SLANG Worldwide's Products Will Be Back In The California Market

SLANG Worldwide Inc. SLGWF, a leading global cannabis consumer packaged goods company, announced Thursday that they are re-entering the California market after a strategic decision to pull back in 2019.

The company has partnered with Natura Life+ Science to produce and distribute SLANG products in the state, which include O.penVAPE, Firefly, Pressies, District Edibles, and Bakked. In addition to production, SLANG will also provide sales consulting services and receive royalty payments from Natura.

SLANG’s products were previously available in the state as far back as 2013, and according to SLANG COO & General Counsel John Moynan its District Edibles brand was the top-selling gummy in the state. But the company decided to “recalibrate” its supply chains in an effort to better support its products.

“We’ve got a long established presence across the full portfolio of brands in California, and what we found in 2019 is that structurally we weren’t built to support those brands the way they needed to be supported in the long term,” Moynan said at the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference. “So we needed to break that production constraint.”

California, considered one of the most mature cannabis markets in the U.S., is also the largest. Nearly $3 billion of legal cannabis sales occurred in the state in 2019, roughly 20% of all U.S. sales according to BDS Analytics. According to the release, Natura will soon begin production of SLANG products at its Sacramento facility, which includes a 200,000 square foot cultivation floor and a 65,000 square foot processing, manufacturing, distribution, and delivery operation.

Moynan added that of all the questions he gets from customers and investors, California is at the top of the list.

“If there was one thing I’ve been asked most over the last twelve months it’s been ‘What are you guys doing in California? How are you pivoting in that market? When are you going to take that top spot back?’”