To hear more about what the company has learned over the last decade and where the next ten years take it, we spoke with Brittany Hallet, vice president of marketing at O.pen's parent company, SLANG Worldwide.
Westword: Why did O.pen originally decide to focus on THC vape cartridges?
Brittany Hallet: The idea for O.pen started in 2010. Some of our original founders were early entrants to the Green Rush in Colorado and owned medical dispensaries at the time. They were seeing a lot of older patients coming in who were looking to get benefits and relief from cannabis, but wanted something other than smokeable flower and that was healthier to consume. There really weren’t a lot of [vape] products available at that time. If there were, they were a really dark-looking oil, it might leak on you pretty often, or it was expensive.
The thought was, there has to be a better way. One of the original founders came from a medical sales background and had experience working with CO2 extraction equipment, and so we were one of the first companies to use CO2 extraction. The predecessor was Medivape, and that launched somewhere in 2010. The first O.pen vape was sold in 2012. It was really the right time and right place. It was around the time that cannabis was becoming legal in Colorado recreationally; it was around the time that e-cigarettes were becoming very popular, so people were becoming very familiar with the form factor, and then the company just had a really simple premise behind it.
O.pen's limited-edition tenth-anniversary commemorative battery.
O.pen
I don’t know if we were the first, but we like to say that we popularized that form factor. We did sourcing with partners overseas and found that form factor, and I think we were one of the first to popularize it. Our [business] license number is 0064, so we were the 64th licensed entity in the State of Colorado, but I think we are one of the longest continuously running entities in the State of Colorado.
How many states are O.pen products available in now?
O.pen itself is actively in eleven states, with contracts for two more states to come on board, which are going to be West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Very few cannabis companies last more than a few years in the industry. What is it about O.pen that has made it able to not just survive, but thrive for the past ten years?
The cannabis industry is certainly not without its curveballs. It’s been an exciting and kind of crazy ride over the last ten years, for sure. I think some of the keys to our success have been partnerships, and really prioritizing retail relationships and partner relationships in states outside of Colorado. Really trying to keep our ear to the ground, and understanding what customers are looking for. Being present, having that interaction with them through pop-ups and events and engagements. And then really keeping an eye on how our consumer preference is changing.
When the cannabis industry first started, a 250 milligram cartridge was popular, and now most of what is sold is in 1,000 milligram cartridges. Being mindful of those changes evolving in the industry, as the cannabis consumer and the industry itself mature. Evolving with our customers and making sure that we’re not resting on our laurels, and continuing to develop the products that customers want. Over the last few years, O.pen has won ten awards for our cannabis oils, so we really pride ourselves on staying committed to R&D and staying committed to continuously creating a product that is appealing to our customers.
O.pen popularized the use of a 510-thread universal battery, which is now the industry standard.
O.pen
It has. The foundation has remained largely the same, in that 510-thread platform. That accessibility and universality of the product has remained important to us, and wanting to be an accessible brand. We have a number of oil cartridges that you can experiment between, a number of different batteries, and if you want to use a different battery with our cartridge, the consumer has that freedom of choice.
We’ve had a few evolutions of the battery, which gives you some additional tech functionality to it, like being able to change the heat setting. As the extraction technology evolves, the types of oils have evolved. Some might be a higher potency, or some might be more terpene- or flavor-forward, so the heat setting for something like that could change. Now our batteries allow you to choose the best heat setting for yourself, and some other fun features like being able to preheat your cartridge, or charge it in twenty minutes. Those are some of the unique things on the battery side of the platform.
On the cartridge side, the size of the cartridge has changed, and the construction of the cartridge has changed. The original cartridge had a wick in it, and there was usually an excipient in those cartridges, because the oil was so thick, and there were no cartridges that could vaporize that oil. Now, because vaporization has become so popular, there are different types of cartridges that have ceramic cores in them that can handle this thicker cannabis oil.
Original vape cartridges were made for e-cigarettes, which are a lot more watery in nature. So now the cartridge is much improved, and we can have a more true-to-plant cannabis oil. The extraction science continues to evolve, so we’re working on that. Something new that we just rolled out this last year, too, is a minor cannabinoid cartridge. In the cannabis plant, there are over 65 cannabinoids [Editor’s note: The number of identified cannabinoids isn’t universally agreed upon.], THC and CBD being the ones we’re most familiar with, but now there’s CBN, which may help with sleep, or CBG, which studies are showing may help with inflammation and pain. We have cartridges that are formulated with those cannabinoids now, so if you’re looking for a more targeted, effect-based experience, you can use those products. Those are popular in the edibles space, but to our knowledge, we’re the first to roll it out in the vape space.
Where do you see O.pen going in the next ten years?
That’s a big question. There are so many unknown variables around. Will cannabis be legal ten years from now? But I think our goals would be to continue our expansion and reach, hopefully outside of the United States and into other countries and other areas. Continuing to develop our portfolio of offerings. ... I hope that we continue to remain diligent on those types of things. Hopefully we just have more opportunities and ways to connect with consumers. In Colorado right now, delivery has been a little bit slow. I think more opportunities like that are things that we’re excited about, and maybe the opportunity to have a safe space for adults to use cannabis at events. Those are some of the exciting things that I hope might happen over the next ten years for us.
