Chris Fontes, Founder & CEO of High Spirits – Interview Series

When the 2018 Farm Bill was signed into law, it legalized the production of industrial hemp and paved the way for various cottage industries rooted in this versatile plant. Among these is the hemp beverage sector—a smoke-free, vapor-free alternative that serves as an excellent entry point for consumers exploring hemp-based products.

To gain deeper insight into this rapidly growing industry and its potential across the United States, MyCannabis.com spoke with Chris Fontes, Founder and CEO of High Spirits.

 What were the first roles in hemp and technology that you held, and what were the most useful skills that you learned during those first years?

My first role was actually at the convergence of hemp and technology. I was running a software company at the time, and one of my clients approached me with an idea for a hemp marketplace. One thing led to another, and I ended up leaving my software agency to run the Hemp Exchange — the first B2B marketplace in the hemp space.

During those first couple of years, I learned a few key things: the industry was nascent, it was undefined, and the opportunities were endless. I also learned that we desperately need regulations, because without regulations and standardization, it’s a free-for-all market, and we’ve seen exactly where that leads.

How did the 2018 Farm Bill provide a legal pathway to hemp-derived products of all types? How did this bill reform the previous federal prohibitions on hemp-derived beverages and similar products?

The 2018 Farm Bill provided a legal pathway for hemp-derived products of all types, because for the first time since Prohibition, the federal government descheduled a version of cannabis. It created a brand-new definition of “hemp,” which the bill defined as Cannabis sativa at or below 0.3% delta–9 THC by dry weight, including all of its isomers, salts, esters, and derivatives. It further mandated interstate commerce, meaning a state or tribe could not interfere with the transport of this material between states and territories.

The unfortunate part was that no regulations were created to back it up. However, from a pure legislative standpoint, THC, CBD, and all the other cannabinoids — previously illegal — suddenly became non-controlled substances, spawning an entire $30 billion market.

What went into the founding of Trojan Horse Cannabis, and how did the company produce their products with intention in their measuring?

It’s real simple. When I was building Hemp Exchange, I had to understand the legal matrix of state-to-state THC transport, which meant I needed to know the federal landscape inside and out. Before the 2018 Farm Bill was even signed, I did a deep dive on the draft and immediately recognized the 0.3% wiggle room for non-scheduled THC. Then I ran the math — how big would a gummy need to be to contain THC and still come in at 0.3% or less by dry weight? The answer was totally reasonable.

Through a series of industry-led directional changes, I eventually saw the opportunity to bring my idea to market and launched the first hemp-derived delta–9 edible.

What in particular inspired you to found High Spirits? What caught your professional attention about hemp-based beverages in particular?

High Spirits was specifically inspired by the book The Power of Habit. We were selling delta–9 edibles at the time with fine adoption, but I kept running into people who were just a little nervous to make that commitment. When you take an edible, you’re essentially buying a ticket for a roller coaster — you don’t know how intense it’s going to be, and once you’re strapped in, you don’t get off until the ride’s over.

With drinks, it kicks in faster, it’s measurable, and you can iterate slowly. Take a sip, wait 15 minutes. Take another sip, wait 15 minutes. You get to throttle your own experience.

The Power of Habit discusses this concept that it’s easier to replace a component in a habit than to break or change the habit entirely. I thought — how do we get people to habitually use cannabis in a way that’s better for them? Simple: put it in a can. Replace what’s in their hand and keep the habit, and that’s essentially what I did.

As a hemp beverage producer yourself, what advantages do you think the hemp beverage market has over flower or concentrates? How is the beverage format a perfect format for creativity and customization in both the manufacturing process and the products themselves?

Hemp beverages have several advantages over flower and concentrates.

Inhalable products require someone to take a leap from not inhaling anything to willingly putting products into their lungs. That’s a big jump, especially for mature individuals. People who grew up not inhaling — or did in the past and moved on — often reach a point where it just isn’t an option. It feels too risky.

Putting something in a can is extremely approachable and comfortable. I’ve literally watched people say, “I would never smoke weed, but I’ll drink these all day long.”

The beverage format also allows incredible creativity in experience, dosing, onset time, and form factor. You can do 12-ounce cans, 8-ounce cans, 2-ounce shots, drink mixers with droppers, Roady sachets you tear and pour, or 750ml formats where you’re making whiskey replacements, margarita replacements, and all kinds of fun stuff. It’s the perfect format for customization without requiring consumers to make what they’d consider a health-risk leap for consumption.

