"From Self-Funded Success to Consistent Quality: The Gelato Canna Co. Story" George Sadler, co-founder and CEO of Gelato Canna Co., joins Dan Humiston to discuss his background, his previous cannabis business win and the success of Gelato. The company has a family-driven ethos and prides itself on maintaining consistent, high-quality products. Despite rumors of outside funding, Gelato remains self-funded and values its self-sufficient growth. Produced by PodConx
"From Self-Funded Success to Consistent Quality: The Gelato Canna Co. Story"
George Sadler, co-founder and CEO of Gelato Canna Co., joins Dan Humiston to discuss his background, his previous cannabis business win and the success of Gelato. The company has a family-driven ethos and prides itself on maintaining consistent, high-quality products. Despite rumors of outside funding, Gelato remains self-funded and values its self-sufficient growth.
MJBulls - https://podconx.com/podcasts/raising-cannabis-capital
Dan Humiston - https://podconx.com/guests/dan-humiston
Gelato Canna Co. - https://www.gelatocanna.com/
George Sadler - https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-sadler-13a15a19/
Recorded on Squadcast - https://squadcast.fm/
[00:00:00] At our wall over here, just so you know, I'm, I'm, because I'm seeing you on our wall, not in the cameras here. We're in the midst of Tommy's, Tommy's doing some stuff in here with, uh, with our video screen and some other stuff. So it's, um, a little different setup. So, yeah. Is that, is that gonna be okay or are you Yeah.
'cause we don't record the video. Yeah. Oh, I thought it was a, a video recording. Okay, no worries. Just audio. Awesome. Yep. So you ready to roll? I am. Okay. Today on the MJ Bulls Raising Cannabis Capital Podcast, we are joined by George Sadler, the co-founder and c e O of Gelato Canna Co. George, welcome to the show.
Thank you. Thanks. I appreciate it. Well, I appreciate you being here today. For our listeners, I normally focus only on the companies, and I almost never talk about a founder's experience because, you know, usually it's not relevant. I don't really care. Nobody really cares what [00:01:00] they did in seventh grade, but, but in your case it's different.
Does your past cannabis experience explains gelatos apparent overnight success? Tell us some of, tell us about some of your previous, uh, cannabis, cannabis wins. Oh, so we're gonna go back to what I did in eighth grade then that may have been where it all started. Um, I mean, previous cannabis wins, if we're calling it that, uh, you know, we.
My son and I originally, um, we, uh, we born the Platinum Vape company and that's, and it's, I know we, we don't have a long time on, on this, but, um, we, we started that in 2000, end of 2010, 11. So the overnight success, you know, that everybody feels from this is, is, uh, is quite a while in the making, but, um, no.
So we, we, 15 years, yeah, we, we, uh, We, we, we went through the trenches and um, and we built Platinum Vape. And, [00:02:00] and we sold that, uh, almost two and a half years ago. And, um, and so that company was, was to us, it was extremely successful. Uh, at that time that we sold it, we were doing around 150 million a year.
Wow. And, um, 150, 160. I don't know. It was, it was up there. Yeah. And um, yeah, so we, we sold that company and we started gelato. Well, you started in the fall, so it's really pretty relatively new. What the gaps did you see in the market that, that, that prompted you to jump right back in? Well, I, I think you, yeah, we opened them up March of last year.
Um, oh, was, was our, was our, um, March. Yeah, March, March one I think is, was our open day on that. Um, you know, I, I think the, the big thing was that we, we felt like we were on a path and there's a long story behind that on the sale of, of [00:03:00] Platinum Vape and that kind of trenches into how we came forward in, in gelato.
And there's just a lot of cards left on the table, to be honest with you. And I felt like we were really on a good run on branding and, and, um, hitting some of these, these areas that we, I. Really felt we didn't finish with. Um, and that's kind of how we ended up, you know, back on this with, uh, with the gelato side of it.
Yeah. Well, your branding is tight. It, I'm on your website. It's beautiful. Thank you. But what about your products? Like what do you think makes your products so do in demand and what's. Created this meteoric success with such, such an early time. I think, you know, even going back previous company and, and where we stand today, I.
One of the things that we pride ourselves on is, is, you know, is really having a standout brand and something that appeals to, to everybody. Um, you know, women, [00:04:00] men, um, you know, it just, it, we want something that people feel comfortable holding in their hands and and whatnot. But I think on the products themselves, the one thing that we really cherish is the fact that our, our numbers are what they are.
And, you know, we have these tolerances that the state gives us. And, um, you know, plus minus 10. And when we're talking about the potency on these, and you'll find that a lot of people are shooting for that lower number, um, they try to hit that low number because it, I believe, you know, saves them money when you have that plus or minus 10.
