TNMNews Interviews: Part 2 – Our Interview with Ilan Weiss and the Food Science Behind Cannabis Edibles
Ilan Weiss of MNFuse
We are happy to bring you part 2 of our interview with the owner of MNFuse, Ilan Weiss. To read part 1 please click here.
7) Without giving up any proprietary essential information about MNfuse, is there a particular process for creating cannabis infused oil, butter or any other extract that you believe works best with edibles and if so what is that? Is there a particular medium that works best for cannabis extraction when it comes to its use with edibles and if so what is that?
MNfuse does not get involved in the plant extraction process, MNfuse leaves that up to the extraction professionals. MNfuse creates standardized food and beverage formulas that can be scaled up for industrial production.
MNfuse lets the brand owners or manufacturers dictate what cannabis extracts they want to use for their products. For MNfuse , infusing a food or beverage with cannabis extracts is like vitamin and mineral fortification in “conventional” foods. The percentage of active ingredient required to achieve the correct finished serving dose is so small, it does not impact the overall formula.
8) Many cannabis edible consumers are concerned about the cannabinoid ratios in edibles such as the CBD to THC ratios. Without giving up any proprietary essential information about MNfuse, can you expand on how MNfuse operations can help edible producers extract out the ratios they are looking for the most efficiently or what guidance you would give them?
The ratios of THC:CBD for a product are defined by the brand owner. MNfuse can help ensure that infused products are manufactured in a standardized manner to provide the desired THC:CBD ratios consistently for each production run.
9) Flavoring edibles through the use of terpenes is a significant part of the cannabis edible business, how would MNfuse help in this particular process?
Taste is characterized using all our senses. Smell is the most important sense for taste. Terpenes are ideal to flavor edibles for many reasons. Terpenes are naturally occurring aromatic molecules that can be blended creating a wide variety of flavors. The synergistic effect of terpenes with the other active cannabis molecules is another plus of using terpenes. Since terpenes are easily extracted from a variety of raw materials, their supply should not be an issue.
MNfuse can help brand owners screen, select and optimize flavor ingredients. Mainstream food trends are already influencing product development in the infused food space. MNfuse is connected with several different flavor suppliers of terpenes and other flavor ingredient suppliers to help our customers find the best solution for the desired flavor profile.
10) Many cannabis edible producers have issues with the shelf-life of their products, what can MNfuse do to help these sorts of companies?
MNfuse understands shelf-life. Addressing shelf-life issues upfront will save time and money later.
Understanding the mode-of-failure for the product you are developing is important. This allows you to use shelf-life extension strategies during the initial product development phase. Fortunately, with shelf-life issues you are typically dealing with a product quality issue and not a food safety issue, the latter being much more serious.
To solve shelf-life issues you must identify the mode of failure. Is the product getting moldy? Is the fat rancid? Is this the right packaging? Are you going through different elevations during distribution? All these types of questions need to be answered to figure out what is causing the product to fail. Once we understand what is causing the loss of shelf-life, we can devise a plan to extend it. Many shelf-life issues involve controlling water and fat. Water is necessary in food for several reasons, but too much or too little can wreak havoc with food. Fats are also notorious for causing shelf life issues because of rancidity. Of course, every food matrix is different and will require individualized solutions to maximize shelf life.
11) What are your thoughts on what the cannabis edible market will look like here in the United States in let’s say ten years from now?
It is going to be very interesting to see how the market breakdown of flower/concentrate/edibles shakes out. All three product categories will continue to thrive as the legal landscape opens up with innovative companies taking the lead in each category. I think edibles will constitute ~30% -40% of a mature cannabis market. There are a lot of people out there who do not want to ingest combusted or vaporized cannabis products.
I think the overall cannabis industrial landscape will look like the alcohol industry these days. You have your big players that have nationwide/international production and distribution. On the other side you have your “craft” manufacturers who use premium ingredients and processes, have a smaller distribution and can establish a “cult” like following.
12) Where do you see MNfuse one year from now, 10 years from now?
Great question, thank you. One year from now I would like to still be in business with happy customers. 10 years from now, I hope that cannabis has been legalized throughout the world in order to provide meaningful jobs and medicine to those who need it. I hope that MNfuse is recognized as an industry leader helping infused food brand owners bring their product concepts to life on the retail shelf.
We would like to thank Mr. Weiss for providing insights into the business of cannabis edibles. If you would like to find out more about MNFuse, please follow the link below. Stay tuned for future interviews by TNMNews.
MNFuse.com
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cannabinoid ratioscannabis edible marketcannabis edible shelf-lifecannabis ediblescannabis infused oilcannabis newscannabutterflavoring ediblesIlan Weissmarijuana legalizationMNFuseterpenesTHC:CBD
