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The Kaya Cast podcast is a weekly show where we interview thought leaders in the cannabis industry about their experience and expertise of working with cannabis. The aim of the show is to help cannabis retailers do what they love and share their stories.
Jesús Burrola: The industry's
not going anywhere.
It certainly needs some changes
from a regulatory standpoint, but
I think the trend is very clear.
More and more people want access to legal
cannabis and at some point, everybody's
gonna get together and figure that out.
Welcome to the Kaya Cast, the podcast
for cannabis businesses looking to
launch, grow, and scale their operations.
Each week we bring you interviews
with industry experts and successful
retailers, plus practical tips and
strategies to help you succeed in
the fast growing cannabis industry.
Tom Mulhern: Today on the Kaya Cast
Podcast, we have our very first
cultivator that we've ever had on
the show, and I'm so excited to share
this conversation with Jesus Burrola,
who is the CEO of POSIBL Project.
Jesus and I sit down and we chat about
the future of the cannabis industry.
We talk about how to retain good
people, how to find those good people.
We talk about his cultivation
methods and ways that cultivators
can be more sustainable and
profitable with their business.
So I hope you enjoy this
conversation with Jesus B
Jesus Burrola is the CEO of POSIBL,
the cannabis farm of the Future.
An engine of several of California's
leading brands with over 2 million
units of package product to date.
POSIBL is redefining what it means to
produce the highest quality cannabis.
Jesus is a proven leader who believes in
his teams as the primary driver of growth.
He leads the organization's growth
strategy in sales and operations and
the best team at POSIBL to position
the company as a global market leader.
Well, Jesus, welcome to the podcast.
It's so awesome to have you on the
show and, and I'm really excited
to find out more about you and
what you're doing at POSIBL so.
So welcome to the show.
Jesús Burrola: Thank you
very much for having me.
Tom Mulhern: Tell me a bit about
your background and how did you get
involved in the cannabis industry?
Jesús Burrola: I grew up in Mexico.
I lived there till I was 18.
I, grew up around distribution.
My, my dad owned a distribution
business in Mexico, went to school for
distribution, and it just seemed right.
Go to work in a distributor.
So I did that for 15 years.
And I was looking for the next
thing to keep me busy and growing.
Had this opportunity to join the cannabis
business actually through a friend.
That I grew up with.
He's one of the largest ag producers in
Mexico, in, in high-tech greenhouses.
He has a large company called Vivo
Organica that private labels for the 16
largest retailers in the United States.
Cannabis was super interesting to me.
I wanted to join it.
It was a little scary of like, well,
I don't have this expertise and
it's agriculture, knowing that, you
know, we had his experience in large
scale agriculture and white labeling
and this great opportunity in a new
in a new industry gave me a lot of
confidence to, to make the jump.
Tom Mulhern: What inspired
him to create POSIBL project?
Like why get into cannabis?
Jesús Burrola: We all kind of
share a passion for the industry
and, and, and for cannabis.
But I think he saw a need for a solution.
So there were gonna be a lot of
brand builders that we're gonna wanna
build a powerful cannabis brand.
But that doesn't really
translate well to owning and
operating a cultivation facility.
How he came about?
The opportunity was really, he was
pitched on a cannabis investment and he
would tell you, he came in and it was
a bunch of Wall Street bankers saying,
hey, give us your money so that we
can go and we'll take a fee and then
we'll buy cannabis farms at a premium.
And he, you know, and then he
started looking into it and he's
like, this is already what I do.
I grow in greenhouses.
I'm, I'm an ag expert.
Why would I give my money to bankers
when this is something that I have the
expertise and the passion to do myself?
Tom Mulhern: I want to get into
your cultivation and your growing
method because I think one of
my favorite things is just seeing
those huge cultivation facilities.
So what kind of sets POSIBL's
cultivation methods apart from
other cannabis businesses?
And how do you ensure that you guys
have high quality at a low cost point?
Jesús Burrola: I think what sets us
apart is like our vision for what is
the highest quality, most sustainable,
like lowest cost of production.
