested phone call to the restaurant and having to act human and not get rumbled.
I think this is already ābakedā in to the larger market. There are so many high people everywhere eating and drinking. I agree with the folks above mostly. I would focus on connecting with really really rich people and just take em where they want. I would be very wary of working with people that may not have a ton of experience with frankly what is really strong weed and someone getting hurt or doing something stupid ā more over being super fucking annoying. But I suppose thereās a price for all that. Good luck.
If AirBnb is legal in your town and there is a large enough market, AirBnb offers āexperiencesā on their platform also. Iāve done a lot of AirBnb experiences and think it would appeal to the audience you are seeking. Otherwise high-end hotel concierges.
Like a lot of people here, I am a bit confused as to what you are offering.
Perhaps to help us help you, you can post a sample advertisement or āflyerā that you would publish to potential customers, that might help us understand what you are doing, and what exactly you want help with.
I basically did everything for the couple I took on my last tour. I made all the arrangements, drove them everywhere, and created a personalized itinerary of local spots of interest, all with dose appropriate cannabis. There are, of course, options to do similar things in NYC or Philly, but nothing I was able to find specific to NJ.
I would start by passing out your business card and/or flyers (yes, so, 1990s) in local cannabis stores and dispensaries in/around NJ, as well as perhaps advertising with Uber and/or Lyft drivers; start from there.
Then think about setting up a website (one with an actual āwww.ā and not just Facebook page or IG), and then pay a small fee to get it noticed via an SEO service.
If you get good traction, then you could potentially ramp up with additional targeted advertising with local established NJ food tours, like Beyond the Plate.
I would like the name of the company to be āEdible Arrangementsā. It has flexibility. Or would it already be licensed and make one subject to a lawsuit?
Have you run your own business before? I agree that advertising/promotion is a big challenge if youāve previously only been on the production side of things.
Laws are going to vary by state, but Iād guess you canāt legally provide THC to people without a cannabis license, so you canāt advertise that.
You could work with a couple of stores to provide a VIP shopping experience, then be a food tour guide who doesnāt care that people are hotboxing the limo or van. ācannabis friendlyā or something.
To find wealthy travelers, butter up hotel concierges.
I would think a better market would be folks coming from states not currently legal.
Come enjoy the forbidden fruit.
And Babette is correct, laws as to consumption in public vary by state.
The laws vary considerably, both by state AND by municipality (some places do not allow sales/dispensaries even if possession/use is legal). Edible regs ALSO vary considerably by state. The form they take/packaging/dosage can all be highly regulated in ways that may or may not be āreasonableā for any given clientele.
Most places will require extensive licensing if you want to actually give/sell folks things containing THC. Giving it away is verboten in some places as well. You probably donāt want to be on the hook for illegal distribution.
IMO the best way to pair weed and food is to keep them largely separate. Tasty/gourmet food w THC in it is sorta pointless. You want to keep eating because itās tasty but canāt because dosage. No, the way to do it is either feed people edibles an hour or so before or allow them to smoke/vape prior to/on the way to a really tasty meal that maximizes the āsalty/sweet/umamiā contrasts. Food that is relatively not filling but that has lots of satisfying texture is good too. It allows you to satisfy the munchies without making you deeply regret it the next day.
Pairing up w a local dispensary for a VIP shopping experience prior to a meal sounds like the most reasonable path to me.
I may be wrong, but I donāt believe the OP is talking about actually selling cannabis, but rather taking tourists to locations that are authorized to sell, distribute or make edible cannabis, which would alleviate any and perhaps all of the Byzantine legal issues in the cannabis industry.
