LaFayette, N.Y — It’s a small market, for now at least, but a Central New York business is counting on its position at the ground floor to lead to big growth in the future.
An affiliate company of Beak & Skiff, the largest and best-known apple orchard in Central New York, is already shipping marijuana products (beverages, edibles and vapes containing the compound THC) to the handful of newly opened recreational weed shops in New York.
The products are branded under the name Ayrloom, and they are produced by a company called Gen V Labs. Gen V is wholly owned by the family that owns Beak & Skiff and its production is located on property near the orchard’s headquarters on Route 20 in LaFayette.
In December, Ayrloom’s marijuana drinks became the first to be sold legally in the state when the first licensed shop, or dispensary, opened in mid-town Manhattan. The flavored sparkling water beverages, along with the gummies and vapes, are now being sold at the four licensed dispensaries in the state, three in New York City and one in Binghamton.
The state’s program to license and open legal marijuana dispensaries has been slow to roll out, and hindered by a lawsuit, but more shops are expected to open in parts of the state soon.
“Right now, it’s just the start,” said Beak & Skiff president Eddie Brennan. “But, if things move like we hope, there could be 30 to 40 dispensaries by the end of the year. We are working to be in a position to supply those dispensaries as they open.”
Ayrloom (Beak & Skiff) has no plans to open its own retail marijuana product sales (and can’t get a license now in any case).
It does make and sell CBD products, including beverages, that are derived from hemp, a form of cannabis with only trace amounts of THC, the compound the produces the marijuana high. Under New York law, CBD edibles and beverages must contain no more than 0.3% THC.
Ayrloom is producing the products containing higher levels of THC using marijuana grown on a 1 acre plot on Beak & Skiff property and processed on site. It is producing the beverages, gummies and vapes in a 20,000-square-foot facility built last year adjacent to the Beak & Skiff / 1911 Established distillery and tasting room on Route 20, a little east of Route 80.
The beverage canning facility can run up to 250 cans per minute. It has the capacity to run 25 million units per year or one million 24-pack cases per year, according to the company. Gen V uses the building to can Ayrloom beverages and can package products for other cannabis brands, too.
“It’s been real exciting to build out the infrastructure to make this happen,” he said.
The brand’s 12-ounce sparkling waters contain 5 milligrams of THC and 5 milligrams of CBD per can. Current flavors are black cherry, pink grapefruit, and pineapple mango, though more are possible in the future.
While Beak & Skiff is producing marijuana gummies and vapes, it expects the beverage category to be its main focus, Brennan said. The company has long experience producing beverages like hard cider and distilled spirits.
“Over time beverages could be something like 4% or 5% of dispensary sales,” Brennan said. “That’s the market we think will help us grow.”
Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.
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