And for us, that means mixed light.
We understand that the market
perceives the highest quality to be
in like indoor cannabis, but that's
a not very sustainable, right?
Because it requires, you know, the use
of energy to generate an environment and
so it ultimately becomes very expensive
for the consumer at the end of the day.
And on the other side, you've got
outdoor, which is fantastic cannabis,
but it's a once a year harvest.
So how do you build a brand
around a product on the shelf that
starts to oxidize, you know, three
months in, it's really hard to do.
Greenhouse sits in this middle and it one
incorporates all the natural elements,
you know, natural sunlight, great growing
conditions that we have here but that
still doesn't produce the highest quality.
Or like you could still put
that next to an indoor product
and it won't look the same.
Our methodology is to really take all
those natural elements, but then say,
okay, if that gets me to 60 to 70% of what
the plant needs, what's the other 40%?
And that's where supplemental,
LED lighting, supplemental co2
dehumidification strategy, all those
things to create the ideal condition
with less energy and ultimately less
cost, is what I think sets us apart.
Tom Mulhern: Does that also help with
the sustainability because you're
getting the, the most important light
in there at the right times and letting
in moisture or letting out moisture.
Like it probably all factors into that.
Jesús Burrola: Honestly,
sustainability is also tied to, price.
We consume about a third of the
energy that an indoor growth
goes, and energy's not cheap.
It helps us reduce the cost and
it helps us create the product
in a more sustainable way.
Tom Mulhern: Are there other companies
that are focusing on sustainability
in the way that you guys are?
Or, you know, is this the future of
the industry, this kind of hybrid grow?
Because you guys are situated
in California, water is
a huge, huge issue there.
And so sustainability has to
play into every business that's
growing, every cultivation in
California, I would imagine.
Jesús Burrola: I mean, There's
additional things that we do
from a sustainability aspect.
For example, we don't,
drain, we don't over water.
we try to basically run this facility
with, with zero leche ORs drainage to only
give the plant the water that it needs.
We are looking at other aspects as well.
So we have in this next faze of the
project a natural gas co generation
plant because that basically creates
a, a close loop, we'll burn natural
gas to produce, energy that'll
produce the heating from that source.
We'll do the cooling of the greenhouse
through that chilling process.
And when you burn gas, you produce
co2, which is also what plants eat.
Tom Mulhern: Have you been able to
develop some unique strains with this
growing in this cultivation method?
Jesús Burrola: What we've actually
created is a system where we work
with legacy breeders to R&D and try
things here as a production house.
As opposed to me breeding the five or
six different strains, I get to work
with five or six different breeders
that each bring me their five or
six things and then pick from that.
So one, I think it's more efficient.
But then two, I think it's also a
way to, to work with the community
and the folks that have like
brought us to where we are today.
Tom Mulhern: Speaking of brands,
what was the launch and the growth of
the HUMO brand, and how does it kind
of align with your overall business
strategy and vision for POSIBL?
Jesús Burrola: You know, obviously
I'm Latino, we're raised in Mexico.
David founder is Hector, our coo grew
up with me in Hermosillo since we're
kindergarten, so we're all Latinos in the
space We've talked to dozens and dozens
of brands that have come through the
door looking for a supply chain partner.
And we kept asking brands like, why
are they no Latino brands on the shelf?
People kept asking like, why not you?
And, and, and to be honest, that was a
very hard decision for us because that
wasn't our core business was not brands.
Our core business was production.
But we saw this huge opportunity
in the market that was
underserved to people like myself.
We need to be able to control a
little bit of our sales destiny.
And then if we were gonna do that,
why not do it through a brand that we
felt passionate about as Latinos in
the space to bring to market and you
know, really represent our culture.
Tom Mulhern: What's your commitment
to social justice and equity in
the cannabis industry, but
also for the Latino community?
Jesús Burrola: POSIBL employees, over
a hundred people in the Salinas Valley
and I think something very important to
note is like Salinas is primarily Latino.
