Wyld’s World of Edibles

Of all the modern means of ingesting cannabis, edibles share both the deepest history — brownies by mid-20th century hippies, sure, but millennia-old bhang recipes are even written in Sanskrit — and the most meteoric expansion, with every imaginable mint, chocolate, cookie, candy, butter blend, and what-have-you now on the legal market. 

Gummies are perhaps the most iconic of the modern techniques, and Wyld is one of the leading brands, offering fresh-tasting, real-fruit candies with varying degrees of potency and ratios of high-inducing THC to mellow-making CBD. 

The company was cofounded in Portland, Oregon, by Rene Kaza, Aaron Morris, and Chris Joseph, who initially came together as U of Oregon students to form a fruit-infused spirits company called Wild Roots. When that state legalized cannabis, they launched Wyld with the same fruit-infused ideals. It became Oregon’s top edible producer and is now available throughout California and Nevada, with plans to roll out in more states soon.

Kaza answered a few of my questions last week. 

What sets Wyld apart in a crowded edibles market?  Consistent quality, stunning packaging, and delicious, real-fruit-infused products. We manufacture all our products in-house to control our strict quality and consistency standards. Our team of food scientists constantly improves our food safety, formulations, and shelf-life stability to ensure we are producing the best products in the market. We have been able to do all of this without raising any money from large investors — our team is more passionate about putting out a superior product because of this. At the end of the day, we’re betting on ourselves with our own funding and ideas.

What do the THC to CBD ratios mean for users?  Our 1:1 ratio gives you an equal amount of CBD to THC in each piece, creating a synergistic effect between the two cannabinoids that we believe provides a more fulfilling experience for the user. When we look at a higher ratio like a 20:1, we are focusing more on the potential medicinal benefits of the CBD over the psychoactive properties of THC. These products are designed for those who are looking for less of a high and more of a relief of their specific ailments.

What guidelines are there for eating edibles?  Everyone reacts differently. We suggest starting low and slow with five milligrams and giving yourself a minimum of 60 minutes to feel the effects before eating more. Each gummy has small score marks. One five-milligram serving equals half of a gummy. From there, Wyld gives you the ability to dose yourself according to the strength you’re looking to achieve.

How do you decide what flavors to create?  This is the fun part! Going back to our real-fruit obsession, we like to keep it simple by picking flavors that can be replicated naturally. We’re not looking to reinvent the wheel. Wyld offers approachable single-fruit natural flavors that are popular in the Northwest but not exclusive to just those either! Our raspberry and blackberry gummies have been a hit in California.

What other products do you produce?  On the cannabis side, we currently produce a line of white chocolates (blood orange, strawberry, and peach) exclusively in Oregon. We have also recently launched our Hemp CBD line of Wyld CBD products consisting of broad-spectrum hemp CBD-extract-infused gummies and sparkling waters. You can actually purchase our CBD gummies and sparkling waters online at wyldcbd.com.

With Wyld based in Oregon, what federal issues are there with working across state lines into California?  We are not legally able to transport cannabis-infused products across state lines. Cannabis products must be produced in the state they are sold in. We build out custom facilities in each state that are specific to our production requirements in order to control product quality and consistency across the nation. From there, we hire full teams consisting of production, packaging, sales, maintenance, human resources, finance, inventory, etc., to run the state. Wyld Corporate based in Portland provides back-end support to all of our states and employees.

Where is the edibles market moving in the next few years?  We see a growing and emerging trend as edibles become more and more popular with consumers. More variety and different flavors and brands will continue to make a push to mainstream accessibility. We think the edible market share will be well over 20 percent within the next five years.

For more information, see wyldcanna.com. Wyld is available in Santa Barbara at The Farmacy (128 W. Mission St., thefarmacysb.com).