Featured Brand: Papa & Barkley
At a Glance
Category: Edibles, Topicals, Tinctures, Capsules, Transdermals
Type: Solventless
Region: Eureka, CA
Heritage: First generation, inspired by a son seeking to help his ailing father with medical cannabis
People: Adam Grossman: Co-Founder; Guy Rocourt: Co-Founder/CEO
Certifications: IGEN Non-GMO Certified, Free of Animal Testing, Fair Trade Certified Ingredients
Ethos: Customer-centric, clean ingredients, improving quality of life, community-oriented
Overview
When you think of cannabis companies that truly put the consumer’s needs first, there are a few that immediately come to mind. One of these companies is Papa & Barkley. From tinctures to topicals, edibles to concentrates, Papa & Barkley have revolutionized the way that conscious companies approach the everyday needs of cannabis consumers. They offer a variety of products that serve a broad range of cannabis use cases, and they do so by putting people and community at the center of everything that they do.
The Heritage
Papa & Barkley was the brainchild of Adam Grossman, a son who was exploring ways for his ailing father to find relief for his debilitating back pain. His father was bedridden, and the only solution they could think of was hospitalization, which led to him being put into hospice. Running out of time and answers, and desperate for a solution, Adam reached out to an old buddy from California who told him about pain balms he had seen at cannabis dispensaries. This motivated Adam to do some of his own research on cannabis balm formulas. He got a few ounces of the best cannabis he could find, borrowed a crock pot from a neighbor, and made his first batch of cannabis balm. He applied it to his father’s back, and for the first time in a long while, he was able to rise out of bed. Miraculously, his father recovered and transitioned out of hospice care. This was the inspiration behind Adam forming Papa & Barkley, named for his father and his dog, who formed a strong bond during his father’s recovery.
In 2015, Adam met Guy Rocourt, an industry pioneer who forged his path as a cannabis consultant and extraction expert. Guy’s mission completely meshed with Adam’s purpose; they both wanted to provide powerful, clean and effective cannabis products to consumers, whether dealing with dire medical conditions or just looking for everyday health & wellness. Together, they founded Papa & Barkley, where Guy began as Chief Product Officer and later ascended to the role of CEO. Guy has been responsible for forging many of the partnerships and product collaborations that Papa & Barkley have created over the years, such as their partnership with Sunrise Mountain Farms and Emerald Queen Farms, two of the main sources of the cannabis used in their products. Guy also led the development of Papa’s Select, their award-winning line of solventless concentrates and gummies. Throughout the company’s history, Adam, Guy and their team have worked to uphold their mission at every turn, which is to unlock the medicinal power of cannabis to improve people’s lives.
The Ethos
One of the things that makes Papa & Barkley so unique in their space is the desire to provide medicinal benefits with all of their products. While most companies focus on getting the consumer as high as possible with the most potent products possible — or choose to put fancy packaging or buzz marketing ahead of product quality and integrity — Papa & Barkley maintains a clear focus on serving the needs and well-being of their customers through the highest grade medicinal cannabis. You can see this with the broad range of use cases their products serve, including both psychoactive and non-psychoactive options, spanning various methods of consumption. They use all clean ingredients, including sun-grown cannabis that is farmed with organic practices. They also use all solventless processes, maintaining the purest form of the plant without the use of harsh chemicals. Where other companies may use chemical extraction processes using chemicals like carbon dioxide and butane, which can strip away valuable plant compounds or leave residual solvents, Papa & Barkley’s solventless processes maintain the integrity of the plant, complete with beneficial cannabinoids, terpenes and phytonutrients. It is this extra care and attention to the quality of their products, all for the benefit of the consumer, that sets Papa & Barkley apart from the competition. And it’s the main reason why this company has successfully managed to persevere and grow for almost 10 years.
Papa & Barkley has also been dedicated to building a strong company culture, one that starts with the vision and ethos of Adam and Guy, and permeates every aspect of the organization. They have also entrenched themselves in the Humboldt cannabis community, celebrating the multi-generational legacy farmers that built our cannabis industry. It’s this dedication to our cannabis heritage, and the people who serve as the backbone of their business, that makes Papa & Barkley such an incredible force for good in the cannabis community. When offering advice to others on how to be successful in this industry, Adam said “Find great people! The cannabis space is inspiring, and people want to be inspired. This is very much a team sport.” Adam and Guy found those great people, and by building that strong company culture, their team has been successful in creating a brand that has the consumer’s best interests at heart.
The Products
Papa & Barkley offers a variety of products under several sub-brands. First, under their original Papa & Barkley line, they offer several products with varying cannabinoid profiles and ratios, including tinctures, topicals, capsules, chocolates, transdermal patches and body soaks. These products contain various ratios of THC, CBD, CBN and other cannabinoids, and they all fall in line with Papa & Barkley’s mission of unlocking the power of the cannabis plant to help improve people’s lives. Their “P&B Kitchen” line includes gourmet edibles such as craft gummies and chocolates. The gummies are all THC-rich (with the exception of their 1:1 THC:CBD Guava Passionfruit flavor), made with ice water hash, and come in unique and tantalizing flavors such as Strawberries and Cream and Watermelon Chili. P&B Kitchen also has a line of infused chocolates made with live rosin, which are both upscale and delicious. This line includes caramel-filled milk and dark chocolates, coconut caramel milk chocolate bars, and a salted almond dark chocolate bar that is on par with the best gourmet confections. Finally, we have the increasingly popular “Papa’s Select” line, which includes ice water hash gummies and solventless concentrates, such as ice water hash, rosins and badders. As with all their products, they use only the highest quality ingredients and production processes to create exceptional products that are ideal for consumers and connoisseurs alike.
Visit the Papa and Barkley website to learn more!