Evergreen Organix is the largest edible producer in the State of Nevada. Enlisting the expertise and savvy of top bakers, chefs, chocolatiers, scientists and cannabis experts, its products and its users end up baked with goodness.
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Founded in 2015 on the principles of quality and care, Evergreen Organix continues to serve medical and recreational cannabis users with an impressive menu of edibles, as well as topical and vape products. Its products can be found in a number of dispensaries, a list that continues to grow.

“We originally came together in 2014 when Nevada started seriously entertaining the idea of doing a medical marijuana program. Medical marijuana had been legal in Nevada since 2001, however it hasn’t been legal for purchase at dispensaries since pretty much 2013. That’s when they started getting the legislation together to allow consumers, specifically medical patients, to purchase at a retail venue,” said Operations Manager Jillian Nelson.

While the group came together in 2014, applying for the necessary licensing and certifications, the licenses didn’t come into effect until 2015, at which point the edibles kitchen was up and running and Evergreen Organix was open for business.

Evergreen Organix started with only five products: a couple of cookies and a brownie. Now the company offers upwards of 75 products including candies, gummies, chocolate bars and other medicated treats, as well as topical products like lip balm, body cream, salves, sunscreens, massage oils and even a relief oil for menstrual pain.

On the edibles side, standard menu items include chocolate chip, peanut butter and snickerdoodle cookies, chocolate chunk brownies, coconut macaroons, rice cereal treats, fruit cereal treats, magic bars, and cookies of the month, as well as the award-winning dark chocolate espresso bar and mint chocolate bar.

“We have some limited edition products we do release depending on the season and sometimes holidays come into effect too,” said Nelson, who highlighted the lemon white chocolate bar that was launched to celebrate the flavors of summer.

The company got its start as – and remains today – a family-owned and operated entity with numerous family members taking their place behind the scenes to build the company, including Nelson. Having grown to a team of 60 people strong, family is the secret ingredient at Evergreen Organix. “Family is such a big thing to us but it’s not just our family; we have a really awesome group of people who now I consider to be my family,” said Nelson.

Evergreen Organix is headquartered in Las Vegas in a facility outfitted with top-of-the-line equipment, though Arizona, California and Colorado are on the company’s radar for expansion. Licensing deals are currently in the works. “We have to establish capital and work on different things to protect our brand, recipes and practices, so aside from legal documents, [the trick is] being able to find people as passionate as cannabis as we are,” said Nelson of the company’s expansion plans.

This is possible, she noted, because Evergreen Organix, “has been made very adaptable and it’s also helped us craft a business model that can easily adapt to rigid changing laws without necessarily being crippled,” regardless of which jurisdiction it operates in.

The company is committed to using the finest ingredients, including premium cannabis, and hand crafts its products in small batches to ensure consistent potency and delicious flavor. The company operates in a very heavily regulated industry that undergoes routine inspections, and its products are tested by DB Labs to ensure product potency and safety.

“By law we do have to have all of our products tested by a licensed laboratory in Nevada before sending them to retail for sale and we also have to use only licensed Nevada distributors to transport our products, but I think one of the main things for our success is working with some amazing companies,” explained Nelson.

There is a scientific component to baking edibles and with that in mind, Evergreen Organix works with food consultants, cannabis experts, scientists and culinary professionals to craft an exquisite product that not only tastes good but is effective for medical and recreational users alike.

“In the baking world things are so particular, and when you start adding cannabis into that it gets a little more complicated. We have had to tweak certain recipes in order to accommodate adding THC [tetrahydrocannabinol] in it, otherwise we risk burning the THC at that point and we obviously don’t want to do that,” said Nelson. Heat, as well as fat like butter or oil, are required to initiate the chemical reaction that transforms cannabinoid acids (the chemicals found in the cannabis plant that bind to cells in the body) into a form that can be absorbed or activated by the body.

Tetrahydrocannabinol acid (more commonly referred to as THCA) is found in living plants, but ingesting the plant alone will not produce the intended effects. The TCHA compound needs to be transformed into THC, which is the primary psychoactive compound that will get users “high” when smoked or eaten. The application of heat removes a carboxyl group from the acid form of the compound which is what then enables the THC to freely bind to cell receptors in the body and the brain to initiate a “high” response. Too much heat can burn off the THC, diminishing its effectiveness. It’s a lot more complicated than simply tossing flower into a batch of cookies or into a brownie dough.

As a licensed marijuana producing facility, Evergreen Organix grows much of its own product, which goes a long way to ensure consistency and quality across the entire supply chain, including the finished edible. “Being able to source our own flowers has definitely been essential to our success,” Nelson explained.

As a relatively new industry, “There’s not too much guidance out there and there’s a lot of room for people to interpret things in a way that isn’t necessarily beneficial to the community, especially coming out of the black market,” where safety is not always paramount. Product safety is a priority for Evergreen Organix in every aspect of the supply chain.

“We appreciate that level of compliance. It’s very important for us to be doing things correctly and I know some businesses out there cut corners, but that’s not part of our philosophy. We offer the best and safest products to people and we’re very open with working with our local regulators to make sure we’re doing it correctly in the first place,” explained Nelson.

Feedback is also a very important part of Evergreen Organix’ product development process to ensure customer needs are being met. Product innovation takes place in-house, in addition to being patient- or consumer-driven. “We are always listening to what people have to say about our products and we do our best to cater to markets like we do, so being able to listen, take constructive criticism and grow from those experiences, especially when you’re serving the community like we are, is essential to our success,” explained Nelson.

Evergreen Organix has discovered the recipe for success when it comes to its edibles, its business model and the culture it strives to create in its environment every day. The team is bonded by the good work that they do.

“One of the things that draws our people together is passion for cannabis and passion to help people. When you have a collective feeling among your peers and you’re all wanting to do the same thing, you bring good to the world and it really does make it an awesome place to work,” shared Nelson. “We started off very small. We had no plans of being a tremendous company; it was more of passion project for our group to get into. Then to be part of something so revolutionary like that was the big motivating factor,” she said.

Now, the motivating factor is continued growth, which Nelson feels Evergreen Organix is well-prepared for. “Going through the challenges we faced being a part of the Nevada market from day one has really helped us out, so if we can get to where we are right now, I don’t see anything else really being able to block us.”

With nothing but opportunity ahead of it, as changing regulations and shifting public perceptions about cannabis use, both medical and recreational, lead to market growth and the emergence of new markets, Evergreen Organix too will grow, further establishing its brand with products that are synonymous with flavor, quality and effectiveness. With a fluid outlook for the future and an adaptable attitude where challenges are viewed as opportunities, Evergreen Organix not only plans to grow into new markets via new states, as well as its product offerings, it will continue to advocate for cannabis legalization on a national level.

“We hope long-term that cannabis will be recognized at a national level and there will be less restriction coming from Uncle Sam in limiting what marijuana companies can do and I hope to be part of that success. I hope our company is part of that success as well,” said Nelson.

With new products always in the pipeline, there’s no telling what is next for Evergreen Organix. “Holidays are coming up so that’s obviously on our minds right now, and we hope to come up with some fun stuff by the end of the year and bring it into 2019,” said Nelson, so stay tuned!