Grown in Northern California, a region known for growing the best cannabis flower in the country due to the magical soil, DE LA BŌ is owned and operated by a team of passionate and knowledgeable ‘cannasseurs’ who have been in cannabis since the legacy and transitioned over into the now licensed and legal industry. Founded by Alex Shkolnikov and Michael Baranchuck, lovers of travel, France, and music; DE LA BŌ established itself as a luxury cannabis company, offering premium products.
What Is DE LA BŌ?
DE LA BŌ’s mission is “to provide exceptional quality cannabis and cannabis products which are made in harmony with nature, for cannabis connoisseurs who wish to elevate above the ordinary”. On their journey to provide the best flower for their prerolls, DE LA BŌ’s team goes through a process that involves:
Density:
Only sourcing plants with the right density to ensure the grind is a perfect fluffy consistency. This keeps the oils from the flower perfectly distributed throughout the grind.
Cure:
Only using flower that was flushed and dried properly. Meaning it was given enough water during its last couple weeks of life, to flush out the salts and nutrients.
Storage:
Obtaining the right flower and storing it properly. DE LA BŌ stores all of their whole flower and pre-rolls in house “cold room”, which is essentially a large humidor designed specifically for cannabis.
Get To Know More About DE LA BO Through Co-Founder Michael Baranchuck
VERONICA CASTILLO: Who are the DE LA BŌ team members? The founders, owners, and those in leadership?
MICHAEL BARANCHUCK: Our team consists of: Alex Shkolnikov - Original Co-Founder and Co-Investor; Nathan Roemer - Co-owner, Co-Investor, and Head of Human Resources; Chris Gennin - Co-owner, Head of Sales, and Head of Social Media; and myself: Michael Baranchuck - Original Co-Founder, Co-Investor, and President of DE LA BŌ.
Can you share insight into each person’s background pre DE LA BŌ and what each person does now with the company?
I only completed two years of high school before taking my GED and leaving home at the age of 16 to go on a Grateful Dead tour for two years, until Jerry Garcia died in 1995. I went on to develop my network in the cannabis industry and became a successful grower at the age of 19. I continued to grow cannabis for the next 20-plus years and have made my living solely through cannabis growing and sales my life. I am the proud father of a 26-year-old daughter and am still with the mother of my child. At DE LA BŌ I oversee designing of all packaging, website, apparel, and overall direction and branding of the company. I am also the head of all things flower and flower selection.
Alex is a lifelong cannabis smoker who has been doing cannabis sales for over a decade and is also a business entrepreneur who has had several successful companies. He wears a number of different hats and is a big part of managing DE LA BŌ’s warehouse and production facility. He is married with two kids and loves to travel with his family. In his spare time he loves picking wild mushrooms in the local Northern California mountains.
Nathan is a true cannabis lover. In the last decade and throughout the majority of his adult life, he has earned his living solely through the cannabis industry. He has managed a dispensary for years and wears many hats at DE LA BŌ. He oversees and supports our production facility, he makes deliveries if needed, and even some sales and HR work. He is willing to be wherever he is needed at all times. Nathan skateboards almost every day and loves to go to rock climbing facilities.
Chris works tirelessly, seven days a week, working on our sales, working with photographers for our social media, does all the social media posting, does all the networking with influencers, and organizes all of our events. Chris went on the Grateful Dead tour at the age of 18, then sold cannabis for a living for the next four years before going off to college to major in the arts. After college, Chris went to NYC where he had a successful career in real estate for over a decade before he joined the DE LA BO team in 2021. In his spare time Chris loves to surf.
How and when did DE LA BŌ launch and become a business in the legal cannabis industry?
Alex, who loves cannabis and was already doing cannabis sales, came to me because of my expertise in the industry. I lived in San Francisco and Alex, who lives just 15 minutes south of the city in Burlingame, frequently got together to discuss the idea and plan for the brand. After a few months of discussion, we decided to move forward, this was in 2016. From that point, we spent the next year or so planning and designing the packaging. Then Covid happened and we lost the next few years. In 2019 we applied for licensing, found a warehouse near the Bay Area, and opened the doors in 2021.
Please share the inspiration behind the name: DE LA BŌ.
Alex and I are big travelers. I traveled to France quite a few times and fell in love with the beauty and culture of France. We wanted to make a lifestyle brand with a beautiful elegant style. We also love pop-culture, music, art, and ‘de la beuh’ which is French slang for “weed”. We thought that pop-culture slang would be a fun way to represent the brand and changed the spelling from ‘de la beuh’ to ‘DE LA BŌ’ to give it its own unique style.
What are three things you want readers to take with them after reading about DE LA BŌ?
One thing that’s really important to the founders is running our company with love, supporting all people, and spreading the message of love and respect. We don’t cut corners, we’ll take losses if need be because quality is our first priority. And…cannabis is a spiritual plant.
What Else Should People Know About DE LA BŌ?
Perhaps the best overview of who and what DE LA BŌ is and stands for is found on their website:
“What is DE LA BŌ? Vintage cars, graffiti and murals, hiking to the waterfall, cocktails on the sands of the tropics. It’s the symphony, the ballet, Bob Marley, 2Pac at the Civic Auditorium. It’s the Shaolin Monks and the Grateful Dead. What is DE LA BŌ? DE LA BŌ is RESPECT. DE LA BŌ is LOVE.”
As of now, DE LA BŌ is only available in California. Those traveling to California and those that live in California can find them in dispensaries all over the state. When shopping with DE LA BŌ, keep in mind that names like: Fuel, Sweet, and Earth, are speaking to the terpene profile found within each package, those are not strain names. With DE LA BŌ you choose according to what you want to taste and how you want to feel.
For more about DE LA BŌ, visit delabocannabis.com.
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Written By:
Veronica Castillo is known as the Traveling Cannabis Writer. She was a nomadic writer on the road covering all things cannabis/ hemp/ and overall plant medicines and recently came back home to Florida, making it her homebase once again. Her body of work can be found in multiple industry publications both digital and print where she provides cannabis industry and community insights from her 5 year journey around the country. She is a collaborator, connector, always seeking to bring to light the hidden gems in the plant space. You can follow her journey on Instagram: @vee_travelingvegcannawriter and/or LinkedIn: @Traveling Cannabis Writer
@vee_travelingvegcannawriter (IG)
@Vcannavegwriter (Twitter)
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Featured image: (C) DE LA BŌ
