#1) do people outside of the US even know the pnw as a region exists

[budtenderslife-blog]

Talking Cannabis Edibles With The Goodship Company.

Q: Hey Jody! It's an honor to have you on! How are you?

A: Great, it's a big honor to be here, I love your site!

Q: So, you not only founded The Goodship Company, but also run a bakery called Cupcake Royale?

A: Yes, I opened Cupcake Royale, the nation's first cupcake bakery outside of NYC in 2003, and we now have 6 locations including Pike Place Market and Capitol Hill and are featured on Alaska Airlines. We feature local, sustainable and extra-delicious ingredients to make epic cupcakes. Our history of creating some really delectable baked goods, backed by a PNW culture that's iconic and representative of our community, is what lead me to start The Goodship after I502 passed.

Q: What made you get into the cannabis industry and start The Goodship Company?

A: t was actually a sudden decision for me, and I submitted on the last day of the application window. It wasn't until I received my license that I realized (as well as half the city that read about it in the media) that I had to do something with it! And I'm so glad I did. I think that The Goodship now stands for a future of cannabis and culture that is really exciting and important.

Q: We've never seen an edibles company hand make everything from scratch! This is so great. What made you take this route vs buying ingredients from the store?

A: I think it's my history at Cupcake Royale to bringing all-natural, fresh-baked goods made with real ingredients from local farmers and purveyors to customers every day that stays with me and carries over into Goodship, even though cannabis is a packaged goods industry. We are committed to creating the most simple ingredient list possible. If you look at the back of one of our cookies, you'll find only clean ingredients that are all natural, and feature things like organic sugar and fair trade chocolate. We think that the cookie itself is just as important as the high, and that both should come from sources that are good for your body and mind.  And it should be DELICIOUS!

Q: Can you break down how much work goes into making a single batch of Snickerdoodle cookies?

A: Now we've got it down to a science, but just like in any food manufacturing, it takes a lot to get a product onto a shelf, plus the added aspect of cannabis regulation, compliance and tracking. We start with our raw ingredients that we mix, make cookie "pucks," and bake in our facility in the SODO neighborhood of Seattle. Then they cool and get packaged. After packaging, the cookies move to a finished goods area, and after orders are placed, they are picked, stickered according to order, case-packed, and placed into a mandatory quarantine for at least 24 hours before than can be released. They are then manifested to the destination store and loaded onto the truck for delivery. All of these steps are logged in a system utilized by the state to track cannabis products from "seed to sale." While it's a lot of work, we respect the in-depth compliance required to safely get products to customers, and the level of transparency it brings to the industry. Washington has done a great job, given we were such an early state to legalize, setting up a system that works and therefore creates a foundation from which other states can build.

Q: With your product's ingredients all from scratch, does this affect your shelflife? How do you combat that? 

A: We spent almost 1 full year working on the recipe before we released our first cookie to the market. Even though our ingredients are all natural and have no preservatives, we are able to guarantee a 6-month shelf life on our cookies, and an even longer shelf for products like chocolate and candies. It's just about having the right proportions and quality of ingredients, prepared properly, and packaged really well. We nitro-flush all our packages in really high quality aluminum-lined film that protects our products and keeps them fresh for as long as possible.  

Q: What is the "Goodship Higher Education" and how would one attend an event?

A: Goodship Higher Education is what we call a heady lecture series under heady influence. It's about taking big, heady conversations out of, say, your basement with just a couple friends, and into a shared community experience. We invite everyone to "pre-board" on the Goodship before arriving (the legal way to have a cannabis event), and be guided by an industry-leading expert on an exciting, mind-bending, topic. We just kicked off our 2017 series on February 9 with a talk titled Where are the Extraterrestrials? and lead by Seth Shostak, the senior astronomer of SETI, and one of the world's most distinguished scientists on alien life. It's a really fun experience to be high with 200 other people in a room together talking about some existential topic, or for this one, the existence of aliens in our universe right now. And if you haven't been to one yet, you have to check it out - the energy in the room alone is worth experiencing! Tickets are always available to the public (21+ only). The best thing to do is sign up for our mailing list on our website and you'll get all the email notifications about events.

