Living the Dream: Thomas Winstanley

Launching anything is a ton of fun. Whether it’s a new store, a new packaging approach or a rewards program, the method and approach is always the same, just nuanced. This year, we have the pleasure of starting 2021 with an exciting new category roll-out. Welcome, Hi5.

Hi5 is a new sub-brand of edibles created by Theory Wellness that falls into the beverage class. These are rapid onset, cannabis-infused seltzers with 5 milligrams of THC. It’s a not your typical kind of seltzer. They will be the first of their kind on the East Coast for the medical and recreational cannabis market.

The edibles category continues to grow, and recent data shows that the beverage segment will advance this growth even further. In a recent study, the compound annual growth rate for the edibles market was around 45% over the past two years. This helps to substantiate our business case for Hi5, but the real excitement is building a brand within an existing white space. Hi5 is the result of several years of strategic planning across manufacturing infrastructure, research and development and brand planning. It represents a new frontier in the edibles category that eliminates the waiting game for the consumer. Fringe and frequent cannabis users who consume edibles all share the familiar story of “that time when we didn’t feel the edible, then took another …” You get it.

This new class of products can help control some of those adverse effects common with edibles. The nano-emulsification of the THC molecules makes them water-soluble, which enhances the delivery mechanism, so you feel the results more quickly. The onset can be as brief as five minutes, and even more exciting, the effects subside just as fast (in roughly 45 minutes per 5-milligram dose).

These novel advances have allowed us to bend some of the creative rules that we usually strictly adhere to in our Theory Wellness brand standards. We’ve decided to go more bright, more vibrant and all-around more fun. These beverages are light, crisp and refreshing, so we’ve been developing a brand that exudes that vibe, using lots of primary colors and gradients.