Ben Miller
39
Chief Operations Officer
High Road Edibles
Mike Zens
39
CEO
High Road Edibles
As college roommates at the University of Montana, Ben Miller and Mike Zens became fast friends, engaging in the typical dorm-life hijinks — parties, red cups, even a short-lived venture into producing IDs for students — but the two never considered going into business together. Both were at crossroads but headed in entirely different directions: Miller was on track to make his mark in the world of culinary cuisine, and Zens was looking to capitalize on his experience as a web developer with a degree in business administration and information systems.
Miller went on to spend more than 15 years as a chef, winning prestigious awards and finding acclaim at one of Montana’s most high-profile resorts. Similarly, Zens helped launch a series of branding projects, ecommerce sites and email campaigns. A decade after college, they reunited with respective successes under their belts and decided to launch High Road Edibles, as a side project.
“In 2019, after struggling to find quality edibles in Montana’s medical cannabis market, Mike and I decided to take matters into our own hands,” Miller says. “With my culinary expertise and Mike’s meticulous formulations, we were able to create great tasting, accurately dosed products.”
Regulations at the time stipulated that High Road Edibles could only be sold in one dispensary, but the two knew the company had massive potential.
“Despite both of us keeping our day jobs, the overwhelming positive response from the community affirmed our decision to pursue this venture further,” Miller says.
The stifling limitations on High Road Edibles were lifted with Montana’s transitioning from a medical-only market to a recreational one in 2022, and the company has grown substantially since then.
“Today we’re in more than 160 stores across Montana and wholesaling more than 25,000 units a month,” Zens says. “A lot of our growth stems from creating quality, approachable products — edibles that new users and heavy users alike can both enjoy. But it’s also been our branding and marketing efforts.”
Zens’ background in building brands and Miller’s expertise in the culinary arts worked almost too well, with many consumers believing it was an out-of-state brand because of the company’s high-level production.
“But we’re not! We’re the local Montana guys! Who just happen to care a lot about branding and consumer communication,” Zens says.
Q&A
You guys went to college together and then into seemingly different worlds – what led to you founding an edibles company? At what point did it become more than just an idea?
Ben: In 2019, after struggling to find quality edibles in Montana’s medical cannabis market, Mike and I decided to take matters into our own hands. With my culinary expertise and Mike’s meticulous formulations, we were able to create great tasting, accurately dosed products. What started as experimentation at home with various cannabis extracts quickly transformed into a thriving business as we founded High Road Edibles and began providing medical cardholders with premium edibles. Despite both of us keeping our day jobs, the overwhelming positive response from the community affirmed our decision to pursue this venture further. I’ll never forget meeting the first mom who told us how much our gummies were helping her son’s epilepsy. Of course that was meaningful.
Both of you found success in your initial, respective fields – how did your prior cannabis experience help you transition into the cannabis industry? What was the learning curve like?
Ben: 15 years as a chef meant I had honed the skill of refining products to perfection, so focusing on taste and quality came naturally to me. But transitioning into the cannabis industry presented a few new challenges, particularly in scaling production. Mastering culinary artistry is not quite the same as the precise science of cannabis edibles. That’s part of why Mike and I make such a strong team. He helped me transfer my skills into cannabis production.
How has the company grown since its launch? What has driven that growth?
Mike: When we launched in 2019, the medical market mandated vertical integration, so we could only sell our edibles at one dispensary. Today we’re in more than 160 stores across Montana and wholesaling 25,000+ units a month. We started with three items, and now we’re at 21 under the High Road Edibles brand plus three more products under our second brand, Forge Canna fast-acting tablets.
A lot of our growth stems from creating quality, approachable products—edibles that new users and heavy users alike can both enjoy. But it’s also been our branding and marketing efforts. My background is in building brands from the ground up through digital marketing strategies, so applying those skills to our cannabis business has been crucial. A lot of consumers have told us they thought we were an out-of-state brand because of how professional High Road looks. But we’re not! We’re the local Montana guys! Who just happen to care a lot about branding and consumer communication.
What is on the horizon for High Road?
Mike: We always want to give consumers what they want, and more and more we’re getting emails and in-store feedback from people visiting Montana that their state doesn’t offer something like our edibles. So we’re definitely considering expanding into another state, but no definite plans are set right now.
We’re constantly working on improving our edibles—things like making them melt-proof, taste great after a longer shelf like, that kind of thing—but I’m also spurring the development of new products. Right now I’m most excited about the progress we’re making on a sour, extra-strength gummy for consumers who want a higher dose. Macro gummies and extra-strength edibles are a trend we think is hitting the recreational market after being present in medical for a while.