West Blvd Cannabis just opened Canada's first cannabis culinary facility. Here's what they've got planned

Before West Blvd Cannabis (WBC) opened its doors in Vancouver’s ​​Mount Pleasant neighbourhood, the company’s founders travelled to Oregon and Colorado, two states with a lengthy history of legal pot.

While retailers and licensed producers can face varying levels of oversaturation and thin profit margins, among other challenges, WBC is hoping to avoid similar problems by offering something different.

The company operates a state-of-the-art test kitchen and will host on-site product testing and educational events, while the back of the building is home to a manufacturing facility. It is believed to be the first setup of its kind in Canada.

Connor McNamee, the company’s CEO and co-founder, says that there is a gap at the intersection of cannabis and dining. West Blvd is looking to fill that space.

“We saw a big chance to focus our efforts toward cannabis and dining as more of an application,” McNamee says.

“This is about creating new segments in the market, not competing with typical ones. We want to be understood as the company that created a culinary product that no one thought of.”

Founded by four longtime friends and entrepreneurs, WBC plans on collaborating with other cannabis companies while also developing its own in-house brands.

The company possesses a Health Canada-issued research licence, allowing them to work on cannabis product development, educational programs, and clinical trials, among other research activities.

“We hear a lot of sad stories about licensed producers that go to manufacture their products and they don’t even get to taste it until it hits retail shelves, however many months later. So there’s a bit of a gap in the industry of being able to properly test your products and get consumer feedback,” he says.

“Being able to understand how our product lands, before we bring it to market is a really big benefit.”

WBC will conduct palatability tests in the company’s tasting room, where consumers will offer feedback on the taste, smell, touch and sight of new products. They will also develop educational content regarding new products and how they work with different foods and cuisines.

In Mount Pleasant, WBC is surrounded by trendy shops, cafés and breweries and McNamee says that’s by design. They began the process of securing the location more than three years ago.

“Our whole mission is, let’s make people look at cannabis the same way they look at coffee, or they look at breweries,” he says.

“We wanted to show that cannabis is part of that same conversation.”

About 10 blocks west of the facility is Choklit Park. The park was created in 1970 by Charles Flavelle, the owner of Purdy’s Chocolates. The space was designed to accommodate an improved truck-loading facility for Purdy’s and a playground for the neighbourhood kids.

Choklit Park is also the first brand from WBC, featuring dried flower and concentrates produced in partnership with local B.C. growers. McNamee says the intention with the brand is to represent the city, while also grabbing the attention of consumers with a high-quality, small-batch grow.

A second brand of culinary cannabis infusions, including THC and CBD cooking oils, teas and gummies, is planned to launch in the coming months.

“Our entire intention is to create something very relatable,” McNamee says.

“We have a very eclectic mix of people that we work with and a lot of us are able to unite in the idea of integrating cannabis in so many different types of recipes and cuisines, so all of our consumer packaged goods are going to be those universal types of ingredients that people that are very familiar with.”

West Blvd’s test kitchen is equipped with state-of-the-art appliances.

He adds that WBC products could range from items that fit on a charcuterie board to those that are more medically focused. Presenting cannabis in an accessible way with broad applications is also part of the company’s strategy to destigmatize the plant.

McNamee says in his own life, he’s already seen how that approach can change minds.

About four years ago, his grandmother, who he’d always known to be completely against cannabis, slipped some hemp soap in his Christmas stocking. Then she started sending him articles about CBD.

“It’s so interesting to see somebody that would be so traditionally against cannabis be so receptive and open all of a sudden,” he says.

“That’s honestly one of the most stimulating things for myself, personally, because I think we’re going to develop a product line that’s going to unite a lot of people in a small way.”