Grower Stories #132: Dr. Fabio Rodi

Tia Moskalenko
Tia Moskalenko

Tia Moskalenko, author of the AskGrowers blog, brings a unique blend of content to her readers. She is known for conducting insightful interviews with key figures in the cannabis industry, including brand representatives, manufacturers, and experts. In addition to her interview skills, Tia has a keen focus on CBD. She expertly curates product selections and reviews, offering her readers detailed insights into the various effects and benefits of CBD. Tia's ability to combine in-depth interviews with comprehensive CBD analysis makes her a valuable asset to the cannabis community, offering a well-rounded perspective on the industry.

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Grower Stories #132: Dr. Fabio Rodi

Icon Processors Focuses on Creating High-Quality, Affordable CBD Products

The AskGrowers team chats with Dr. Fabio Rodi from Icon Processors about the company’s formation, struggles, and focus. Dr. Fabio Rodi talks about how the company creates affordable CBD products while also focusing on individual brands with specific purposes. He also talks about the company’s commitment to sustainability and using 100% of the plants by reusing waste in many different ways. #growerstories


I am a 1st generation Italian-American, and have lived all across the USA, the Caribbean, and Europe. Living in so many places gave the opportunity to learn and speak 4 languages, which can come in handy more than you think! Being able to experience so many cultures inspired me to want to help people, so I pursed my medical degree and became a doctor. While I love medicine, I’ve always been an entrepreneur at heart since I was a child and owned many business over the years as well. I have owned companies ranging from construction to medical waste removal and have been involved in building and operating full nutraceutical facilities, cleanroom design, buildout, extraction facility design, and buildouts.


Tia (AskGrowers) : Tell us how you started Icon Processors?

Dr. Fabio Rodi : It all started in 2013. Honestly, just like most individuals, when I first started this journey I was not aware about all of the medical benefits all the cannabinoids have. Being a healthcare provider, I was only taught about pharmaceutical drugs without a lot of emphasis put on natural holistic care. When I started my Research and Development journey, I went into the process without any academic knowledge on it as my time in college and schooling for a doctor did not include the benefits of cannabis medical.

The more I researched the more I came to the realization that processing would be the gatekeeper in the cannabis industry. No one was really getting into that market at that time. There wasn’t any place you could buy equipment from so I used the knowledge I learned from my chemistry days and started making oil and products. I then started purchasing small extraction equipment from ethanol to CO2 and started mastering the art of oil making. The reason all of this started was when I came across a plant called Catatonic - a particular cannabis plant high in CBD but low in THC.

At that time, dispensaries were giving it away for little to no cost, since no one wanted a flower that had no THC value to it. All I could think of was back in 2013, about all the great benefits it could do for children, the elderly, or people that wanted to medicate themselves without the high. Instead of waiting around in an uncertain market, I decided I would take my technology and went to Vermont to start this journey.

It was then that I founded Icon Processors in 2017, and by 2020 we expanded to our 2nd facility in Michigan. We teamed up with a very reputable company called Impact-TD which has some of the most experienced engineers the East Coast can offer. We are a full-fledged extraction company that manufactures full-spectrum CBD to isolate all, the way down to finished product goods.


Icon Processors products picture
Tia : What was the main idea behind Icon when you just started it?

Dr. Fabio : We always hear everyone saying how they started this path by wanting to make high-quality products that are affordable for consumers. The funny part is, most of them didn’t actually do that for a number of factors. It could be due to greed, no knowledge of extraction, not enough capital to scale, or they overspent on equipment to make the product. This is not a product that a person buys daily - one bottle can last a month or longer so when processors realized that, they increased their prices and lowered the CBD ingredients to scale their costs.

I started Icon Processors with the same belief to offer some of the highest quality products at the most affordable rates. For example, our roll-ons are 2500mg CBD with an MSRP of $40.00, or our 1000mg Tincture for $30.00. We are keeping the products affordable for hard-working people or the elderly that live on a fixed income.

We pride ourselves on offering these types of products. Nowhere in the world have we seen such low costs per mg. We believe that is why we are currently in over 500 stores and growing rapidly.


Tia : What kind of pain point have you faced launching the business?

Dr. Fabio : Every step has had some sort of pain point. Having a wife and family members to amazing business partners who have helped support me on this journey has been a true blessing. I was lucky enough to understand extractions on a large scale when most people were still figuring out how to grow. Efficient and cost-effective equipment doesn’t exist, while turnkey facilities cost millions.

We have figured how to run at a large scale at a super cost-effective rate. In 2019, the so-called “top 20 leading experts in the CBD/Hemp industry” stated how it was going to be a huge green rush. Farmers thought they could make up to $40,000 an acre. I was one of the few people stating years ago that this whole industry was going to crash… and it did.

Lucky for us, we predicted this outcome and focused on our own end-user products. We were able to then expand into white labeling for clients. Finding a bank that would allow us to bank use their services was difficult at first, but we eventually found a system that worked out well. Then came the website content, disclaimers, label designs, to having all the proper information, testing of our products and oil, genetics, mold, harvesting equipment for farming and so on.

