Folium Biosciences is the largest vertically-integrated producer, manufacturer, and global distributor of hemp derived phytocannabinoids in North America, if not the world. CEO Kashif Shan speaks to Dan Humiston about scaling up their global operations to keep pace with the explosive demand for CBD and other phytocannabinoids. Now that Hemp is legal manufactures and retailers need trusted, reliable partners like Folium Biosciences to guarantee they get the highest quality products to market. Learn more about Folium Biosciences at PodCONX.com Produced by PodCONX https://podconx.com/guests/kashif-shan
Folium Biosciences is the largest vertically-integrated producer, manufacturer, and global distributor of hemp derived phytocannabinoids in North America, if not the world. CEO Kashif Shan speaks to Dan Humiston about scaling up their global operations to keep pace with the explosive demand for CBD and other phytocannabinoids. Now that Hemp is legal manufactures and retailers need trusted, reliable partners like Folium Biosciences to guarantee they get the highest quality products to market. Learn more about Folium Biosciences at PodCONX.com
https://podconx.com/guests/kashif-shan
Dan Humiston: [00:00:03] Welcome to Hemp Barons. I'm Dan Humiston. And on today's show we're joined by Kash from foliom Bioscience. He's just five years Folium Bioscience has grown to be one of the largest producers and providers of wholesale CBD in the world. Kash talks about the challenges of keeping up with the stratospheric demand for CBD and their global expansion plans. Let's join my conversation with Kash from foliom Bioscience.
Dan Humiston: [00:00:52] Hey Kash. Thanks for being on the show. Thanks for having us. Appreciate it. Well
Dan Humiston: [00:00:57] The name of the show is hemp barons and it's certainly an appropriate title given what you've accomplished in over five years with Folium bio sciences. I mean just read enough you're the largest vertically integrated producer manufacturer and global distributor of hemp derived photo cannabinoids in North America and possibly the world.
Dan Humiston: [00:01:18] I mean that is compliment.
KASHIF SHAN: [00:01:20] When I hear you say that it's quite the muscle we might have to think about a way to shorten that a little bit.
KASHIF SHAN: [00:01:26] We're certainly very excited about where we sit in the marketplace. As you mentioned within the business for about five years we currently have somewhere between terms to do this. We hired employees probably be around 500 by the end of this year. Continuous scale from there. When you look at our approach to business we certainly have a global perspective. We think that the recent passage of the farm bill in January was really laid the foundation for our current global success that we're experiencing right now and just to highlight that we're opening our newest facility in Colorado on August 1st. It's 110000 square sought FDA certified facility. Those purely for extraction and purification capacity coming out of that facility will be about 20000 thousand kilos of active families per month. That's going to be followed by our facility that we're we're breaking ground on in Canada which we're hoping to have up by Q1 of next year. And that facility will produce an incremental thousand kilos of actors per month. And now we followed the following year with our facility that was standing up in Greece in Greece.
Dan Humiston: [00:02:33] I didn't know about the one in Greece. You mentioned earlier when we spoke you had other facilities but you're truly a global company. I think you're one of the few cannabis hemp companies from United States that are global at this point.
KASHIF SHAN: [00:02:45] I think it's all relative. I think that you know we currently try our U.S. facilities shipped to 37 countries and this is this is where you start seeing the distinction between marijuana and hemp derived cannabinoids that have zero THC Tom countries like Malaysia South Korea Japan that really have a zero tolerance threshold towards THC products but are very open and in fact very aggressive about pursuing a non psychoactive solutions for all of the indications that we're addressing in the US we look the U.S. facility is supporting domestic operations the Canadian would support domestic Canadian commonwealth and Latin America and then Greece is ideally located as ideal conditions from a growing prospective vertically integrate and that's really to support our European operations as well as gateway into the Middle East and North Africa.
KASHIF SHAN: [00:03:38] Wow. Well let's take a step back because I don't know if everyone is as familiar with your company as I am. You're really a wholesaler. Companies interested in CBD you're really the one stop shop you. All roads lead to volume bioscience when it comes to wholesale distribution of CBD product. You do everything to give our listeners a perspective of just how complex your operation is.
