Rising High: Exclusive talk with house of brands Carma HoldCo

In this edition of “Rising High,” The Fly conducted an exclusive interview with Adam Wilks, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Carma HoldCo, a house of brands focused on creating icon-inspired cannabis products. Here are some highlights:

AUTHENTICITY: Carma HoldCo is a cannabis company that aims to develop products evoking deep consumer connection and elevated experiences. The company houses TYSON 2.0, the premium cannabis brand of legendary boxer Mike Tyson, as well as Ric Flair Drip and Wooooo! Energy, the cannabis and energy drink lines of renowned pro-wrestler Ric Flair. Carma also launched Immortal, a wellness brand by professional wrestling icon Hulk Hogan, in May and Evol, a cannabis brand by four-time Grammy Award-winning artist Future, in April. Distribution of Carma’s products spans over 110,000 retailers worldwide across 16 countries. “There are many different ways that Carma sets itself apart from others in the space, including our focus on product quality, product innovation, exceptional marketing strategies, our unique brand positioning and our incredible team,” Wilks said. “But I think our most impactful difference from everybody else is the authenticity of our celebrities behind the brands.”

He noted each one of Carma’s celebrities openly uses the plant-based medicines daily. “Mike uses cannabis for his mental health every day and Future uses it in his daily routine for his own health reasons,” the CEO said. “Ric uses it to help him sleep after thirty years of Xanax use and Hulk has had 29 surgeries and uses our own brand of CBD products for his back pains. The authenticity of our talent would be our number one differentiator.”

BRAND LAUNCHES: In April, Carma announced a partnership with rapper Future to launch Evol, a THC line, and in May, the company announced Hulk Hogan’s health and wellness brand, Immortal, featuring CBD and THC products. “It has been a huge success since we brought Hulk and Future into the mix with Ric and Mike,” Wilks said. “We continue to expand as we enter new categories and new markets.”

Hogan’s brand developed through the wrestler’s deep relationship with Carma partner Ric Flair, he said. “Everyone on our team knew who Hulk was,” the CEO said. “We heard his stories around the 29 back surgeries, dozens of knee replacement surgeries and his hip surgery. We had talks with him about what he was using and introduced him to CBD and THC products to try. When we saw the peace that came from the use of these plant-based medicines, we saw a huge opportunity to continue this authentic wave of using celebrities to educate and tell their stories around the plant-based medicine.”

He added Carma felt Hogan could raise awareness around the fact that there are other alternatives to traditional medicines. “That’s what started the Hulk idea,” Wilks said. “Not to mention, he is obviously one of the number one wrestling superstars of our time. He has done several films and we have known him in and out of the ring as Hollywood Hogan and Hulkamania. We thought it was a huge platform for us to keep the authentic story alive.”

The Evol brand launch with Future was interesting, he said, as it was Carma’s first entry into the hip-hop scene, where historically there is a heavy tie-in to the cannabis industry. “There are a lot of hip-hop brands out there and we wanted to find something real and authentic sticking with all of our other talent,” the CEO said. “We felt Future, as a four-time Grammy Award-winning hip-hop star with numerous top Billboard Chart tracks, was another massive superstar able to leverage his platform to educate and bring attention to plant-based medicine.”

The company opted into bringing Future on board as he incorporates cannabis into his daily life and features it in several of his top charting songs, he said. “With one of our investors having close ties to his management, we reached out and the rest is history,” Wilks said, “Evol has quickly expanded into a half dozen states and we’ve launched the brand in a few other categories as well connecting to the cannabis space. We’re excited to continue to grow both Hulk and Future’s brands. They’ve done really well on the short runway that we have had to take them to market.”

WOOOOO! ENERGY: In July, Carma launched Wooooo! Energy by Ric Flair, a mushroom-infused energy drink to support immune and cognitive function and provide clean energy. “We are always looking for new products and everybody knows Ric for his famous Wooooo! and the energy that he brings,” the CEO said. “I look at him as one of the greatest entertainers to ever exist. He went into character over thirty years ago and he’s never come out. Seeing him and the energy that he embodies, we created Wooooo! Energy by Ric Flair, putting his boundless energy into a can.”