How do you think hemp-based beverages are a great format to introduce newcomers and those curious about cannabis products to hemp and cannabinoids over other formats?

This ties directly to what I described above. The beverage format removes the biggest barriers for newcomers: the intimidation factor of inhalation, the unpredictability of edibles, and the stigma of traditional cannabis consumption. A can in your hand is familiar. You control the pace. You control the dose. There’s no learning curve, no paraphernalia, and no commitment to a multi-hour experience you can’t dial back. It’s the lowest-friction entry point into cannabinoids that exists.

What were the most interesting and helpful courses you took while getting the certificate from Trichome Institute? How did those courses provide you with a better understanding of hemp-based beverages and their possibilities?

The most important thing I learned at Trichome Institute was the effect of terpenes on the trigeminal nerve — how you can almost feel what’s going to happen to you before you even inhale. The smell alone gives you an indicator of the potential effects and how it’s going to interact with your body. That’s fascinating.

That said, I’ve also taught some of these cannabis classes myself — not for Trichome Institute, but for the Ganjier program, the Green Flower program, and Syracuse University. Trichome Institute was great, but it didn’t really infer anything specific to beverages. It was more of a wider knowledge base for cannabis in general.

Although it was one of the first two states to recreationally legalize cannabis, how has Colorado become an innovative pioneer for hemp cultivation and production?

Colorado didn’t really become an innovative pioneer for hemp cultivation and production — at least not on the cannabinoid side. On the industrial hemp side, there are many producers and operators based here, and in that regard, Colorado has been fairly innovative for the industrial hemp sector.

But from the cannabinoid side, Colorado has actually been quite antagonistic. The state went through a significant process to heavily restrict and essentially ban hemp-derived cannabinoid products. That said, they did provide a safe harbor for manufacturers like me to continue making products that are legal in other states, which has been helpful.

We’re now going through the process of reintroducing legislation to allow hemp beverages, which had previously been banned, because they recognized it was a mistake. I’m thankful for that, and I encourage the state of Colorado to look at the market opportunities here. Don’t consider which channel is “winning” — consider how consumers win and how consumers stay safe.

What are your regular duties with the U.S. Hemp Roundtable and the U.S. Hemp Authority, and how do those organizations advocate for the American hemp industry and its operators across the country?

At the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, I’m on the board and have often served as a policy advisor and legislative writer. I personally wrote some of the amendments to the Griffith bill that were incorporated into the legislation. I’ve advised on strategy, political positioning, and how various legislation or regulations would impact the industry. Additionally, I’ve probably been the chief individual pushing the Roundtable to collaborate with other trade associations so the uppermost echelon of industry organizations can be focused and harmonious in effort and design.

The U.S. Hemp Authority’s aim is to add consumer safety checkpoints so the market can thrive while building consumer trust, confidence, and regulatory confidence in our industry. Self-regulation has traditionally been shown to be highly effective for both business and consumer safety, and when done right, the federal government is massively supportive of the concept.

We’re now overhauling the U.S. Hemp Authority into an SRO (a self-regulatory organization) to be more than just a certification schema. It will function as a pseudo-regulatory support system: not in lieu of FDA, not in lieu of TTB, but as additional infrastructure to ensure businesses can operate safely and efficiently while consumers get access to safe products. Many other industries use SROs successfully — finance, tech, consumer goods, electronics, and others.

Looking into the future, where do you anticipate the hemp-based beverage market going? How do you predict that the market will evolve in the upcoming years?

I think the market will evolve in a direction where lower-dose options become the prominent products. The canna-curious consumer will take over by volume. Right now, if you look at pure dollars and case volume, a lot of the beverages moving in mass are actually the larger-format or higher-dose products targeting high-tolerance, high-frequency consumers.

As the market shifts, regulations will likely tighten. Some states will allow larger doses, some won’t. We’ll probably end up with a federal cap. It may be something like 10 milligrams or 5 milligrams per can, and that targets a very different consumer. It’s going to create a large market of people who are generally underserved right now: the canna-curious and occasional cannabis consumers who don’t have high tolerances and aren’t daily-use individuals.

Thank you for joining us, Chris! For more information on High Spirits, please visit its website.