Simon Knobel, CEO & Co-Founder of Calyx Containers – Interview Series

When it comes to the logistics of cannabis manufacturing, the effectiveness of the harvested flower containers, curing bags, and packaging to preserve terpene and cannabinoid content can sometimes be overlooked. Named after the protective layer of cannabis plants that preserves cannabinoid content as best as it naturally can, Calyx Containers are innovatively engineered to act just like the plant material they’re named after. For a better understanding of the company and the importance of compliant packaging that conserves the cannabis crops’ best components, mycannabis.com had the pleasure of speaking with Simon Knobel, CEO & Co-Founder of Calyx Containers.

So what topics and subjects of entrepreneurship did you study while attending Babson College? Which subjects do you think were the most helpful and useful in retrospect?

I gravitated to classes that felt immediately practical like organizational behavior, operations, new-venture finance and entrepreneurial marketing. The standout was organizational behavior and learning how to design roles, set incentives and build trust. Good teams out-execute clever ideas every time.

Prior to co-founding Calyx Containers, what industries/roles did you work in, and what entrepreneurial experiences did you have?

I dropped out of Babson College at the end of my Junior year to start Puff Pals, a stuffed animal bong bag company which eventually morphed into Calyx Containers. One of the biggest drivers for my inventive nature was my parents making a workshop space for me when I was 5 years old. I chose to go to school for entrepreneurship so that I could learn how to commercialize my never-ending ideas.

How would you describe the process of receiving a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office?

It’s a marathon of clarity that takes years. The hard part isn’t paperwork; it’s proving your idea is new, useful, and non-obvious while explaining it so a stranger could build it. Calyx currently has 15 granted patents and many more pending.

What was required of you as the prospective patent holder, and how arduous a process is it? Could the process get more complicated depending on the type of patent?

As a prospective patent holder, you document the invention thoroughly, disclose prior art you know about, and work with counsel to craft claims that protect the core without overreaching. Process and materials patents can be more involved because you’re proving performance across conditions. Design patents are the simplest to get granted and each type of patent has its own nuances.

Of the 15 patents that you’ve received, what industries and businesses do those products serve?

Our core patent portfolio centers around child resistant mechanisms and preservation technologies that can be applied to any industry or product set that requires child resistant certifications under federal law or enhanced freshness. Calyx pioneered the molded-in gasket manufacturing process for CR containers, and we are also excited about our utility patent for embedding our modified atmospheric breathable film, Calyx Cure, into rigid structures.

What in particular inspired you to co-found Calyx Containers, and what noticeable gaps in the cannabis industry did you hope to fill?

Great products start with sharp problems. In dispensary interviews, Co-Founder Alex Gonzalez and I saw that the push-and-turn pill bottle that was designed decades ago for medicine, fails cannabis. It leaks aroma and moisture, looks clinical and offers little brand canvas. We built Calyx as a purpose-built, gasketed, child-resistant system with real estate for design and labeling. The result: better preservation, better presentation and now, hundreds of millions of units in market.

How have Calyx Containers been designed and manufactured to perfectly cater to cannabis flower and preserve the quality of the harvested buds?

Our research with the Cannabis Research Coalition has shown that one of the biggest drivers of preserving cannabis quality is maintaining appropriate moisture content in the flower to preserve trichome structure and keep terpenes locked within the trichomes until consumption. Calyx products help stabilize the moisture content. Additionally, UV light is the #1 degrader of cannabinoids and terpenes. We integrate UV light-blocking technology into our clear films and containers to block these harmful rays of light.

How many different engineers and designers did you consult with in the process of designing the products?

Calyx has a core R&D team that has general expertise in packaging development and cannabis science, while relying on a network of specialized engineers in material science, tooling development and child behavior research. We employ a multifactor approach through our development process, utilizing expertise from each area.

How does Calyx ensure that its products are compliant with all state regulations when it comes to proper packaging and labeling, especially if those particular laws fluctuate somewhat depending on the state?

Calyx has a platform called Calyx Command that allows brands to store all of their design assets and artwork for approval and file management. Each state portal is set up with customized approval workflows so that customers are able to follow their internal compliance SOPs.

Because the product types that you’ve had patented could be and are used for cannabis products, did you receive any pushback or issues from the USPTO because of the federal policy of cannabis?

We received no pushback from the USPTO regarding our patent applications, as the technologies that we patented are applicable to cannabis, food products or any other item that requires preservation and storage. The USPTO has granted many patents related to cannabis products or processing methods even though cannabis is federally illegal.

As someone who grew up in Colorado, how do you think that experience gave you a better understanding of both the cannabis industry and the requirements and features that the Calyx Containers needed to possess?

Growing up in Colorado had an outsized impact and gave me a front row seat to the beginnings of the industry. I actually grew cannabis before ever trying the product. Learning about the cultivation and curing process exposed me to the unique physiological needs and processes of cannabis processing and contributed to the basis of our design theories that we integrate into our products.

As the American cannabis industry expands and evolves, how do the Calyx products plan on evolving alongside those changes?

The American cannabis industry has been going through a transition period over the past few years as operators have had to focus on operational excellence and cost management. Calyx has been developing a whole suite of cost-effective flexible packaging solutions to help operators achieve these goals. We’ve created Calyx Cure, a passive modified atmospheric film that is able to help cure flower, stabilize water activity and preserve terpenes. We have also developed new child-resistant zipper mechanisms and form factors, like the Calyx Cube, through our partnership with Sun Centre. The Calyx Cube is the first square crush-resistant pouch with six sides for dedicated branding and uses 30% less material than traditional pouches.

Thank you for joining us, Simon! For more information on Calyx Containers, please visit its website.