For a cannabis company The New York Times coined as “the Hermès of Marijuana,” it makes perfect sense for its first wave of interstate expansion to land in Aspen.
Launched in Los Angeles in 2017, Beboe has since set the standard for what luxury cannabis can and should look like.
Its intricate packaging is hand-designed by co-founder Scott Campbell, the legendary tattoo artist whose work graces the skin of countless A-listers. The signature color for its low-dose product line is rose gold. Its vaporizer pen can be worn in a $40,000 custom necklace holder through a collaboration with jewelry designer Daniela Villegas. The beauty beverage Dirty Lemon is now shipping a Beboe-branded CBD-infused flavor to all 50 states.
The list of aspirational accolades goes on, but it’s still only the beginning for Beboe — named after Campbell’s grandmother, Bernice, who baked pot brownies well into her eighties to help relieve his mother’s pain while battling cancer during his childhood.
After exploding onto the California cannabis scene over the past year hosting star-studded events and posting strong sales on dispensary shelves, Beboe is now officially coming to Colorado with 11 retail partners across the state. Locally, they’ll start exclusively at Silverpeak (520 E. Cooper Ave., 970-925-4372, silverpeakcannabis.com). Ahead of its official debut this month, I caught up with co-founder Clement Kwan to talk about what’s behind Beboe:
Katie Shapiro: Why Aspen?
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Clement Kwan: Aspen is one of the most important markets for Beboe. It’s one of the cultural and intellectual centers of Colorado … and beyond. Aspen has always been a leader in the cannabis movement and business, so it makes sense for Aspen consumers to have access to one of the best brands in the cannabis space. Aside from being stunning not only in the winter, the Beboe consumer spends time here year-round and we wanted our products to be accessible. And the dispensaries here are really trailblazing the aspirational element of retailing in the cannabis industry.
KS: And why Silverpeak?
CK: We look for retail partners who share our same commitment to excellence — in products and customer service. We are honored to partner with Silverpeak for the launch of Beboe in Aspen. Having built brands and businesses within the luxury world on a global basis, we employ the same criteria: sell to stores that are brand relevant that your consumers are currently shopping at or will shop at. The key is to know who your target consumer is.
KS: Beboe filled a void in the market early on; what is your perspective on the evolution of luxury cannabis?
CK: Running business for visionaries like Renzo Rosso (Diesel Jeans), Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce (Dolce & Gabbana) and Federico Marchetti (YOOX, Net-a-Porter), what I’ve learned is that evolution takes patience as it’s a very slow process when done right. Having said that, we’re proud to have pioneered a part of the industry that didn’t exist, but also know that in order to truly be a leader, we must always continue to innovate, be leaders and bring brands together within the industry. Most importantly, we put the consumer first in all that we do. We are selling a dream, not just a product.
KS: What was the inspiration for the beautiful branding and design?
CK: Nothing on the shelves addressed our own needs. Scott [Campbell] believes that anything well-designed is designed selfishly, to address one’s own needs rather than trying to predict what a market will respond to. It’s also important that the product looks and feels deliberate and well thought out. Especially with something like legal cannabis, which many people are discovering for the first time, it’s important that the product is presented well. It’s sort of a vetting process.
KS: Where is Beboe’s cannabis sourced from?
CK: We are both incredibly discriminating about what we eat and put in our bodies, so it starts with the best quality plants possible … no pesticides or fungicides … and then it’s processed in a way that is as gentle and respectful to the plant as possible. We like to describe it as “the organic cold-pressed juice of weed.” To uphold this, we work with a very select group of partners in the cannabis industry, which share the same ethos and brand standards in each and every state we are currently in and will be in.
KS: Beboe is known for a gentle dose, how did you decide to go that route?
CK: I lived in Italy for seven years and Italians … and Europeans for that matter … value discretion and moderation. So following that ethos, we wanted to engineer a “socially dosed” product in a beautiful pen which you could consume all evening without being too high. If you’re too high, how would you enjoy “la dolce vita?”
Katie Shapiro can be reached at katie@katieshapiromedia.com and followed on Twitter @kshapiromedia.