Last November, at the iconic cannabis industry conference MJBIZCON in Las Vegas, the showroom included manufacturing specialists, software developers, technology inventors, extraction equipment makers, media members, content creators, and financial investors. There were also some entrepreneurs talking about ancient herbal remedies, like valerian root. To enter the cannabis industry, you don’t necessarily have to grow cannabis, or own a dispensary, this conference proves. You can carve out your own niche. Scott Mandell came to cannabis from the food science industry, where he founded a company called Enjoy Life Foods. The gluten-free and allergy friendly food company made waves in the allergen-free baking space. In 2005, it became the first company to receive independent gluten-free certification. Mandell even opened the largest allergen-friendly bakery in the world. After selling his baking company in 2014, Mandell is now the president of Cannabistry Labs, a research and development company that designs cannabis brands and intellectual property. Mandell uses the same business practices that made Enjoy Life Foods so successful. “We’re not going to launch any product unless it meets our definition of demonstrably better,” he says. With a staff of 25, Cannabistry tries to anticipate the needs and trends of a rapidly growing industry. Their scientists design and test new products at the company’s Denver facility. Although they invent these products, Cannabistry is not involved in producing, processing, or distribution. They’re strictly R&D. When a producer purchases their intellectual property rights, they hand over a nearly turn-key operation: machinery, marketing materials, knowledge, and procedures. It’s a win-win, Mandell says. The producers get to avoid all the red tape associated with creating a new product or brand. Producers get to focus on producing; distributors focus on distributing. One of the flagship brands they’ve created is The Root Of It All. It’s a line of wellness topicals and water-based tinctures. Each product includes a strain-specific cannabis oil, combined with a custom blend of essential oils and herbs. Their cannabis oil is extracted with a unique supercritical CO2 extraction process (part of Cannabistry’s intellectual property). This process, which they’ve trademarked as “Hi-Phi distillation,” retains the full terpene spectrum. It also helps retain high cannabinoid percentages. The combination of terpenes and cannabinoids, the company exlains, helps unlock the full medicinal benefits of the strain. In the Root of It All line, each product is named after a desired state. Product names include Go, Slow, Rewind, Unwind, and Stop. Each one has a different THC to CBD ratio, and proprietary herbal oil blend. The company hopes people can use their products to replace drugs like Ambien, Adderall, Xanax, or opioids. The Go tincture, for example, is designed as a plant-based replacement to coffee or Adderall. It includes 90 milligrams of THC from a sativa strain, along with ginger, rosemary, and cardamom. The Slow tincture is designed to replace your after-work glass of wine with an even 1:1 THC:CBD ratio and herbal blend of orange, basil and sweet fennel. Stop is made to replace sleep medication with a 3:1 THC:CBD ratio and powerful herbal blend of lavender, valerian root and chamomile. Unwind is made for recharging with a 3:1 THC:CBD ratio and herbal blend of turmeric, cloves and black pepper. Rewind is a pain management topical version of the Unwind tincture. Mandell reports this product is designed to replicate “10 minutes in a hot tub.” Mandell reports his mother uses Stop in replacement of sleep medication she took for years. The Root Of It All is currently available in Colorado and California. By this summer, it should be available in Washington, too. Cannabistry has three additional products (two tinctures and one topical,) planned for The Root Of It All in 2019. They’re also releasing a new vape line called Mystify. Mystify will be unique because it will feature “triple strain blends.”