Whenever we talk about cannabis, it’s quite easy to over emphasize certain sectors of the market (e.g., flower), and neglect other areas of the industry that are incredibly exciting and rapidly growing. In recent years, concentrates have garnered increasing consumer appeal and have been estimated to reach $8 billion in sales by 2022. Today, you can find a plethora of brands that produce concentrates for various purposes from topicals to vaping.
Rather than produce another cartridge or topical, Rosinbomb instead has tried to disrupt the concentrate market at the point of production with their patented electronic rosin presses that utilize flow channel technology. I sat down with Rosinbomb’s team to discuss their charismatic products, origin story, and vision for the future of rosin in an ever-widening concentrate market.
Rosinbomb founder Ryan Mayer’s interest in pressing stems from his time in the apple industry. He “wanted to create a technology that could process rosin continuously without a more binary method like that of CO2.” The result was the development of the Rocket, “a press purely for the consumer”, and the M60, which is designed for large-scale processing.
To see how their product stacked against CO2 extraction, Rosinbomb “collected analytics on an 8-hour days’ worth of extraction” and found that “with three machines you’re doing the same amount of extraction with a $100,000 CO2 processing operation”, Mayer explained. The M60 has made a splash since its release, with lots of interest specifically from hemp processors who have been using the product for some time. According to Mayer, hemp producers aim to characterize their products as healthy and holistic, and the same can be said for Rosinbomb.
Rosinbomb originally broke onto the scene with the Rocket, a compact rosin press that is about the size of a small coffee maker or toaster. This small press was designed to sit alongside other kitchen appliances, separate from garage hobbies like craft-beer making. The big question here is, is it cheaper to make your own rosin or purchase it through a dispensary? According to Rosinbomb, you can save as much as 50% in total cost when making your rosin versus store-bought rosin products, which are far from cheap. While rosin has the potential to eclipse butane hash oil, CO2, and ethanol-based extracts, the biggest hurdle thus far has been its price point. There is much to be said for rosin extracts — they are solvent-less, avoiding the risk of residual hydrocarbons, and straightforward to produce — or as Mayer aptly put it, “from soil to oil.”
I asked Mayer what he thinks about the future of his products and rosin as a whole, “People will demand more of this when you educate them on the benefits of rosin when compared to other alternatives.” It is worth noting that rosin extracts can be used for more than vaping – you can add them to your favorite foods, create topicals and lotions, or apply them directly to flower. Speaking on vaping, Mayer added “The experience when vaping rosins is superior. All of the terpenes and cannabinoids are in full form to offer robust flavor.” As more consumers become interested in holistic, organic methodologies and want to apply them to their cannabis routine, rosin extracts will fit hand-in-glove with their emphasis on purity and quality.
While one would expect Rosinbomb’s bread and butter market to be in cannabis-friendly states, it turns out that a large portion of their customer base lives in illegal states. Mayer explained this fact by claiming that Rosinbomb’s presses can be used with other materials besides cannabis. “Whenever we do a product demonstration in an illegal state, we use peanuts to create peanut oil. People still get to see the result of our pressing technology.” The legal flexibility of Rosinbomb’s products certainly give them an edge over their competitors who are strongly tied with cannabis. As a result of Rosinbomb’s active social media presence, Mayer noticed that his audience is “evolving in terms of age, preference, and gender.”
The future for Rosinbomb certainly looks bright as cannabis legalization bills continue to sweep all corners of the country. A bigger market means more competition, a fact Mayer and his team are well aware of. Nonetheless, he remains confident that Rosinbomb will continue to gain traction with consumers and sees a bright future for the company.
