MJBizMag November-December 2020 - 78

THRIVE
SURVIVE
capital and stay operational, Rivers said.
" We saw that as an incredible
opportunity for us to double down in a
state where we are No. 1, (where) we had
a successful foundation, " Rivers said.
Doubling down meant expanding
retail and investing in less visible efforts
such as research-and-development and
business software applications.
Key to Trulieve's expansion strategy is
applying what it learned in Florida to new
markets. " We can take those lessons and
really apply them and shape our footprint,
dependent on the market, " Rivers said.
Consider Massachusetts, where the
maximum cultivation canopy currently
allowed is 100,000 square feet. Because
Trulieve has similarly sized grow
facilities in Florida, it can run tests to see
what will work best in Massachusetts.
Another example of a Florida lesson
applied elsewhere is Trulieve's dispensary
in Palm Springs, California.
Taking their experience in Florida,
where stores with fewer product
SKUs often do better, company officials
" culled " the number of products at the
Palm Springs store.
" California is a market where it's not
unusual to go into a store and then be
overwhelmed by choice, " Rivers said.
" We cut SKUs back, and the spend per
patient improved. "
Be Prepared to Pivot
Quickly in Response to
Major Market Shifts
Two areas where Trulieve has
demonstrated a propensity for execution
are delivery and edibles.
Rivers estimated that before the
pandemic, about 20% of Trulieve's sales
were through delivery and pickup while
80% were in-store. But the pandemic
changed that.
" Within a two-week period, that
completely flipped, " said Rivers, noting
that 80% of sales came through delivery
and pickup and 20% via walk-in.
" Because we already had some delivery,
we didn't have to create it from scratch,
but just expand it. "
" The directive
for the team
was: As soon
as these rules
drop ... we
need to be
ready to
submit
products
within
24 hours. "
- Kim Rivers
Trulieve assembled several teams to
focus on the new challenges caused by
the pandemic, including a delivery team
tasked with coming up with a plan for
100% delivery, should the state order all
cannabis retailers to close.
In one week, Trulieve doubled its fleet
from 100 vehicles to 200. Because Florida
requires two employees in a delivery car
at any given time, Trulieve also hired
dozens of new workers and cross-trained
other employees. Employees who had
been passengers in delivery cars became
drivers, while other cross-trained
employees became passengers.
Plan Ahead to
Capitalize on Big
Changes in the Rules
When Florida finally released rules on
cannabis edibles in August, Trulieve
already had a head start in the market.
That's largely because edibles were
already written into Florida's marijuana
regulations three years ago. That statute
stipulated that a company would have to
78 Marijuana Business Magazine | November-December 2020
build a kitchen with certain specifications,
get the kitchen inspected by the state
agriculture department, have Good
Manufacturing Practice standards for
food safety and meet other requirements.
" We did all that almost immediately
when the law was passed. We also had
been working on licensing agreements
with partners and have a number of
brand partners in the edibles space, "
Rivers said. Those partners include
Colorado-based Binske, District
Edibles, Love's Oven and Slang as well as
California-headquartered Bhang.
" The directive for the team was: As
soon as these rules drop ... we need
to be ready to submit products within
24 hours to the (state) Department of
Health (for approval). And that's what
we did. Within the first 24 hours, we
made the first submission and then
received feedback from the department
and made some tweaks " to get the products
approved, Rivers said.
" We were really sitting on go and
ready to move. "
AND
MJBizMag November-December 2020

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