So an example would be if, if your packaging's, you know, if, if your test comes back at, you know, 75%, um, Everybody shoots for that 85%, you know, they, they package it as 85%. And the one thing that I can tell you that we've always stood by was the numbers. And, and so when we test our product, we, we [00:05:00] put to the maximum, you know, um, so if, if we're hitting 92%, we're, we're trying.
If we can get there, we're trying to get that number. Wow. Versus, versus having something that comes in at 82% and then putting on the package 92%. So you really, the, the, the, the value that you're getting, you know, for that potency in our product is there. It's not, it's not, um, we're not taking advantage of that scale.
Mm-hmm. And you're building integrity Yes. And trust with your, with your, with your customer base. Now you said states, you're in California. What other states are you in? Uh, we're Mi Michigan and California. Okay. Yeah. All right. Now, did I see some place where you're open a dispensary? Yeah, we have a dispensary.
We're actually having our one year, um, next, uh, two weeks from now. So we've been one year open up in Lake Elsinore. Well, that gives you a great chance to actually see what the products [00:06:00] are doing. Talk to the cust, talk to the customers about the products, like live feedback. It's exactly, that's exactly what it is.
And what it was. We sell, we sell everybody and everything in our store. Um, but the big thing for us is that we can product test, you know, things, new ideas and whatnot, that, that, uh, We can, we can put on the floor and get, get an honest feedback from our, uh, customers. Yeah. That's gotta be really, really helpful.
You mentioned early on that you and your son just mentioned were involved with your, with the fir, with the one venture, it's still a family business. Absolutely. I'm now my, uh, my, my youngest son or my, not my youngest, but my. What used to be my youngest. Now I have a, I have a set of twins that are gonna be two boy and girl, but, um, my son Nathan is, uh, he's, um, he's a partner now in our store.
He also, um, handles [00:07:00] part of our manufacturing, but he, him and my daughter have ran, they ran Michigan, which was, you know, uh, about 80 million a year, um, in Michigan alone. Wow. Uh, with, with PV back in the day. So they, they ran that for four years. And, uh, so they, yeah. Still family business and it's not just, you know, it's my son and, and both my sons and my daughter in, in, in gelato.
And then, um, you know, just our, our team has just been a family. So, um, you know, the whole thing is, it really is a family atmosphere. Yeah. Well it makes a lot of sense that you just rolled right from the one business right into the next, since you had such a strong team. Yeah. Yeah. No, we we're super proud of this.
That's awesome. Well, this is a raising cannabis capital show, and so I always ask everybody if, if there's an opportunity to participate in your growth and investing in your, in your company, if there maybe today or in the future. This is that question. [00:08:00] Um, yeah, so we have never had any type of funding at all, and I, and I'm not saying that we're against it.
Um, I believe that, you know, we're a big. Big believer in living within your means and, and, and we've grown within our means. And um, and, but the biggest thing for us is we've never understood it. So, you know, when we were doing the numbers that we were doing previously, everybody thought that there was some outside funding, that there was some sort of a secret funding.
And, you know, when we went through the, the, the sale, you know, which took about a year, um, I mean it was like, it was people digging around trying to figure out how did we do this without any outside funding. We didn't know about it. We didn't, we've never understood how to even get outside funding. So it's just, you know, it's just never been part of our process.
Will we take it? I mean, listen, if people want to give us money to be a part of it, [00:09:00] let's go. Let's go. Um, but no, we just, uh, we've never understood it and, um, and, and we've, we've never really sought it, to be honest with you. So, um, you know, we're, we're just self-funded. Well, that's, if you don't need it, there's no reason to take it.
There's no reason to take it. That's for sure. Yeah. That, that, that's kind of our belief for sure. And, and there's been times that, you know, we've, we've wanted to step a lot further and, um, and we've kind of reigned ourselves back in and, and, you know, and understanding, you know, back then and, and being three, four states and.
Um, and, and now where we're at, we understand that process wholeheartedly. And, um, so, you know, there's advantages to it for sure, but, um, we just, we just haven't, haven't done it. I think a lot of companies wish they hadn't right now. Right. Now's a tough one, I think for, for some of the [00:10:00] people out there. For sure.
Well, I'm gonna have all your info in the show notes including, um, your links to your, to your website. I appreciate that. So if there, yeah, so if there's anybody out there that wants to convince you to take some money, I'm sure they will reach out to you and have a discussion. Otherwise, if you wanna take a look at a really beautiful website and try some great products that are true to their potency, just click on the links in the show notes.
George, thanks for being on the show today. Thank you, man. I, I really, truly appreciate it and I apologize for, uh, missing the last two.