Grower Stories #122: William Zitser

Flor de Maria Produces High-Quality CBD Chocolates That Focus on the Best Flavor

The AskGrowers team talks to William Zitser about Flor de Maria - a CBD edibles brand that creates chocolate products. William talks about how he created his first chocolate based on his personal needs and experiences. He also explains how his brand is so different from others, partly because Flor de Maria focuses on processing its own cacao beans to marry the chocolate with CBD in a way that produces some of the best-tasting edibles out there. #growerstories

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Tia (AskGrowers) : How did you start Flor de Maria?

William Zitser : Five years ago, I found myself recently widowed, jobless, and deeply depressed. So I hoped some time away would help. What started as an excuse to see a friend in Ecuador turned into a sabbatical across cacao farms in Latin America, learning about the harvest, the process, import/export, and how to make chocolate from it.

Back then, I was on antidepressants, but at some point, I wanted to find something more natural. Cannabis helped a lot, but I am not a productive smoker and it was making my work day difficult, so I tried CBD and it really helped me, especially with the anxiety of the morning routine of a single father. And then I found CBD chocolates. They were a good option throughout the day, but I didn’t particularly enjoy the flavor, texture, and quality of any of them, so I decided to make my own.

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Tia : Tell us about your chocolate bars. How do you source your ingredients?

William : I’m very rigorous about the ingredients I use. Our CBD is GMP certified and organically grown and harvested by hand at a small family-owned farm in central New York. They care about their product and process as much as I do. We’ve married this with our premium cacao and we currently have our Signature line with four different flavors infused with 120 mg of Hemp-derived CBD, all made with Carenero Superior cacao from Venezuela.

We also have a Limited Edition Single Estate bar in collaboration with the hacienda San José del Real de la Carrera, a family owned farm in El Salvador. Each Single Estate bar is numbered and limited for every crop, and this is the standard of all future product releases. Also notable, the salt in our Sea Salt & Nibs bar is harvested by hand and sun-dried in Long Island by the Amagansett Sea Salt Co.

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Tia : Where can we find your products?

William : You can find them online at www.enjoyflordemaria.com, also in over 80 retailers across the US.

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Tia : Will you stick to CBD or also transition into THC as the states become legal?

William : I am working on expanding. THC and Psilocybin have always been on the roadmap.

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Tia : Did your cultural heritage help you to bring something special and new to the cannabis industry?

William : Absolutely! When I first thought of the brand the first image that came to mind was that of Maria Lionza, the central figure of a Venezuelan religion which blends Indigenous, Catholic, and African beliefs. Her image is too striking and confusing if you’ve never seen her, so I moved away from that and designed my own “our Lady of Cacao” with tarot elements (I’m a student of the Tarot de Marseille). I am Jewish, but I grew up in Caracas where religion is in every corner and I have always been amazed and inspired by the religious iconography.

In Venezuela, you grow up being told that Venezuelan cacao is the best in the world, no questions asked. But my first experience with cacao processing was in Ecuador, and what I saw there was a lot more developed as far as post-harvest processing than what I had seen in Chuao. As I started learning more about cacao I began finding greatness in the nuances of the different origins that produced amazing chocolates from all over the world. So discovering that was something very exciting for me, and via Flor de María, we want to feature the cacao from the entire region, hopefully adding new origins every year.

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Tia : How do you foster sustainability?

William : Flor de María is still a very small company, so we don’t hold much leverage with producers. This is why we have to choose wisely. The cacao we use is grown in CO2-rich forests, and the hope is that by providing secure income and in the future training, the farmers will feel empowered to better protect and expand those forests. Our scale also gives us the flexibility of designing our own supply-chain from scratch, and we do try to reduce and offset CO2 emissions.

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Tia : How do you think your brand differs from others in the industry?

William : While most infused chocolates are made with third-party chocolate that they buy, melt, mix, and re-mold, we make our chocolate from the bean. Having access to many different varieties of beans and being able to roast it and process it ourselves, gives us the ability to perfectly pair the Hemp extract to the chocolate, similar to what a winemaker does. We want you to taste the chocolate and taste the plant and appreciate and enjoy all the flavors.

I just came back from Hall of Flowers and every edibles producer is selling a dose, not the edible itself. Flor de María is so much more than a vehicle for CBD (or THC in the future). Yes, the dosage is important, but the quality and sustainability of the cacao and the hemp (or cannabis) are more important to us.

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Tia : What is your personal cannabis consumption routine?

William : I just moved to LA after 20 years in NYC, so having so much access to cannabis is new to me. After I put my daughter to bed, I like to roll a joint and enjoy the view –a view is also new to me now that I’m in LA– and get ready for my nighttime worksesh. That includes doing whatever I didn’t finish throughout the day, or packing chocolate orders while I watch some old movie or a new tv show. And always keep water handy and hydrate when you smoke, please.

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Tia : Your top strains to smoke? Why?

William : I gravitate towards Sativas. I’m mellow enough as it is. Indicas can kick my ass pretty quickly and even when I’m relaxing at the end of the day, I’m probably doing some work, so I don’t have time for Indica.

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Tia : If you could have a chance to smoke with anyone on this planet, who would that be with and why?

William : I’m a huge fan of Nick Cave. He lost his son on my birthday in the same year that I lost my wife, so I sent him a letter, and he replied with the most thoughtful and kindest words you could imagine. It got to me that in his grief he was still trying to console me, I think that’s the epitome of selflessness. Though I don’t think he smokes.

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Tia : When do you think federal legalization will come?

William : Not soon enough! I would like to be out with THC in CA or NY before that happens and the market gets flooded.

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You can follow Flor de Maria at:

Facebook 

Instagram 

LinkedIn 

Thank you so much, Flor de Maria team, for taking the time to do the interview. To learn more about them, head on over to their website.