The drink is a non-crash, non-jittery, low-sugar beverage that centers on athletes, he said. “That demographic, which is really hyped on Ric and his decades of entertainment, we felt was a home run,” Wilks said. “We quickly became the exclusive energy drink for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Columbus Blue Jackets, Ohio State University and AEW wrestling. The drink is already available in grocery stores, including Giant Eagle in Ohio, one of the first markets we launched in.”

Carma is continuing to expand distribution across the nation to ensure availability in every state. “We are really excited about Wooooo! Energy tapping into a new category,” the CEO said. “It’s not just an energy drink, we also added functional mushrooms for brain health and added focus.”

PARTNERSHIPS: In October, Immortal and Ric Flair Drip partnered with cannabis cultivator Premium Produce to bring their product lines to the Nevada market. “When we go into a new market, we are always looking for high-quality products, great operators, financial means to continue on and ample distribution,” Wilks said. “When we came across Premium Produce for Hulk and Ric, we toured the facility, spent time in their grow and had our cannabis team in there. We discovered their high-quality indoor cannabis and their commitment to excellence in their cultivation practices and SOPs, ensuring that there is a consistent product that aligns with our brand standards.”

He noted some of Carma’s other collaborations had already worked with Premium Produce with “huge” success. “Since launching in Nevada with both brands, we have quickly become two staples on many of the top shelves,” the CEO said. “We continue to grow in the Nevada market, and we are excited about that partnership.”

Additionally in November, Evol partnered with cannabis company House of Dank in Michigan and Tyson 2.0 partnered with cultivator Hudson Cannabis in New York. “House of Dank and Hudson Cannabis are both high-quality cultivators with great distribution,” Wilks said. “Similar to why we chose Premium Produce, both House of Dank and Hudson grow great quality flower. We spent time with both ensuring the SOPs were aligned with our brand standards, and we’re always aiming for the best quality we can find with the expertise and the financial means to continue on.”

Carma is particularly excited about the Hudson collaboration due to Tyson’s roots in New York, he said. “For the last couple of years, Mike has been talking about how badly he wanted TYSON 2.0 to launch in New York and we were waiting for the right time and the right partner,” the CEO said. “Coming home to New York in the legal cannabis space was monumental for Mike and the brand. We’re really excited about growing the New York market, which I think is going to be one of the more powerful markets in the U.S.”

DELIVERY SYSTEMS: As delivery systems for cannabinoids become more diverse and consumers have more options for consumption, Wilks said he believes preferences will continue to shift towards more discrete methods. “We’re seeing flower as a leader as it always has been, but I think edibles are going to be a leader, it’s just a matter of time,” he said. “It’s a smaller portion of sales right now, but that is going to change.”

Edibles come without the smell of cannabis and offer an ease of dosing, enabling users to be very precise, the CEO said. “It is discrete in consumption,” he said. “Between vape, topicals and edibles, all of those categories have room for so much growth and it’s just about the education and overall experience to get to that point.”

Wilks added he believes there will be a day when cannabis is sold in grocery stores. “There is no reason you shouldn’t be able to buy a frozen pizza in the frozen pizza section with an infusion process of some sort,” he said. “There is a long way to go as far as the regulations around the processes, but once federal legalization, the SAFE Banking Act, and all of that passes through, there is definitely a possibility in the future that edible consumption at restaurants and grocery stores will continue to grow.”

SAFER BANKING: In September, a U.S. Senate committee voted to advance The Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation Banking Act bill, which seeks to ensure that all businesses, including cannabis businesses, have access to deposit accounts, insurance and other financial services. “This is a topic that has been continuing to gain traction with a long way to go,” the CEO said. “The advancement of the SAFER Banking Act is huge news for us and the whole industry as it signals a potential shift towards financial stability and accessibility for all cannabis businesses.”

If the bill can pass in the senate, it opens the way for improved banking services and a reduced risk for the whole industry, he said. “Predicting it is challenging as there are so many different elements and political dynamics to work through before this does get pushed through at the federal level,” Wilks said. “But on a positive note, it is no longer an if, it’s a when. The ability to bank safely and access to capital will change the space as a whole. We are excited about it and hope it comes sooner rather than later.”