Very unfortunately, even though it
is a highly productive part of the,
country really, that produces most of
the leafy greens for the us it's a high
poverty rate and the reason for that
is it's all outdoor seasonal crops.
So you might have lettuce season
and that will go on for two months,
or you'll have strawberry season
that'll go go on for two months.
So you've got people coming
in and out of employment.
And that's very hard to do.
What POSIBL allows us to do in like a
greenhouse methodology is we're a year
round grow, so we're providing jobs
for people in agriculture here in our
local community that are year round and
under much better working conditions.
Tom Mulhern: What are some of the tips
for hiring those quality candidates?
Because, you know, hiring for a
cultivation facility, like you
said, you've got a lot of people,
so how do you find those quality
candidates that, that you need?
Jesús Burrola: We moved to Salinas and
we set up this business here because
of the great growing conditions.
Well, those great growing
conditions have actually allowed
agriculture to thrive here.
So the local community in Salinas has
such an incredibly hardworking group of
folks that have actually been working
at jobs for a long period of time.
So, as much as I'd say you know,
oh, it's because we, we, we
only interview the best people.
Like, honestly, we're so blessed that.
Most of the people that come here
have worked in agriculture know what
growing plants is about at scale
and are not afraid of hard work.
Tom Mulhern: Are you able
to keep those people?
Like, Do you have a
pretty low turnover rate?
Jesús Burrola: Yes, we do.
We do and, folks that work here
just get better and better.
Like our culture here is about,
okay, we just had this harvest.
How do we get better on the next harvest?
And how do we get better
on the new next one?
Whether that be on the quality side,
whether that's driving costs down as well.
So, you know, when we've had folks work
here for three, four years, like there's
an accumulated knowledge base and where
folks have really continued to thrive.
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Tom Mulhern: What are your thoughts
on the kind of the current state of
the cannabis market and what do you
think the future holds for maybe
POSIBL in the industry as a whole?
Jesús Burrola: It's definitely tough
times in the industry right now.
I think the common thread is like
there's price compression happening
in almost every single market.
I think there's a lot of companies
based on the overregulation that have
not gotten to profitability and the
capital markets have kind of dried up.
Everybody's really tasked
with getting very efficient.
And really achieving profitability
because the capital markets are
just getting tougher and tougher.
The industry has huge potential long term.
I do think it requires some cooperation on
behalf of the federal government and the
regulations and red tape that exist today.
But at the end of the day, this is
a hundred billion dollar industry.
It's one of the fastest
growing industries in America.
Just saw some stats, like I
think there was more cannabis and
chocolate sold this year, right?
The industry's not going anywhere.
It certainly needs some changes
from a regulatory standpoint, but
I think the trend is very clear.
More and more people want access to legal
cannabis and at some point, everybody's
gonna get together and figure that out.
Tom Mulhern: I wanna go back to some
of the brands that you've worked with,
cuz you guys power the six of the
top 100 flower brands in California.
And like you said, at that, at that
time when things started getting
tough, did you see anything that
was kind of a key to success for
some of those brands that survived?
Jesús Burrola: Yeah, being able to
really resonate with the consumer,
like, so you have to have a
differentiating part, like having
good flower in a bag is not a brand.
Who's your target?
What are you doing to resonate
with that target base?
Like what sets you apart
from the next brand?
And so, I mean, you have folks like Old
Pal that, I mean, every time I look,
they're doing something different.
Whether it's a collaboration with
an artist that resonates with their
community, whether it's, I mean, there's
always something to talk about them.
So they keep the brand fresh.
I think they know who they are, and
I know, I think they know who they're
trying to, to basically cater to.
Tom Mulhern: That's core to who you
guys are, is educating your community.
And do you see that changing too,
like within the Latino community?
Like,
Jesús Burrola: we really strive to have
a voice to, to normalizing cannabis use.
And I think now when 70% of the population
has access to legal cannabis, like
people have asked me like, what are,
oh my God, what about your daughter?
And what about like, my daughter's
gonna grow up in a age where
cannabis was never illegal, right?
Like, so, yeah, I do see a change.