KASHIF SHAN: [00:04:02] Thank you. I'd characterize this as we internally talk about the ecosystem and this ecosystem that we're trying to develop is one in which we're really providing turnkey solutions to our customers. Majority of our customers fall into two categories. The first are large or 1000 companies that have their own formula and cannabis and what have you and they're really buying boxes from us. The other customers that we have for global two our entrepreneurs or small and medium businesses that developing their own brands or have brands are developing a new CBD line products for those customers. Not only do we have all come a. We have really 4 factors. We have our basic bulk oil and then we have water soluble powder and water soluble liquid and then we call Hydro PCR which is really designed for the beverage market. And then when you go from those four basic bulk ingredients we have then a slew of finished products in different vertical categories. We have a significant offering in him as well as products. We have a large mixing of animal health products and then we have about twelve cosmetics products. We've just recently been launched and I think our perspective there is because of our size the ability to partner with world class content manufacturing organizations that can help us deliver products of the highest quality scientifically driven delivery systems consistent product price points that allow our customers to really go out and aggressively attacked market.
Dan Humiston: [00:05:35] I mean I think this is one thing that really we can't overlook is it the next wave of shelves that CBD are going to arrive on are gonna be in the big boxes CBS Walgreens maybe someday Walmart. When that happens you have to have a facility they can make. Manage that volume. I mean that's not truckloads. Those are train cars full of product. We need somebody at your size to handle that.
KASHIF SHAN: [00:06:01] I think that a lot of these big box retailers this is a new market for them. And so oftentimes is that we're having these conversations. It's not only about product offering. It's also about education. It's about having compliance in place scientists that can help to communicate what is the difference between our soft jobs and the third person's soft job. Why is the science of delivery important to us and everything that we do. And so when we look at those opportunities we're really looking at category management vs. providing skews right. I think that's part of what these folks are looking for too is they need help and not just delivered prior to a customer but helping to understand and sift through all the noise that exists in the marketplace today and try and understand what product is really salacious and what makes it different. And why is it that they feel they can stand by and influence their customers.
Dan Humiston: [00:06:52] Yeah. And for a retailer that's super important. You have their back which is great but you also provide them a whole suite of financial services that you provide your partners that are on the retail side of this.
KASHIF SHAN: [00:07:05] And what we're really saying is we just launched we just announced I should say a full year financial services about two weeks ago. It's something that we've been working on diligently for the last eight to nine months and we're really fortunate that we partner with a really good bankers and we recognized that one of the obstacles in this industry is quite frankly the ignorance exists out there today in the marketplace. On the part of the banking industry direct from home through the Farm Bill is one hopes and. And so why should our customers be suffering from these obstacles are placed in their past and their ability to transact a business. Our solution to that is to provide a full suite of banking solutions from just basic banking to merchant services to lines of credit for our customers to allow them the liquidity that they need to grow their businesses as quickly as possible. And so when we talk about Merchant Services we're talking about normal prime rates right at a normal service that would charge to a normal business. A lot of people that are in the space right now they're doing business that we're doing. I can charged exorbitant rates because they don't have any other options. We just don't think that's right. Then it goes back a little bit to this ecosystem that we keep talking about that we're trying to develop. I mean this is absolutely a core component to that.
Dan Humiston: [00:08:21] I just think it's great they love your philosophy that you don't want to compete with your partners. You're not on the retail space you're just a wholesaler. You give everybody the best product in they're good price make them successful so that you'll be successful.
KASHIF SHAN: [00:08:33] That's not rocket science. I think it's one do the right thing. I feel good about how would you go about doing our business. And we think ultimately that we're looking for long term relationships and you can never build a long term relationship based on bad intentions. The one thing that we want to convey to anybody that's working with us is that we stand behind our products and the relationship do what's right to fix the issues that arise in this hemp industry.
Dan Humiston: [00:08:57] I mean we're just getting started. You know so like I said at the beginning of the show right now when it comes to CBD all roads sort of lead right to volume bioscience and it's great. I mean you should be proud of yourself for what you've done so far but you're really just getting started.
KASHIF SHAN: [00:09:13] Very nice. So I think that we have a long way to go. I think that we're very fortunate in the quality of the people that work for us. They are really quite frankly ambassadors at every level who are so passionate about representing us and representing our industry in the right way. And the folks that we have here are just so committed to to what they do. I'm just doing a job that really believes in what our mission is meant to us. I'm super excited about that.
Dan Humiston: [00:09:42] Well you certainly have a good team. There's no doubt about it.
Dan Humiston: [00:09:44] speaking with Kash from folium bio sciences and we already have all their information on the MJBulls Web sites whether anybody needs any information on how to get in touch with the team over there you can just check on our Web site.
Dan Humiston: [00:09:55] Kash I appreciate you being on the show today and I can say that you're on the right track. Let's just keep it going.
KASHIF SHAN: [00:10:01] I appreciate it. I appreciate the support and we're always available. Wants to get back on again. Thank you for your.
Dan Humiston: [00:10:06] We will be talking. Kash I know this gives you a lot to do in this industry. So again good luck. Thank you. I appreciate.
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