Teal plans cutting edge patient experience

Vertical facility license hopeful Teal is led by some familiar names in horticulture and product branding. Retail wizard Tim Crook, Bernie Heimos of N.G. Heimos, CFO Steven J. Grossman. Director of Sales Norwin Heimos and cannabis branding pro Adolphus Busch V are leading a team with diverse experience applying for licenses as Teal Farms, Teal Labs, and Teal Remedies.

Busch has been in Colorado for over 5 years gaining legal market experience in familiar companies such as BioTrack, LightShade, Keef Cola, and mega-greenhouse Pure Greens.

“I created a network in the market out there in Colorado which translated well into creating brands here in Missouri,” Busch said.

While in Colorado, he gained critical legal market experience in both the medical and recreational markets, particularly in the compliance and manufacturing aspects of the operation.

“It’s been a great road so far in the industry,” Busch said. “There’s been plenty of ups and downs so far, but it’s been a great journey.”

“Our biggest goal is to provide patients with quality medicine and take an environment-friendly approach to our entire operation,” Busch said. “We have the experience needed to create quality products in this industry and be able to provide our patients with those quality products.”

With the continuing black market and the questionable products it offers, Busch said that quality and safety will be top priorities for patients.

“We want patients to feel safe and have the education they need,” Busch said. The Teal operation includes three traveling pharmacists available for patient consultation and two cannabis-educated doctors. “We are focused on providing a safe experience and quality products to the patients of Missouri.”

Busch sees the medical marijuana industry as a tremendous boon for the Missouri economy – and an asset in fighting the opioid crisis.

“Teal wants to make sure we are always on the cutting edge of pretty much everything,” Crook said. “Software, patient consultation, anything to do with that dispensary experience.”

With dispensaries being the point of contact for all patients with Teal, Crook is prioritizing a great in-person experience for all patients.

   

“I’ve got a good handle on providing excellent customer experience and training,” Crook said. “Even though it’s medical, we’re focused on being competitive. We are focused on providing that world-class service to keep patients coming back and recommending to their friends that Teal is the place to be. Adolphus knows a quality product versus a not great product. From my standpoint, it’s about gathering the right team within the dispensary experience.”

The opportunity provided by Teal to educate and serve patients is one Crook is taking to heart.

“The exciting part for me is on the medical side, to know someone like my dad is interested in trying medical cannabis,” Crook said. “Dad was against drugs, as a 35 year police veteran with health issues, he’s now 100% open to trying it. Patients who would have never considered trying cannabis before, we can help them through the process and find the best application, the best product, for them. Then, that next visit, just to see their lives improve. For me, I think that is going to be the real reward.”

Heimos brings past cannabis greenhouse construction experience to the team – a strategy Teal is pursuing as part of their goal to be environmentally conscious by utilizing a smaller footprint – literally, and by consuming less power by harnessing the sun.

“Licensees asked if we would build a greenhouse for them,” Bernie Heimos said. “We have built several around the country and in Colorado. Horticulture is our base. In our industry, people question why – the reason we do it is it’s a cutting edge plant. Greenhouses give a low-cost way to do it – and that’s how I got involved.”

The team will be creating brands and product lines under the Teal name, focusing on the medical nature of the market – but they’re not counting out manufacturing agreements or branding expansions with the opportunities also provided in the hemp industry.

“My family and I own quite a bit of land in Missouri and have an interest in growing hemp here,” Busch said. “Hopefully we will get into it eventually. Personally, I would be interested in growing full-spectrum hemp plants for CBD extraction and have a line of CBD based products.”

Heimos is currently involved in hemp operations, but said the cultivation and operation will not impact their medical marijuana focus, saying “it keeps us in the know on how to grow indoors.”

Adolphus maintains the Busch family’s longtime interest in conservation and cites it as the inspiration behind the company’s name – the teal duck migrates through the areas of the facility application locations in the eastern part of Missouri.

The Teal group has applied for three cultivation licenses, three manufacturing licenses, and five dispensary licenses. Proposed dispensary locations are in St. Louis, Farmington, Cape Girardeau, Eureka, and Ellisville.