In addition, many of the people who were first to market with the CBD products created a bad reputation charging extremely expensive prices with little to no CBD in them. A customer tries that product and says “CBD doesn’t work and it is expensive”, so it creates a bad reputation for the industry, so we are consistently having to disprove. It is hard to convince someone to buy from an industry when they had a bad first experience with it and it cost them over $150 dollars to try it out.


Tia : What was your initial capital for opening the brand?

Dr. Fabio : I’d prefer to keep that between my CPA and myself but I can tell you this, it was not cheap. I can say this: if you want to be competitive and move volume (not make this your side hobby), in today’s market, plan on investing millions.


Tia : What’s your brand focus?

Dr. Fabio : We have numerous brands, each one focused on a specific purpose. Benefita is our full-spectrum CBD line. CBD STAT is our THC-free brand focused more on professionals, first responders, or individuals who get drug-tested and still want to use a hemp-based product vs. conventional medication.

Aeterna is our high-end skincare line, focused on offering many products using the finest organic ingredients the industry offers. EndoWoRx is more focused on professional athletes who need that high dose of CBD for faster recovery. It is also a THC-free brand for those who get drug-tested. Eff It is our lifestyle brand. We also white label a wide variety of other products for our liked-minded clients that are looking to offer a high-dose, cost-effective product.


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Tia : Let’s dive into details now, on your website you mention four important categories, those are: Grow, Extract, Formulate, and Research. Can you speak more about them?

Dr. Fabio : We work closely with specific farmers to ensure that they are purchasing the correct genetics, assist them all the way until the plant has been harvested, cured, and brought to us for extraction. Once we have extracted the oil, we then take it to an end-user product, such as tinctures, roll-on’s, topicals, and so forth. I have been formulating cannabis-derived products for nearly 10 years now so there isn’t anything I haven’t tried or made. I am a firm believer in research. It is how Icon Processors as a company got here today.


Tia : What are the technologies you’re using to extract?

Dr. Fabio : We use our own proprietary based technology. We are always happy to consult or assist others if need be.


Tia : I’m also curious about the next part of your work for the industry. You’re mentioned “AS OF 2020 ICON HAS EXPANDED ITS PORTFOLIO IN HEMP FIBER, CEMENT AND YES ALSO BIOFUEL.” Can you speak on this in detail too?

Dr. Fabio : We started in 2020, looking for alternative uses for a whole plant crop utilization and we feel we have finally achieved it.

We have been looking into alternative uses for the hemp plant and we feel biodiesel, animal feed, plastic, and cement are great alternative uses of the hemp plant. We have taken old hemp seed oil that cannot be used for human consumption and converted it to biofuel. The biofuel we generate can come not just from hemp but from any other plant-based products such as corn or soybean. We have then taken this so-called waste and are running data on its nutritional content for animal feed as well. We believe in using every aspect of the cannabis plant and being able to say we are a 100% crop utilizer.

We then take this fuel to run our tractors, heat our buildings and greenhouse. We don’t stop there. We can run large generators and with the added bonus of solar panels, we will also be able to provide electricity to our new state-of-the-art 50,000 sq. ft. processing and manufacturing facility that will be operational in 2022. Icon Processors will be the largest state of the art, “Off The Grid”, truly “Green” facility in this industry. We want Icon Processors to be a house-known brand.


Tia : Top 3 strains to smoke for you personally?

Dr. Fabio : I’m not overly picky, but I prefer Super Lemon Haze.


Icon Processors interview quote
Tia : Do you think people should invest in the cannabis stock market at all? Why? A: Yes, in our lifetime it will not be unusual, especially once it goes federally legal to see a certain percentage of people’s portfolios have some sort of cannabis aspect to it. I would advise being careful though, many companies will fail. It’s all a risk.


Tia : What brands would you invest money in on the cannabis stock market?

Dr. Fabio : Honestly, at this point in time, the only investment will be into Icon. We have already been approached by a few firms in the past that talked to us about going public. I felt Icon as a whole wasn’t ready at that time. Well, that time has finally come. We are years ahead of the rest of the industry.

As of 2022, we are expanding into the marijuana side of the industry. We will continue to manufacture CBD and Hemp-derived products but for a processor extracting CBD or THC, there is no difference to us. In fact, cannabis is easier. We are then going to apply the same model of our CBD and offer THC at the lowest prices around. People shouldn’t have to pay $30-40 for a vape cartridge. They will be able to go into any of our Eff It dispensaries or any of our affiliate dispensaries and get a vape cartidge for $10-15.


Tia : Do you personally want to get into the cannabis stock market?

Dr. Fabio : Yes, we are taking on 10 dispensaries, 100 acres of grow strictly for oil production, and a 50,000 sqft. state-of-the-art facility by 2022. We will be the largest state-of-the-art cannabis extraction company in Michigan, if not the whole United States. Furthermore, we will be the 1st truly “Green” facility in this industry that is completely off the grid.


Tia : What are your predictions on the cannabis industry for the next 5-10 years?

Dr. Fabio : Once it goes federally legal, the cannabis industry will crash as the CBD market did in 2020. Ninety percent of the businesses out there will not exist. The larger companies will only get bigger. A lot of buyouts are currently occurring and will continue until the federal government makes it legal. Honestly, that’s when the fun really begins.


You can follow Icon Processors at:

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

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