From its formation, the North Star offering of Barbari was intended to be a low-dose herbal spliff (a preroll of cannabis + botanicals), available in dispensaries. However, as a small business with limited means, we quickly learned how challenging it would be to launch that product in our home state of Oregon. So, we began building out the brand traction and product recognition with a core line of herbal smoking blends. We then turned those herbal blends into herbal spliffs.

The challenge for us was figuring out how to produce and distribute our cannabis spliff without going through the costly and time-consuming process of licensing in each state. To continue building upon the traction we were seeing with the Herbal Blends, and build a case for the herbal spliff, we opted to produce an identical line of Herbal Spliffs featuring hemp + botanicals and distributed them nationwide through our eCommerce and wholesale channels. Shortly after launching the hemp herbal spliff, we began distributing the cannabis herbal spliff in Oregon and Massachusetts dispensaries through a partnership with licensed operators in each state.

As a product developer, I created the botanical blends and recipes for each herbal spliff, sourced all the ingredients and packaging, and refined the form factors to ensure a quality and consistent product experience.

As creative director, I worked with our design partner, Famous Charm, to create the brand identity and labels for our initial 2-pack offering, differentiating between the hemp and cannabis lines.