We all know the phrase: Necessity is the mother of invention.
That’s pretty much why Jasmine Castillo and her colleagues at Encore Extracts got into the local weed game. Before they launched Encore, Castillo says, there was a dearth of high quality products for medical cannabis patients. Now Castillo and Encore’s other co-owners are trying to fill that void.
Castillo says one thing that sets Encore apart from some other cannabis manufacturing companies is its solventless extraction process—their website boasts a process using only water, ice and pressure. Among the extracts and edibles Encore produces is a line of powdered drink mixes such as vanilla chai tea, which can be found at High Desert Relief.
How did you find yourself in the cannabis industry?
I started out as a medical patient, and I’ve been a medical patient, I want to say for the last eight years. Being a medical patient, I noticed that, at the time, there were limited options for edibles and topicals, and stuff like that. Based on what I saw that was available, along with my colleagues, we kind of joined forces, and came up with some new products that you don’t normally see on the market when it comes to edibles and topicals. We wanted to be able to provide medicine to people in different ways, and a little bit more discreet ways to consume your medicine. I am one of the founding members. We started Encore Extracts—it’s been about a year and a half. We were previously manufacturing under a different license, and a different name. So we’ve actually been manufacturing cannabis edibles since 2020.
What did the industry look like, in terms of representation, when you first started?
We were a minority majority women-owned business. So for us, we were something new and different to the market, as the cannabis industry at the time, had majority male owners and growers and stuff like that. It definitely has grown and changed. I know that there are more minorities in the industry now, as far as black and Hispanic owners. So, that’s something that we’re very proud of still and we do our best to stay connected with the community and also support those other businesses.
How does Encore Extracts set itself apart from other manufacturers?
We try to keep it as natural as possible. We offer a variety of different powdered edibles, which is something that is unique to the market. One of them is our powdered drink mix. We actually won a Dank Magazine Award for that this year. That was one of our products that we initially started out with. We offer a variety of different flavors right now. We even have hot cocoa that’s going to be available on the market for the holiday season.
What’s your advice to other women, either just entering the cannabis industry or looking to get started?
Definitely stay motivated. Talk to people, make connections with other cannabis vendors and growers and retailers. You never know, you might not be able to offer them a service now, but in the future, there could be possible collaborations. Just keep an open mind.