Skarsgard Farms has delivered organic produce and groceries to New Mexicans for 20 years. Now it’s expanding into cannabis delivery through its new venture The Herb Taxi.
Owner Monte Skarsgard said the move felt like a natural extension to its existing business.
“We really have been doing a good job with the home delivery aspects of being able to get smaller producers to people’s doorsteps without having them go to a big box store,” he said.
And unlike other courier services that are allowed to only deliver from dispensaries to customers, Skarsgard holds a dispensary license to hold product in a private warehouse.
The Herb Taxi partnered with Albuquerque-based legacy producer Verdes Foundation to offer a curated selection that doesn’t overwhelm customers with hundreds of products.
“I see this being for people who are interested in the cannabis space but might be a little bit intimidated to go into a dispensary,” Skarsgard said.
Although Skarsgard is experienced in the home delivery sector, delivering cannabis poses a unique challenge.
Related: Meet New Mexico's newest crop of cannabis entrepreneurs: couriers
“The big thing we’re running into is the handoff,” he said. “With produce and groceries, we can just leave it at your doorstep, ring the doorbell and head out.”
That process allowed for grocery deliveries to be optimized for the most efficient route.
However, because state law requires an adult be present during cannabis deliveries, it's inevitable that The Herb Taxi’s couriers will be going through the same neighborhood multiple times.
To adapt, the company is working with several different technology companies to allow for scheduling and customer communication regarding delivery estimates. Those companies include KindTap, Dispense, SpringBig, Dutchie and Dama.
Skarsgard said this investment in technology is what will differentiate The Herb Taxi from the state’s other cannabis couriers.
“If you have cannabis and a car, you can obviously drop something off at someone's house,” he said. “But I think that the real thing that people are going to see is the professionalism of the technological companies that we have.
“It’s going to feel like ordering cannabis on Amazon,” he said.
Right now, the service is available in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, but will expand to Santa Fe and Los Alamos in the next few weeks.
In the meantime, Skarsgard is marketing The Herb Taxi by leveraging its 6,000 grocery customers and through messaging in Verdes Foundation’s brick-and-mortar dispensaries.
