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This week, John Hartsell, co-founder of Dizpot, joins the Cannabis Equipment News podcast to discuss his company's patented new packaging and why operators need to stop imitating other products and start focusing on having a good product.
John Hartsell has always been in cannabis. Since his high school days and into his young adulthood, the black market was a way for him to supplement his income.
When cannabis became legal for commercial sale in Arizona, Hartsell and a partner tried to win a license through the state's lottery process. However, the odds were not in their favor, and they failed to land a seat at the state's cultivation table. As Hartsell looked for other opportunities in ancillary businesses, he found packaging to be the most effective way to play a role in legal cannabis and co-founded Dizpot. After all, at the end of the day, every bit of cannabis has to leave a dispensary in compliant packaging, Hartsell says, and learning and understanding those rules has led Dizpot to having nationwide success in the industry.
Cannabis packaging gave Hartsell an opportunity to transition from his legacy business into a traditional business and it made a lot of sense. He could take the risk out of his typical day-to-day operations while continuing to serve the community he loved most—and he didn't have to do it on afternoons, nights, and weekends.
Dizpot has been named one of INC 5000 America's fastest-growing private companies. The company delivers innovative products while maintaining a commitment to traditional customer service. For example, Dizpot recently received a patent for its in-house developed child-resistant paper tube. The paper tubes are fully biodegradable and the plastic closure on top is recyclable. Hartsell says he wanted to reduce the amount of waste in the industry by producing food grade, air tight packaging that costs roughly the same amount of money as unsustainable options. Dizpot's new paper tubes spent some 18 months in development.
Jump around:
- Leaving the legacy cannabis market. (1:48)
- What's new in cannabis packaging. (5:00)
- Making affordable sustainable packaging. (7:09)
- Working with packaging equipment OEMs. (9:00)
- The best way to package your packaging. (11:38)
- Cannabis packaging needs standardization. (12:24)
- How ancillary companies drive industry growth. (17:40)
- Helping operators solve logistics and supply chain issues. (19:26)
- Helping cannabis startups get off the ground. (22:28)
- Common mistakes cannabis operators make. (24:15)
- How to get unethical packaging out of the industry. (27:27)
- The products that have caught his attention over the years. (29:01)
- Thoughts on rescheduling. (32:47)
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