Another day, another cannabis company trying to create a marijuana tourist destination in California. Last year American Green earned media attention after purchasing a “ghost town” in California with intention to transform it into “marijuana Disney.”
Now craft marijuana company brand Flow Kana aims to disrupt California’s wine country through the most simple and humane gestures: education and community. In 2017 Flow Kana bought 80 acres of land previously owned by the founders of Fetzer Vineyards, paying the former winery $3.6 million.
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The company aims to build the Flow Cannabis Institute, a marijuana processing and manufacturing facility emphasizing teaching outsiders and sharing the benefits of being in the cannabis family.
Much like a winery that hosts tours and tastings, the Flow Cannabis Institute will build experiences around the operation. Visitors will eventually tour the facilities where small farmers test, dry, cure, trim, process, and package marijuana for distribution; learn about the plant in seminars and pairing dinners; take a yoga class; and stay at an on-site, pot-friendly bed and breakfast.
Flow Kana began as a boutique delivery service in San Francisco back in 2014. Their priority was delivering only pesticide-free product grown outdoors.
Now the Flow Cannabis Institute will further coalesce and empower independent, organic cannabis farmers against Big Marijuana. As Flow Kana founder Michael Steinmetz said in a press release, “Just as small coffee farmers bring their coffee beans to a centralized facility to be dried, roasted, processed and packaged at scale, the Flow Cannabis Institute will provide a centralized location for small, independent cannabis farmers to test, dry, cure, trim, process, package, manufacture and distribute their harvest at a massive scale.”
What may surprise you is that the Flow Cannabis Institute has no plans to grow or sell marijuana on its premises. Instead, there will be a future “tasting room” with free samples for adults—California allows up to an ounce of cannabis to be gifted free of charge—and “leisure” features like a marijuana-infused spa treatment and bed and breakfast.
They also plan to retool a 22,000-square-foot facility into a mixed-use space for events and education courses. They will aim to dispel the preconceived notions many hold about marijuana consumption and consumerism, showcasing the friendly retail environment many encounter at dispensaries.
