Manufacturing Success: Zach Bosier and Harold Sexauer of Blue Sky Manufacturing
Missouri has become a cannabis hub in recent years. Statistically speaking, the state is one of the most successful legal marijuana markets.
For consumers and patients, Missouri is an industry rich with varying products and brands. From Missouri made to national favorites, Missouri retail is one of the most dynamic shelf spaces in cannabis.
While flower is the backbone of the industry; manufactured products offer the choice and variety that many new and seasoned cannabis users turn to most. With products ranging from edibles and tablets to concentrates and vapes, the manufacturing space is where plants, science, and creativity blend to create what consumers and patients use.
In this edition of Manufacturing Success, Zach Bosier and Harold Sexauer of Blue Sky Manufacturing, the company behind Good Taste Edibles and Pinpoint Extracts discuss the unique challenges and success of creating products for multiple brands and how a team approach benefits everyone under the Blue Sky banner.
Harold Sexauer: Chef and Manager of Infused Product Manufacturing
Harold Sexauer is the youngest of eight children and a Missouri native.
Sexauer is a family man, whose home and professional life can be boiled down to a simple concept.
“Make people smile.”
A dedicated husband, he and his wife Amanda spend much of their time raising three boys—George (6), Joey (4), and Mark (5 months). “I enjoy spending my time throwing balls and pushing toy trucks with my kids,” he explains. Sexauer also lists among his favorite pastimes as “Admiring my beautiful wife, tailgating with my brother Richard, and cooking to make people smile.”
Sexauer brings a rich culinary background and a dynamic approach to flavors and fun to the kitchens of Good Taste. Professionally, Sexauer is classically trained in Culinary Arts. Having studied at Johnson County Community College and Apicius International School of Hospitality in Florence, Italy, Sexauer brings an added layer of credibility to the kitchens, but his joy and delight in creating whimsy from infused food and treats make Good Taste unique.
For Sexauer, cannabis symbolizes opportunity and innovation. “There’s still so much to discover and learn,” he says.
Zach Bosier: Director of Manufacturing
Zach Bosier’s journey in the cannabis industry began nearly a decade ago in 2015, in Colorado.
Growing up in a military family, Bosier moved frequently, living across the country, but felt most at home between the mountains and the rivers that make up Colorful Colorado.
He initially took a job at a local dispensary on a whim after leaving his previous employment in construction. That decision would change the course of his life. Now, Bosier works as the Director of Manufacturing, overseeing the production of everything that passes through the Blue Sky doors, from Good Taste Edibles to Pinpoint Extracts.
While recent years have seen significant success and change in his life, the next challenge Bosier and his wife Ashli are most excited for?
The couple are expecting their first child, a baby boy, in October.
What does marijuana mean to you?
Bosier: It means everything. It’s put food on my table and money in my pocket for over a decade now. It also provides a way for my wife and me to relax and decompress together.
Sexauer: Opportunity. Occupationally, it’s given me an opportunity to have a healthier and happier lifestyle.
What makes you passionate about cannabis?
Harold Sexauer: I am passionate about diving into the unknown and understudied aspects of the plant. There is still so much to discover and learn about. I’m in a position where I can innovate and push the envelope on the cannabis market, and that is exciting as shit.
Zach Bosier: The culture. The people around it. The way it connects people. And the opportunities it has provided me with.
In your opinion, what’s the best way to consume cannabis?
Zach Bosier: Roll that shit and light that shit.
Harold Sexauer: For me, it’s situational. I like edibles (specifically full spectrum) for physical activity. Vapes are for discretion. Joints are for friends. Dabs are for when I want to nerd out on flavor profiles and terpene pairing.
What products or brands does Blue Sky Manufacturing produce?
Zach Bosier: Blue Sky produces Pinpoint Extracts, which makes live concentrates, live resin cartridges, and distillate cartridges. We also produce Good Taste Edibles. We make a variety of different gummies—terp infused, rosin infused, sativas, indicas, hybrids, CBD, CBG, and CBN.
Harold Sexauer: At Good Taste, we produce gummy candies and rice crispy bars. Our gummies have six different flavors, including a high-dose option and a full spectrum option. We also offer two flavors of our “better for you” vegan/real fruit/reduced sugar gummies and three different flavors of our crispies.
Tell me about the process, or processes, used to create your products.
Harold Sexauer: It starts with market analysis to understand consumer preferences, followed by weeks of R&D. We then source compliant packaging, gain state approval, grow and extract the cannabis, and test the products with a licensed laboratory to ensure accurate dosing before packaging and labeling.
Zach Bosier: Our gummies start as water and sugar and are infused in the cooking process. There is no re-melting of pre-made gummies. We create all of our edibles from scratch. Our extracts are all extracted at –50C with a blend of butane and propane, resulting in minimal unwanted material.
What is the biggest obstacle you face in a manufacturing facility like this?
Harold Sexauer: Sourcing compliant packaging materials. Everything is 4-8 weeks out.
Zach Bosier: Keeping up with demand right now is our main obstacle, but that’s a good problem to have.
What are you doing, or have you done, to keep up with that increased demand?
Harold Sexauer: Attending relevant conventions and expos to stay updated on new production and packaging equipment, and developing recipes and SOPs that set our production crew up for success.
Zach Bosier: Equipment and process upgrades/improvements and extended hours. We are now extracting for 16 hours a day.
Let’s talk about how you source biomass or plant material.
Zach Bosier: We are exclusively in-house, using whatever our greenhouse sends us. We select the highest-yielding and terpiest strains to produce our live resin products.
Harold Sexauer: We source all of our plant material from our cultivation vertical, which is on the same campus as our manufacturing facility. Josh Weeks, the brains behind our cultivation vertical, selects the biomass.
What makes your products unique in this space?
Zach Bosier: The quality and the value. We make products that are just as effective as high-end brands but at a fairer price because we are vertically integrated. We also have an experienced chef in Harold, whose understanding of food and flavors is unmatched.
Harold Sexauer: All of our infused edible products are handcrafted and produced in small batches using expertly extracted THC. Bosier’s distillation process ensures a clean and beautiful product, which enhances the taste of my recipes.
What is the top-performing product you produce?
Zach Bosier: Pinpoint Vape cartridges and Good Taste gummies. Concentrates are gaining a lot of momentum.
Harold Sexauer: Our 100mg 10-pack of Clementine gummies.
What’s your favorite product and why?
Harold Sexauer: Our Rosin (full spectrum) 100mg 10-pack of Clementine gummies. The full spectrum cannabis gives you an excellent high without just tying you to the couch.
Zach Bosier: The Rosin Infused FruitFetti Crispsies and the new flavor we’re about to launch.
What lessons have you learned from day one to now?
Zach Bosier: The effort you show and the way you treat people will hugely determine the effort you get from them in return. Newton’s law.
Harold Sexauer: The power of marketing and development of consumer relationships is vital in such a competitive market.
What’s the best piece of advice someone has ever given you?
Zach Bosier: If you ain’t first, you’re last. Your perception is your reality.
Harold Sexauer: “Take care of business before business takes care of you,” from my Dad. This has stuck with me and helped me in my weakest moments of procrastination.