Tom Mulhern: Yeah, and I
see that stigma changing.
I mean, I'm up in Canada and
it's the same with my kids.
They've grown up basically in a time
where it's legal everywhere, and it's
such a different stigma than when
you and I were growing up and it was
like, it's funny you say like, a brand
isn't just weed in a bag like that.
That was the brand when
we were young, you know?
But it's changed so much and there's
these, these huge multi-million dollar
companies and amazing cultivation
facilities like you guys working to make
better product, make it more sustainable.
So, That's really cool to, to see
that change happen in our lifetime.
you know?
what do you see as the future
of POSIBL, like dream big?
What do you kind of see on the
horizon for what you guys are doing?
Jesús Burrola: I think what we're seeing
right now is a shift away from this
like vertically integrated model, right?
That everybody started with, right?
Where it's like you have to
own your cultivation facility.
You have to have your brands,
you have to own dispensaries.
And like what I think people
have found out is like, those
are three different businesses.
And by the way, cannabis
is very capital intensive.
We always talked about like how hard
it is to raise capital or, or even
debt for the industry in general.
So like what we're seeing is people
say, okay, I don't need to do all,
maybe I just focus on retail or
maybe I just focus on cultivation.
You know, our goal for POSIBL is that
when people think about who is the
best white labeling solution for an
asset like brand, that, like our name
is what comes out of people's mouth.
And I think, we're on track to do that.
Tom Mulhern: That's a pretty bold
shift because I mean, having a
vertically integrated, business was
so important, but now you're saying
actually you see a shift moving,
focusing on more brand partnerships
and collaboration within the industry.
Instead of like, we gotta do it all.
We just gotta, we gotta grow it, we
gotta sell it, we gotta brand it.
Like you're seeing it a shift in that.
That's really interesting.
Jesús Burrola: We've talked to some
of the largest companies in the
state that have said, you know what?
We've realized like we're not growers.
Like that was a mistake.
We're gonna shut down cultivation
and let folks that like that, that's
their core value add, do that.
And then we, our core value
is owning retail and operating
retail or the brand focus.
So yeah, you'd be surprised how much it's
going in the other direction nowadays.
Tom Mulhern: really appreciate you
sharing that because I haven't heard
anyone say that that, that that's
the future is, is moving away from
doing it all to focusing on your
strengths, which makes sense, you know.
Jesús Burrola: But it's the way most
traditional industries work, right?
You don't, you don't see
Coca-Cola saying, you know what?
We gotta buy a bunch of sugar cane
fields, and start doing that or
start growing corn, figured out that
that's not their value add, right?
They're, they're a company
that creates a great product.
They outsource the production of that
product you know, and they sell the
experience and they sell this brand story.
it's kind of how almost
every other industry works.
And I do think that I'm now seeing the
shift in cannabis where that's beginning
to, to kind of come back the other way.
Tom Mulhern: Jesus.
If someone wants to get connected
to POSIBL, find out more
about what you guys are doing.
How can people connect with you and
maybe, you know, find out more about
what you guys are doing and be inspired
by what you guys are creating there.
Jesús Burrola: So you can go to
our website, www.POSIBLproject.com.
Or you could hit us up
on Instagram as well.
It's at POSIBL project.
Tom Mulhern: And we'll have all those
links in the bio so that people can
click on it and, and connect with you.
But Jesus, I really appreciate you
taking this time and sharing a bit
about, you know, what makes you
guys unique as a cultivation and
sort of the future of the industry.
Jesús Burrola: Thank you so much.
Tom Mulhern: Well, I really appreciate
the time that Jesus gave me, and I really
appreciated his insights into cultivation.
I loved his idea of not creating
brand new strains, but partnering
with legacy growers to elevate the
strains that they'd already produced.
And so, you know, there's so many
interesting aspects to cultivation
and to growing and I'm, I, I'm just
fascinated by the fact that we work
in an industry that's based on this
product, cannabis, marijuana, weed,
whatever you want to call it, and we
often don't think through the process of
what it takes to get the product itself.
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