Grower Stories #138: Matthew Kimber

Rose City Confections Is a White-Label Manufacturer of Cannabis Products

Matty Kimber sits down with the AskGrowers team to talk about how Rose City Confections turned from an edibles manufacturer to a white-label manufacturer. He also talks about High Notes and how it creates unique products that others are not creating. By creating large amounts of gummies, concentrates, syrups, and beverages, Rose City Confections has become a valuable partner to leading cannabis brands in Oregon. #growerstories

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Tia (AskGrowers) : Tell us how you started Rose City Confections?

Matthew Kimber : My first career was as an artist, and then as an entrepreneur for my endeavors. Over time, I built out a multitude of supporting businesses, including a record label, a touring agency, a music publishing company, and a marketing agency. After spending 15 years on my band, The Chicharones, I made the pivot to focus my energies on growing a business in the cannabis industry. I had just finished my MBA at Portland State and wanted to provide business leadership as well as an authentic cultural connection with the plant.

Rose City was built as an edibles and concentrates manufacturer, at a time when very few edibles were on the market. As the industry grew in Oregon, and we struggled to compete against better-funded brands, we found a need for larger companies to have a place where they could extend their brand offerings manufactured to spec, and with our own experiences in edibles, we decided to focus on white label manufacturing. As a result, we have grown rapidly and expanded our facilities and equipment dramatically to compete for a larger share of the market.

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Tia : How does your brand differ from others similar to yours?

Matty : We are a white label manufacturer and make infused products for other companies. Our main brand, High Notes, is focused on making products that no one else in the market is making. These are niche confections that are challenging to make and are unique in the space.

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Tia : Tell us how you make your products? Do you have any specific approaches?

Matty : Everything we do is intentional. Our goal is to be an amazing partner to our clients, giving them insight, options, and feedback to allow them to bring their dreams to market in a successful way. We focus on cleanliness, communication, and transparency. Being easy to work with, delivering value, and helping our clients grow their brands in Oregon is incredibly important to us.

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Tia : What’s your best-selling product now?

Matty : We make a huge amount of gummies, in every form and fashion possible. We specialize in both pectin and gelatin options, in single units and multi-piece packages, with specialized tailored flavors and additional cannabinoids and beneficials to provide differentiation for each client. We sell the largest volume of gummies but we are seeing huge growth in syrups, concentrates, and beverages.

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Tia : Where should the consumer keep your products to keep them fresh and ready to use?

Matty : Definitely not on the car dashboard, lol. Treat cannabis edibles like any product you wouldn't want spoiling. Keep it in a cool dark place, don’t overexpose it to light and air, and don’t let the dog eat it.

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Tia : What’s the highest THC % in your products? Do you think people should thrive for a particularly high THC % in cannabis products?

Matty : Everyone is different and THC % is very relative to your own endocannabinoid system. Some people react very negatively to high THC, as it can produce anxiety and general discomfort. I prefer flowers in the low 20% range and usually consume around 25mg of an edible before bedtime.

The market needs to take into account both the regular high-volume consumer and the occasional dabbler who is looking for a specific outcome, whether that’s stress relief, pain relief, sleep, or just a light buzz. Everyone is different. Higher isn’t necessarily better.

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Tia : Are there any brands in your state you appreciate and follow? And in the USA in general?

Matty : We are fans of a lot of brands in Oregon, as they have been through trials by fire like we have and have come out the other side resourceful, resilient and creative. There are so many solid brands in Oregon, many of which are jumping into other states and making an impact there. Hush, Rebel Spirit, Select, Astral, La Mota, Chalice, Nectar, Wyld. Many more as well.

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Tia : What is your personal cannabis consumption routine? Does it affect your work/ life?

Matty : I don’t smoke during the day anymore as I have way too much to juggle these days, but it remains a part of the end-of-day routine. I prefer smoking joints to any other way to smoke. I usually smoke 1-2 joints after dinner and then pop an edible before bed. You gotta be careful with edibles though, as too much can leave you super groggy the next day.

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Tia : Your top strains to smoke? Why?

Matty : I’m old-fashioned and like fruity strains that produce an up feeling.

Sunset Sherbert, Grape Ape, Gelato.

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Tia : What are the 3 main trends in the cannabis industry in 2021 for you now?

• Nano-emulsification of cannabis oil (faster onset, stronger potency)
• Beverages in general
• Symptom-specific focus (Sleep, Hunger, Anxiety, Creativity, etc)

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

Matty : [tooltip title="William Hugh Nelson" content="American composer, country singer and cannabis activist."]Willie Nelson[/tooltip] - Just seems like a good guy to share a joint with.

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Tia : Do you plan to expand your brand with time? If yes, what do you plan to add to your product line?

Matty : We are a candy brand but as we expand to other states, we plan to focus further on infused beverages, ready-to-drink powders and syrups, and concentrates.

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Tia : In your opinion, what’s the current situation with cannabis stocks in the USA?

Matty : Very risky and very uncertain. It's very hard to create a roadmap to success with so much up in the air. Once cannabis is no longer federally illegal, a ton of opportunity for growth opens up. For now, it is still wildly uncertain and it is very hard to make an investment based on real data.

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Tia : Do you think people should invest in the cannabis stock market at all? Why?

Matty : If you have money to play with, cannabis stocks are like penny slots. You might hit but more likely you’ll leave with nothing.

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

Matty : Cookies, Wyld and Select come to mind as brands with a strong underpinning and real-world success.

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

Matty : I currently have small amounts of cannabis stock but a lot of what is out there is very speculative with very little certainty for the industry. Plus, a lot of the companies on the stock market are financial companies focusing on raising money and building big infrastructure, which is challenging as the rules of the road are still so unclear.

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

Matty : Descheduling cannabis from being an illegal substance will be the first step. That will remove the stigma, eliminate unnecessary incarceration and allow state-legal businesses to operate more logically, and allow banking. Federal legalization is likely a much longer road with bigger obstacles to overcome.

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You can follow Rose City Confections at:

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