The Cookies cannabis brand is finally coming to Washington. Cookies subsidiary brands like Exotikz and Lemonnade have been in Washington for a while, but the flagship blue bags have been mysteriously absent from the market. Josh Berman is the founder and president of Hash Agency and is overseeing the official Cookies launch into Washington’s I-502 recreational cannabis market.
There isn’t another brand in the cannabis industry that has clout like Cookies. They have a cult following; it’s not uncommon to see budtenders repping head-to-toe Cookies merchandise. Berner’s Cookies hype machine is an all-encompassing marketing ecosystem that operates through the merch, music, and social media.
However, it’s not just hype, the products stand up for themselves. Respect My Region has reviewed several Cookies strains like London Poundcake #53, Wedding Cake, and Gary Payton – each one scored incredibly well. Cookies fans are quick to share their purchases and sessions on social media and rappers are often write bars about their favorite strains like Runtz. This provides a level of consumer-driven marketing that other brands simply can’t match right now.
Beta State
Outside of California, Washington is where Cookies tests and launches a lot of product lines. The Lemonnade originally launched at Have a Heart in Seattle. “We {Washington} can do things for Cookies that other states can’t do,” Berman said. One of the main things Washington has that many states lack is a full seed-to-sale compliance system. On top of an advanced legal market, the state’s cannabis culture is unlike any other in the country and had one of the earliest medical ballot measures voted through in 1998.
Colorado and Washington also voted in the country’s first recreational market in 2012. This state has had an educated cannabis crowd for decades now, which means the top shelf’s standards are fairly stringent compared to states with younger cannabis cultures. Washington smokers have a taste for fire weed – they know what it looks like and they know where to find it. Berner and Ivan of the Jungle Boys hail Washingon’s weed game as one of the best in the world but still won’t admit it’s better than California, Berman said with a laugh.
Top Shelf Standardization
Berman believes that Cookies coming into Washington will raise the bar of what’s considered top-shelf. He likened the process to the domestic beer and liquor industries. Any common bar hopper knows a Blue Moon is better than a Coors Light – and even the cheapest college students understand Jameson is better than Black Velvet. But in the cannabis industry, the top-shelf debate rages on.
You’ll never see two dispensaries with the same top-shelf brands and that makes it hard for consumers to decipher what’s actually the best. Cookies’ brand loyalty alone will drive competition, but if they can get their licensees’ quality on par with their California grows, the Cookies machine will continue to roll and get stronger along the way. “Let’s assume they get excellent across the board quality control. Now you have one definitive top-shelf product that creates a standard across the country or the world,” Berman said.
Quality Control
People have high expectations when they buy a bag of Cookies and most of the time those expectations are met with flying blue colors. This is the main reason they have the most recognizable cannabis brand in the world. But meeting this quality across different licensees in different states is a remarkable challenge and the hardest part of this brand launch, Berman said without a doubt in his voice.
The Jungle Boys flew out to Tacoma to help retrofit a building to the exact specifications of their operations back in California. The Tacoma team has also had plenty of time to dial in their processes while growing strains for the Exotikz brand. Exotikz only produced a small handful of strains to quality control in preparation for the Cookies’ launch. After perfecting strains like Wedding Cake, they started getting the ball rolling to release Cookies’ entire brand portfolio.
Wu Tang Cookies
Cookies is bringing their most coveted genetics and brands to Washington. Cereal Milk, The Soap, Cheetah Piss, Honey Bun, Sticky Buns, and Sweet Tea are just a handful of cultivars you’ll be able to find in the Evergreen State in the coming weeks.
Berman compared Cookies and all their brands to the Wu Tang Clan. If Cookies is all of Wu Tang, then Lemonnade is RZA, Minntz is GZA, Runtz is Method Man, and Packwoods is Ol’ Dirty Bastard. Each subsidiary brand has its own specialty and brings something different to the table, but they all represent Cookies.
The Minntz is the official collaboration between Seed Junky Genetics and Cookies. Lemonnade features an entire lineup of uplifting citrus strains, and the Runtz brand focuses on different flavors of Runtz strains like White and Pink varieties. Packwoods are tobacco-free pre-rolled infused blunts that have been rolled with Runtz, Lemonnade, and Cookies flower and feature their colorful graphics as well.
Be sure to remind your favorite dispensaries about Cookies launch to see if you can get your hands on some of the California chronic that rappers and stoners just can’t get enough of.
