MARY Royal Reserve 1 scaled
MARY Royal Reserve 1 scaled

Q&A: Michael Martinez of Royal Reserve

What’s behind the name “Royal Reserve”?

Royal Reserve was created with the intent of providing a first-class experience and all that that encompasses: premium quality, consistency, and royal-treatment customer service.

The name Royal Reserve stems from two main sources. The term royal references the values, standards, and commitment to excellence that shaped our company. By using the term reserve and associating our brand with the vault at a secured bank, where highly prized objects such as gold or currency are secured, we wanted to illustrate our quality-based promise to our customers, reinforcing our commitment to excellence.

What’s your mission and objective as a cannabis brand?

Our mission statement from Day One has been “Driven by passion, integrity, and a commitment to excellence, we embrace our responsibility to effect change on society, compelling us to refine the perception of our industry, elevate our community, and cultivate genuine, trustworthy relationships”

We always start with a foundational standard of excellence, whether we’re talking about a product, a service, or our relationship with our customers. We also know that cannabis and all the related components have had a bad reputation within society, so we decided that our integrity was going to be our differentiator. We strive to maintain high standards for trustworthiness, transparency, and quality across each and every one of our company’s operations.

These were the values we were raised on. It just seemed natural to apply them to our business.

What makes Los Angeles special to you and your brand?

L.A. is home. It’s where our founding team grew up. We find that L.A. is full of beauty, elegance, and infinite possibilities that have shaped our products and organization into providing the customer the top-shelf experience that they deserve.

How has your experience been transitioning to “Adult Use” sales?

 We had been preparing for the transition to adult use for some time and were able to anticipate some of the market effects after benchmarking other recreational markets. We feel our products reach and often exceed the established market standards.

But it’s still a new and emerging market with plenty of potential for all sorts of trials and errors, so we try to stay ready for what’s coming in hopes of being ahead of the curve.

Overall, we do see Adult Use as a beneficial change to the industry that will introduce new consumers to the benefits of cannabis.

Where do you source your flower/extracts?

All Royal Reserve flower has been hand-selected by our sourcing experts using the utmost care and with an emphasis on excellence. Our flower comes from either our own in-house cultivators or from artisanal growers with decades of experience.

Many of these relationships are with the veterans of the old cannabis industry, who often share our company’s origins and values, not necessarily the mega, warehouse-sized guys who just showed up.

Our flower is a high-quality, tested product produced using sustainable, environmentally responsible cultivation techniques. We’ve always felt this sort of focus was the right standard to set for our company.

What is the extraction process?

We’re actually taking a step back from our own in-house extractions and concentrates to reevaluate the market, methodology, and Adult Use consumer interest.

We have utilized various methods of extraction, both volatile and non-volatile, and are diligently working to find the best method that produces the perfect balance of flavor, purity, and potency without compromising quality, health, and sustainability.

We see a lot of people going full-fledged into their volatile and non-volatile efforts, but we’re taking a different approach to see how we want to go forward, with the interests of the consumer being our primary focus.

We are in talks with a few innovative product teams and we are definitely excited about their first results and intend to launch extended extract products once those are ready. The test concepts so far are focused on finding the best experience for a healthy, active consumer.

Is it important for your company to carry organic flower?

It is so important to us that we only carry organic flower, which exceeds all governmental standards. All product is tested and approved by our knowledgeable, skilled team to ensure quality, cleanliness, freshness, and consistency in all of our products.

Have you experienced an increase of users that are new to cannabis?

We’ve been monitoring the differences between 2017 and 2018 and have been finding that there is an increase in users who are new to cannabis in the California market, particularly professionals in large cities who intend to casually consume.

We’ve also been identifying trends of longtime consumers from other states who are interested in getting their hands on what California has to offer, and we hope to service as compliance allows.

Regarding packaging, what was your aim with branding?

The aim was to create a brand that elevated the perception of the cannabis industry, simplified the product options, educated the consumer, and deeply resonated with our values.

What’s in store for your business over the next year? Any new plans or products? 

We anticipate a healthy amount of business growth by reaching new markets and segments within our great state and just possibly in a couple of other states.

Sustainability is a key focus of ours and we strive to properly scale our business in a clean, optimized, and focused manner. We see this industry as a marathon, not a sprint.