A Chicago-based cannabis edibles brand that wants to offer a healthier alternative to the cannabis gummies market opened a manufacturing plant in Rockford this week.
The Bettering Co. opened the facility with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday. It started shipping to dispensaries about five weeks ago.
The cannabis edibles startup spent around $4.5 million on the land and build-out for the facility, along with additional equipment costs, according to co-founder Mark Cozzi.
Currently in about 35 dispensaries across the state, mostly in Chicagoland, Cozzi hopes to get to 50 dispensaries by the end of the year.
The new 10,600-square-foot manufacturing plant will have one room dedicated to gummies, one to chocolates, one for hard-pressed mints and other rooms that can be adapted for other uses.
Cozzi expects the facility to bring around 20 jobs by the end of the year, a number he hopes to double a year from now.
"We're not only going to be making our products, but we've been approached by, at this point, three other companies to make their products in our facility, and that will ramp up employment dramatically if that occurs," he told Chicago Inno.
Build-out started in January, and Cozzi said that Rockford's cannabis-friendly, entrepreneur-friendly nature made it the right fit for The Bettering Co.
The Bettering Co. offers low-THC-content edibles that are vegan, gluten-free and made with real fruit. Cozzi hopes to launch chocolates in December.
Moving forward, he's looking at New Jersey, New York and now Ohio — where residents this week voted to legalize recreational marijuana use — for additional business.
The Bettering Co. raised $6.7 million in funding in September, bringing its total funding to more than $11 million in the past 16 months.
