An AssurPack® Case Study: Improving the Customer Experience and Decreasing Production Times with Better Edible Packaging

CannaCafé’s chocolate bars were a customer favorite, despite being difficult to open. By working with AssurPack® and switching to AssurClam® edible packaging, CannaCafé realized several benefits:

• An easy-to-open, child-resistant package that enhanced the customer experience
• A reduction in production times and payroll cost savings
• Rave reviews from retailers and budtenders

About CannaCafé

CannaCafé is a division of Minerva Canna, a 5-location dispensary with a headquarters in Langley, Oklahoma. CannaCafé’s team produces a wide range of edibles in their 2,000-square-foot kitchen, including chocolates, baked goods, and candies, as well as topicals and tinctures. Besides selling directly through Minerva Canna, they wholesale their products to third-party retailers throughout the state.

Challenges of Cannabis Packaging

As the brand expanded, CannaCafé’s Kati Shoenrock realized that their products were better than their packaging — and that their chocolate bars deserved a more attractive package that was easier for customers to use.

“The old packaging was difficult for people with arthritis in their hands, people with smaller hands — anybody, really,” says Shoenrock, who serves as CannaCafé’s traveling Sales Representative. “It had two little plastic tabs that were really hard to squeeze in at the same, and a plastic clam that would slide out from a sleeve.”

In terms of manufacturing, the old package required extra steps, and production workers needed to assemble each box before inserting the chocolate bar. Before working with AssurPack®, CannaCafé didn’t realize that these were indeed “extra” steps or that there was an easier way to package their products.

“The old boxes shipped flat, and we had to put them together, fold the ends, and actually make the box. We’d put the chocolate bars in a plastic sleeve and put the bar inside the box and seal the box. It was a lot more time consuming the old way.”

AssurClam®: The Edible Packaging Solution

AssurPack’s® patented AssurClam® is a fundamentally different design than a plastic-tab, squeeze-and-slide box. The clam opens with a simple push-and-release mechanism, yet still maintains stringent child-resistance standards and the highest CPSC certification.

Customer Response

“When we switched over, our budtenders were telling us how much the patients enjoyed the AssurClam®, and that they were easy to open,” says Shoenrock.

“We live in a lake community, so our customers take the clam and put it in their coolers while they’re out on the boat. It keeps the chocolate fresh, and it doesn’t melt like the old box.”

Shoenrock says prospective retail partners are impressed with the packaging too. “As soon as they look at it, they love the graphics and the clam — that it’s resealable and child-resistant and compliant with our laws.”

Production Dynamics

With AssurClam®, CannaCafé has benefited from a faster production process — and reduced payroll costs. That’s because, unlike the old box packaging, the AssurClam® does not require pre-assembly.

“With the new clam, as soon as the bar is made, you put it in the clam, close it, and slide it right in the sleeve,” says Shoenrock. “It saves a lot of time and it’s quicker to get our product out there.”

The patented AssurClam® is available in multiple stock sizes and custom configurations. When combined with specialized inserts, it’s suitable for a wide range of applications such as vape packaging and larger baked goods.

Aspirations for the Future

“We want to blanket the state of Oklahoma with our products so that every retailer carries CannaCafé,” says Shoenrock. “We’ll definitely be working with AssurPack® in the future.”
Because CannaCafé offers a wide product assortment — an assortment that ranges from gummy bears to carrot cake — they need versatile packaging solutions and design services. That’s why AssurPack® has dozens of bespoke options for every cannabis packaging application — and experienced designers who help your company succeed.

“It’s been all positive with AssurPack®. They follow through on everything, and working with them has been easy, from start to finish.”

Find out how the AssurPack® and AssurClam® can help your business evolve and succeed. Contact a representative for a sample of the AssurClam® or other products