Q: Your branding is amazing and fits perfectly into the Seattle cannabis scene. Where does the inspiration come from? 

A: It's a combination of things, and it took a while before I landed on the name "Goodship." A little fanciful, a little fun, a little sophisticated, and an all-around good time. Goodship is about celebrating all the good in life, about taking time to enjoy the little things and to connect with people and the world around you in new and profound ways. We love the word "good." "Be good.", "Do Good", "Good times." It's endless, and there's something so satisfying about that word. That's what we hope people feel when they experience the Goodship.

Q: We took a look at The Goodship Guide to Edible Cannabis. It's great! How important is it to inform customers/patients on how to treat edibles? 

A: You guys really did your homework! We appreciate that more than you know. Informing customers is hugely important to us, and also can be difficult to do. The industry is so new, and people are confused about what to buy or what to do, and have difficulty accessing solid information, which is admittedly minimal. The Guide to Edibles hopefully gives readers a baseline of knowledge that they can apply to all edible consumption, not just Goodship products. We cited our sources and tried to offer the most up-to-date, validated information, but the industry is also changing rapidly with more technology and advancements happening every day. We're currently working on edition 2 of the Guide that offers some of that new information.

Q: Are there any misconceptions portrayed by the media that you would like to see changed?

A: I think there are many misconceptions around normalization of cannabis, and the big part of that that Goodship is trying to help change is around the portrayed culture of cannabis use. We're used to stereotypes like it makes you lazy or stupid, and we think that cannabis offers a lot more than that. Not only does it have strong medicinal value, but we like it's ability to connect us to the world around us in unique and profound ways. It allows us to "disconnect to connect" - to let all the fluff and clutter in our lives fall away so that we can reconnect and focus on something in a more meaningful way. I think we're all starving for meaningful human connection, and cannabis can be a tool for that.

Q: What changes have you seen in the Washington cannabis industry since legalization?

A: In terms of the industry itself, it's amazing to see the incredible things that growers and processors are doing and the huge array of products being offered. There are really cool things happening with cannabinoid and terpene profiles for flower strains, and especially as they relate to extraction technologies which allow manipulation and reintroduction of cannabinoids and terpenes to make super customized extracts, and potentially their associated experiences. In terms of the market, we've seen it continue to grow since legalization and culturally-speaking, we're seeing cannabis moving closer to normalization and away from taboo. But we still have a long ways to go. We really enjoy partnering with other cannabis companies to help make it all happen, and in that regard, we believe that a rising tide lifts all ships.

Q: Anything you would like to see change in Washington's cannabis laws?

A: Being amongst the first of 2 states to legalize cannabis, and given it's federal status, 502, in all it's glory, can also be strict and especially it certain areas, it can be cumbersome to deal with. We're looking forward to revisions to some of the regulations that will hopefully lighten up on some of the intensity of rigor that will allow producers and retailers alike to create better efficiencies and scalability in their businesses. What we're really looking forward to, though, is the expansion of legalization to things like places of enjoyment. It's just a matter of time I think!

Q: Where do you see The Goodship Company in 5 years? Plans on expanding outside of Washington or keeping it local?

A: We are definitely looking at opportunities outside of WA, but we want to be strategic about how we expand. Instead of opening quickly in each new market, we want to really win in WA and take an experienced, proven brand to new states, and select those that align best with our brand and goals. However we do it, we want to maintain a strong PNW vibe and bring a Seattle spirit to new regions.

Q: Are there any dispensaries in Washington that don't carry your product?! Seems like you can find your products all over the state!

A: We can be found in about 100 cannabis stores across WA state. We've been very lucky, and are really so thankful for our really incredible retailers who do a great job getting Goodship to customers.

Q: Final Question! What are you most grateful for today? :)

A: That's a profound question.  Honestly, I'm so grateful for the opportunities I've had along the way to allow me to be in this place at this time to create Goodship.  We have a beautiful future ahead of us and we hope to carry the torch as the protagonist for edible marijuana in a way not dissimilar than how Starbucks took the commodity of coffee into a world class and revered lifestyle brand.