While much of the news about the cannabis industry seems mixed-to-grim, we at CanopyBoulder are hearing more stories of success than failure. Many of our portfolio companies are thriving amidst the global pandemic. Below we are highlighting the story of Royal Supply, a packaging supply and solutions company serving the cannabis industry that is setting new sales and growth records. Royal Supply graduated from the recent Winter 2020 CanopyBoulder Accelerator cohort.
Royal Supply is a packaging solutions company for the cannabis industry. If you need it, they can get it for you.
Their sales surged 12% in April and 85% in May. 2020 YTD revenues (Jan-June) are up over what they achieved in 2019. And Royal Supply is growing its team as well - hiring an additional 3 people to their already lean and mean team.
Possessing deep roots and relationships with packaging manufacturers in China, Royal Supply was well prepared for the dynamic instability that Covid-19 created. In fact, when Covid-19 began spreading from Wuhan during the Chinese New Year, Royal Supply was a primary source of intel on the virus for the CanopyBoulder alumni network. Industry experts estimate that 75-90% of cannabis packaging is made in China and Royal Supply’s close working relationships helped them deftly manage these disruptions.
“We certainly felt the impact of COVID-19, as did all Americans. However, we were a foundationally sound business going into this pandemic, so that’s allowing us to effectively ride this out and continue to grow. We’ll keep focusing on our core competencies and we expect to be in a really good position coming out of this, whenever that is.”
Robert Kenny (CEO, Royal Supply)
Lesson: A team with close supplier relationships and a sales culture should rebound faster than the broader market. Royal Supply’s case study supports this. In addition, investing in technology and ecommerce alongside a new focus on sales processes and organization helped Royal Supply surge back in the market and gobble up available opportunities and market share.