SCHEDULING: In August, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services made a recommendation to the Drug Enforcement Agency that cannabis be moved from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. “This is huge news and not only for cannabis users and the cannabis space,” the CEO said. “This will impact the non-cannabis users, opening up people’s eyes to where the cannabis space is going. It is the way that people will look at cannabis as a medicine and the value of cannabis as opposed to looking at it as a street drug. As soon as that passes, it opens up the door for so much more opportunity for the industry as a whole and you have to think about how much R&D will go into cannabis after this reclassifies.”

CHALLENGES: When asked about the largest hurdles facing the cannabis space, Wilks said he believes the biggest challenge has been state-by-state legalization. “When you are having to find licensees in every market and you’re setting up manufacturing and distribution, you’re spending millions and millions and millions of dollars for every state you want to operate in,” he said. “It is one of the only industries that you can’t distribute across the country, making it an extremely challenging space to operate in.”

Until there is federal legalization, there will continue to be challenges for operators, cultivators, licensees, manufacturers, distributors and everybody within the industry, the CEO said. “There is a positive, a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “We think it’s a slow process step-by-step and as all these positives come to this industry, I think it will ease up and there will be additional positives to see. We have a bright future ahead in the cannabis space.”

OPPORTUNITIES: As the cannabis space develops, Wilks said Carma is excited to continue growing its brands both nationally and internationally. “International growth is really exciting,” he said. “We have a lot of stuff in the works for 2024, including another handful of countries coming online. I’m really excited personally about the German market, which has talked about an April date to go recreational. We also opened our first retail cannabis café in Amsterdam, which quickly became one of the number one cafes out there and we’re working on our second location as well as a few others in Europe. We’re excited to grow the retail side and the licensing side on the cannabis front. All four brands are now sold in multiple countries. We’re excited to continue to grow these globally and continue to be one of the largest cannabis brands on the planet by geographic coverage.”

CANNABIS/PSYCHEDELIC STOCKS: Publicly-traded companies in the space include Acreage (ACRHF), Audacious (AUSAF), Atai Life Sciences (ATAI), Aurora (ACB), Avant Brands (AVTBF), Ayr Wellness (AYRWF), BZAM (BZAMF), Cannara Biotech (LOVFF), Canopy Growth (CGC), Chicago Atlantic (REFI), Clearmind (CMND), Clever Leaves (CLVR), Cresco Labs (CRLBF), CordovaCann (LVRLF), Cronos (CRON), Columbia Care (CCHWF), Compass Pathways (CMPS), CURE Pharmaceutical (CURR), Curaleaf (CURLF), CV Sciences (CVSI), Cybin (CYBN), Delic Holdings (DELCF), Delta 9 (DLTNF), Entourage Health (ETRGF), Enveric Biosciences (ENVB), Fire & Flower (FFLWF), Flora Growth (FLGC), Trees Corporation (CANN), Goodness Growth (GDNSF), Greenlane (GNLN), Green Thumb (GTBIF), GrowGeneration (GRWG), Hemp (HEMP), High Tide (HITI), India Globalization Capital (IGC), Indiva (NDVAF), IM Cannabis (IMCC), Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR), InterCure (INCR), Wellbeing Digital (KONEF), Khiron Life Sciences (KHRNF), Lotus Ventures (LTTSF), Lowell Farms (LOWLF), Lucy Scientific Discovery (LSDI), MediPharm (MEDIF), MedMen (MMNFF), MindMed (MNMD), NewLake Capital (NLCP), Numinus (NUMIF), Optimi Health (OPTHF), Organigram (OGI), Planet 13 (PLNHF), Red White & Bloom (RWBYF), Reunion Neuroscience (REUN), Revitalist (RVLWF), RIV Capital (CNPOF), Relmada (RLMD), RYAH Group (RYAHF), Safe Harbor Financial (SHFS), SNDL (SNDL), Sproutly (SRUTF), Skye Biosciences (SKYE), Stem Holdings (STMH), Sunniva (SNNVF), TerrAscend (TRSSF), Tetra Bio-Pharma (TBPMF), Tilray (TLRY), Trulieve (TCNNF), Tryp Therapeutics (TRYPF), Verano (VRNOF), Village Farms (VFF), Wesana Health (WSNAF), Zynerba (ZYNE) and 4Front Ventures (FFNTF).