A Guide to Black Women-Owned Cannabis Businesses

According to Marijuana Business Journal a 2017 study found that 81% of all cannabis business owners were white. This percentage was in stark contrast to the 4.3 percent of black entrepreneurs within the industry. Considering the variety of Black individuals who have been killed and imprisoned due to cannabis, this fact is shocking – and disappointing. However, some Black business owners are uniquely entering this space and turning it the wrong way up. This also includes Black women who’ve made a reputation for themselves within the cannabis industry.

Hemp dinners

“My culinary journey began long before I could look over the kitchen counter,” she says. Chef Kay, catering company and owner of The Blck Stir. This New York and New Jersey-based catering company is devoted to preparing cannabis dinners. As a baby, Kay found peace and community within the kitchen, observing the creativity of her mother, aunts and grandmother. Around 2014, she was inspired to use her inherited talent to start her adventure with cannabis. “Ten years ago, struggling with health problems, I sought refuge in cannabis, using its natural healing properties as an alternative to conventional drugs,” she says. “That moment marked the beginning of the transformation [in me], combining my culinary skills with my steadfast advocacy for microdosing cannabis. Thus, Blck Stir was born in 2021.”

Cannabis dinners are private meals prepared by a culinary skilled who seamlessly administers a rigorously measured micro-dose of cannabis over food, drinks, and sometimes dessert. This way, customers can enjoy their meal and the sunshine high that comes with it, without the fear of getting high.

For home-cooked dinners, Kay works with clients to create menus based on their food preferences and her culinary knowledge. Guests can select from dishes with or without infusion. Each dish can contain a maximum of 10 mg of THC and will be easily adjusted to a lower dose.

Today, as well as to personalized dinners, cocktails and small snacks, Kay also produces infused honey, sauces, cooking oils and lemonades that customers can buy online. Hot items on her menu include stuffed plantain French toast and pulled shrimp and grits, highlighting her love of her Caribbean heritage.

Check also:

Almaz Adeigbola – Owner of brwnbox and a cannabis catering company based in New Jersey

Nikki Stewart – Celebrity cannabis chef

Noiel avoids – Seattle-based cannabis chef

Megon Dee Cave – Founder of Oracle Wellness and Portland-based cannabis chef

Andrea Drummer – Chef and founding father of the primary Hemp Cafe within the USA (lives in Los Angeles)

Gourmet delicacies – Black-owned farm that creates cannabis brunches and dinner series in Maryland

AleCiasto – Cannabis baked goods company based in New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland

Cannabis festivals

Sheena Roberson founded Cannabis Noire and Higher Conferencethe primary cannabis conference specifically for ladies of color, with Black women at the top of the table.

“I started higher education out of necessity,” Roberson began. “[Most conferences] just don’t talk to black women and the shortage of recognition and representation is a direct reflection of the continued underinvestment we see in producers. I used to be uninterested in being reflective in these spaces, tiptoeing around, or generalizing the very real and complex women of color barriers, barriers, and disparities that deserved more attention and real reflection. Above will all the time be my love letter to black women on this space.

The inaugural 12 months of the Higher Conference was 2023, which turned out to be an enormous success. Within 90 days, Roberson organized a two-day event that featured over 500 women from over 12 states and 40 speakers from around the globe. “Relationships were mended, deals were made, contracts were secured, records were expunged, careers and spirits were lifted, black women were celebrated and given the flowers we deserve,” she says.

This 12 months’s conference will likely be held on June 21-23 at Billy Penn Studios in Philadelphia. It will include seminars and conversations with industry professionals on every little thing from entering into the cannabis industry and marketing, to general headshots and profession consultations (whatever the industry you wish to enter).

This 12 months’s Higher Conference may also include a sensory secure space called the Wellness Pavilion. This section will feature massages, yoga sessions, tarot readings, a beauty bar, and essential talks on ancestral plant medicine. It may also offer one-on-one meetings with a cannabis nurse and dietitian. They will discuss how motherhood, aging, menopause and female hygiene can intersect with this medicinal plant. There may also be a pitch competition (with a hefty prize) and one-on-one meetings with CEOs and senior managers for profession advice (cannabis-related and beyond).

Check also:

Black Cannabis Week – in Philadelphia

Emerald Cup in Oakland

National Cannabis Festival in Washington

Cannabis activists and community builders

Shayla Cabrera is a social justice advocate and founding father of Tia Planta, a plant education and advocacy platform in New Jersey. “I consider myself a daughter and a victim of the war on drugs,” Cabrera says. “I actually have all the time aligned myself with outcasts and marginalized people. “My father has been in prison for over 25 years because of the war on drugs.”

Her story shouldn’t be only sad, but additionally all too common. According to HRWnationwide, 62% of all state-level drug convictions involve black people. Cabrera, considered one of countless collateral victims, turned her pain into support.

He consistently speaks out at local universities and colleges in regards to the cannabis industry and the snowball effect of the war on drugs. He also prepares cannabis internships for people of all ages curious about entering the industry.

In his home state of New Jersey, he focuses most of his efforts on promoting home growing. “If the police find one plant in your house [in New Jersey]you could potentially go to prison for a very long time,” he says. “Given the present adult recreational activity market, there are some barriers to becoming a medical patient. I focus on varieties [of cannabis], and every strain has different medicinal properties. Many of those varieties usually are not currently commercially available for adult medicinal or recreational use.

Check also:

Green Muse hemp – A Portland dispensary that teaches in regards to the history of cannabis and hip-hop

CannPowerment – Black woman-owned cannabis company

Thunderwalker – International cannabis advocate and business owner

CannaCoverage Insurance Services – Full-service cannabis business insurance and risk management consulting firm

Cannabis merchandise owned by a black woman

For those that live too removed from a festival town or cannabis chef, there are several options for Black women-owned cannabis merchandise which you can purchase from the comfort of your personal home. Criteria? You have to be no less than 21 years old and live within the US

Breanna Neff is the founder and Chief Food Scientist (CFS). breliks, a group of fast-acting cannabis wellness drink blends and powdered supplements for anxiety relief, stress support and rest that act as a healthy alternative to alcohol. Like many entrepreneurial ventures, brelixi was born out of necessity. “I created brelixi out of a personal need and desire to have fast-acting but also functional cannabis-based wellness products,” says Neff. “While studying food science at Cornell, marijuana became an unexpected ally in dealing with the rigors of academia.”

She adds: “After graduating, I worked in the food and beverage industry in regulatory compliance, functional product development, and food science consulting, and gained the experience necessary to create and market my own product.”

As an authorized food scientist and wellness advocate, Neff saw a chance available in the market to create a product that focused on cannabis as a plant medicine and empowered users to incorporate it into their every day routine. “Brelixi has made it our mission to transform the functional wellness space both on the product side, through the innovative use of fast-acting nano cannabis, and on the consumer side, with our holistic approach to cannabis as an accessible, effective and stigma-free wellness tool,” he shares.

Neff, who also practices reiki and energy work, wanted to share this side of her passion within the name and design of her product, which attracts heavily on references to the sun and moon.

Check also:

A dose of spice – Cannabis sauce company

Be Jubie – Online store with CBD wellness products

Weed Lady Gift Shop – A cannabis accessory store owned by a drug war survivor