A new cannabis delivery company based in Sacramento is ready to launch and plans to use the next six months in the local market as a proof of concept before potentially expanding nationwide.
The delivery service, Cannagram, received its state cannabis non-storefront retail license on July 27. CEO Macai Polansky said the company's e-commerce platform will go live on Sept. 1 and will initially serve regional customers located within an hour of Downtown Sacramento before expanding around the state and potentially the country.
In a market with a number of established delivery services already operational, Polansky said Cannagram's goal is to establish itself as a household name in the industry through a proprietary business model that will see the company work with local license holders in different markets.
"For a lot of delivery services, it's hard to scale their business. There is a federal tax code that prevents cannabis businesses from writing off most standard business deductions, so it makes it hard to scale outside of a first location," Polansky told the Business Journal. "The way we will scale won't require the same (capital expenditures) that it would for other businesses that would have to go get their own licenses, additional real estate and everything else involved in the process."
The company will operate out of a warehouse off El Camino Avenue in Sacramento, where employees will field calls, provide customer service and package orders with delivery drivers coming and going with pre-packaged orders.
Polansky said the plan is to start with a crew of four employees and continually hire weekly.
Cannagram's e-commerce platform, www.cannagram.com, was designed as a mobile-first website, though customers will also be able to order by phone. Polansky said there are also discussions about developing an app for use.
Polansky co-founded the company Spacestation Inc. in Woodland, which he said is the world's top-producing cannabis-infused beverage manufacturer, and provides co-packing and distribution for other cannabis-infused beverage brands.
Leveraging the relationships he developed with Spacestation and as founder and past president of the Cannabis Beverage Association, Polansky said Cannagram will focus its marketing efforts on being the top seller of infused beverages.
Polansky said his partner in the Cannagram effort is Manndie Tingler, who co-founded Sacramento-based cannabis brand products brand Khemia.
