port local farmers. They
are happy to collaborate with small farms,
helping them enter the
market with strong
branding and product
distribution. Sewing relationships like brings
rewards too. The selection at New Vansterdam
is impressive, including
a wide range of flower,
concentrates, seeds and
edibles to accommodate
any cannabis needs.
“I’m about providing
a high quality product
at an affordable price,”
Royce said, describing
how New Vansterdam
refuses to gauge prices
to make higher profits.
The prices on the shelf
reflect what the farmers
charge, so the consumer
gets the best product for
the lowest price. Royce
explained that raising
margins to boost profits would also reduce
accessibility to patients
and undermine the core
values behind New
Vansterdam.
“I will never mark up
prices to create extra income for our company,”
Royce said.
It’s no wonder New
Vansterdam understands
the importance of providing
high-quality
medicine at an afford-
WWW.OREGONTRAVELCOUNCIL.COM
able price; a majority of
the owners are doctors.
With such intensive
medical training, they
understand the subtle
chemical
differences
from strain to strain,
and are well-prepared
to help patients and recreational customers as
they peruse the wide
variety of strains on
the shelf. The emphasis
isn’t on making money,
it’s about helping people
get affordable medicine.
New
Vansterdam’s
goal is to help the market as a whole, not just
their own brand. Each
New Vansterdam store
a client of SB Ventures
Group, a consulting firm
whose goal is to help
anybody in the industry
with needs relating to
the operations of a dispensary or farm.
“We can do anything
needed to open and operate a dispensary,” said
Royce, who is also VP
of operations for SB
Venture Group.
If other dispensaries in
the area are struggling
with any aspect of running their business, from
accounting to personal
shopping, New Vansterdam is willing to send a
team of consultants to
help out. Their ultimate
goal to help consumers
and dispensaries thrive.
“We have a different
model than everybody
else right now. The core
of our group is focused
on serving what we call
the cannabis community. If a farm or dispensary is having issues,
we have consultants we
are happy to send out to
help,” Royce said.
This focus on helping
grow the market as a
whole, instead of just
their own brand, has
helped New Vansterdam create close relationships with many
consumers and farmers,
as well as other dispensaries in the area. Royce
learned the importance
of being involved in
every aspect of the
business and making
connections during his
lengthy career in the
“I’m marijuana
about promedical
busividing
a
high
ness, including a time
quality
when
he rotated beproduct
at antoaftween
six farms
help
fordable
price,”
grow the plants.
“To be a successful buyer in this industry, you
need to have the full
spectrum from seed to
sale,” Royce said. “An
important part of the
job is working with the
farms. These people are
SPECIAL FEATURE: 420 SECTION
Most people have heard
of the craft beer craze
that is sweeping the nation, but what about craft
cannabis? New Vansterdam, which has multiple locations in Oregon
and Washington, fills its
shelves with a wide variety of award winning
small-farm
products,
giving medical patients
and recreational users
access to an unprecedented range of specialty strains. “Craft cannabis” originates in small,
local farms, and usually
isn’t grown in massive
amounts.
“Right now the really
high end, cup winning
strains tend to be grown
by smaller farms,” said
Brent Royce, founder
of the Oregon branch of
New Vansterdam. “The
priority of these small
farms is quality. They
grow specialty strains
to create the best medicine. Big production or
high profits aren’t a part
of that equation.”
New Vansterdam prefers to work with small,
local farms producing
top-grade
cannabis.
Their motto of “Farm
First” means that New
Vansterdam will do everything they can to sup-
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