County beaches get all the credit but you should try the water.
Cannaki Beverage Co. is shipping 3 million bottles a month of CBD-infused water and building capacity to 24 million. 12-packs sell for $60 on its website.
Cannaki is working on wider distribution and retail placement.
There are well over 100 chemical compounds known as cannabinoids in the marijuana plant, with CBD, short for cannabidiol, and THC, tetrahydrocannabinol, most abundant. CBD differs from THC—which is the psychoactive one of the two—resulting in the compound getting attention from companies and consumers as an additive for just about anything.
“It’s really hemp water, not marijuana water,” said Dirk Lindley, Cannaki co-founder and chief executive.
This lets him ship anywhere and not scare the horses: products can be pitched as generally therapeutic—more as nutraceutical than buzz-generator—and hit a wider audience. He and wife and co-founder Silvia Lindley came to it that way: family members battling terminal illness experienced medicinal benefits of CBD.
The water is under the legal limit and comes in flavored regular and sparkling versions for humans and unflavored for pets.
“Pets can’t have citric acid,” Dirk said. “It’s the same water.”
Dirk’s background is in entrepreneurship and technology—“I’m a dot-com guy”—and Silvia has worked in the cosmetics industry.
Three years ago the duo started Cannamour Intl Inc.—cosmetics with CBD—and a year ago started Cannaki, both in Aliso Viejo.
Dirk said the company plans a stronger version of the water when the market is ready.
“The moment we launch that product it puts us in a whole ‘nother category.”
— Paul Hughes
