Business sells hemp-infused drinks that don’t cause a high
 Austin Pellegrino and Gabriel Baca Desert Shark Distribution owners Austin Pellegrino, left, and Gabriel Baca sell sparkling lemonade, iced tea and an energy drink that have hemp-seed extract.
Posted: Wednesday, May 6, 2015 8:00 pm
By ANTONIO SANCHEZ
Observer staff writer | 0 comments
A new Rio Rancho distribution company is bringing hemp-mixed beverages to metro-area gas stations and medical marijuana dispensaries across the state.
Desert Shark Distribution began distributing Rocky Mountain High hemp beverages to dispensaries this month, as well as selling the products during Saturday’s Snoop Dogg concert at Santa Ana Star Center.
The distributed beverages — Hemp Energy Drink, Hemp Iced Tea and Hemp Lemonade — are products from Totally Hemp Crazy Inc., from Dallas.
Although hemp is a variant of the cannabis plant, it does not contain the same levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) that marijuana does, and is a legal product to sell.
First-time business owners and CNM students Gabriel Baca, CFO of Desert Shark Distribution, and Austin Pellegrino, CEO of Desert Shark Distribution, said they began the distribution company after discovering Totally Hemp Crazy’s product.
“We were just learning about the stock market and we found some really good stocks and we did our research on them. It turns out they were selling this really cool hemp beverage and we decided to get on the distribution game,” Baca said.
Desert Shark Distributions began on March 16 and signed a distribution deal with Totally Hemp Crazy a week later. Jerry Grisaffi, founder of Totally Hemp Crazy, said he enjoyed the enthusiasm of the two new business owners.
“I remember when I was young, (when) a guy’s got enough in it to go after something like this, he deserves a shot,” Grisaffi said.
Totally Hemp Crazy introduced its line of hemp beverages in February and has been distributed in Oklahoma and Texas, Grisaffi said. This is the company’s first venture into New Mexico.
Since New Mexico legalized medical marijuana in 2007, Baca said consumer opinion of cannabis and hemp-related products have changed.
“With the way laws and regulations have been changing so quickly just within my lifetime, I see it as something that’s going to be more widely accepted,” he said.
Baca said the hemp extract in the beverages provides a healthier alternative for fans of energy drinks.
“Hemp seed oil is very beneficial for your body; there’s a bunch of amino acids, protein... It’s very healthy for you. It’s what they charge a whole bunch of money at Whole Foods for stuff like that,” he said.
Although Baca and Pellegrino have no prior experience as business owners, the two are confident their distributed products will sell well.
“We just thought that distribution game would be something we’d be able to do. We’re young, we’re not the smartest people in the world, we’ve got a lot to learn, and we believe this is a stepping stone for forming other business ventures in the future,” he said.
|
