From Bud to Boardroom | Season 1, Episode 5: Building Shangri-La: Multistate Cannabis Growth, Regulation, and Retail Realities

Nevil Patel: Sure. Yeah. So, uh, Shang up started in, uh, Missouri. Currently we have three retail locations, a manufacturing facility and a cultivation facility all located in Missouri that were, um, we started that operation in 2019. Then, uh, the second state we expanded into was Ohio. Uh, currently we operate, uh, the five retail location and we have three additional retail location that are, um, either under construction or we'll start construction in, uh, over next two to three months.

Um, we are also in Illinois. We have one retail location in Illinois at this point, um, Connecticut, which will likely be the largest state for us. We have, uh, four active retail location. One that will start construction next month. And a sixth location that we have not yet identified a location for.

Along with that, we have a manufacturing facility in Waterbury, that is, uh, um, that is active. We, uh, have. Edible and, uh, vape production taking place in that facility currently. Uh, and we have a 40,000 square feet state-of-the-art cultivation and manufacturing facility being built in Stratford, Connecticut.

It will, uh, likely be, uh, one of the largest cultivation facility in, uh, state of Connecticut. I think there's two that, uh, are larger in size currently, but, uh, this facility will be right up there and this will be two tiers as well.

Sarah Westby: That's great. So you're busy these days? Yes. I think is what you're saying.

I've been wondering what is the story behind the Shangri La name?

Nevil Patel: You know, the, the, the real story behind Shangri-La name is, when I was, uh, I think, uh, 20 years old, I, I, I read the name somewhere as part of a story and the place Shangrila describe as this surreal, beautiful heaven like place on the earth. And it stuck with me since then and I never had an opportunity to utilize the name. So when, when cannabis opportunity arrived, uh, we, we. You know, I rented by consultant and marketing, uh, team, and, uh, we all agreed that, uh, this, this name, uh, is a good fit for us.

Sarah Westby: Nice. So tell me a little bit about your background before you got into cannabis and, and a little bit about your personal journey.

Nevil Patel: Yeah, sure. So, uh. When, um, as soon as, well, as soon as I, uh, graduated from, uh, high school, I, uh, I started helping my father and my family into our family business, which was, uh, a convenience store in a small town, uh, called Jefferson City, Missouri.

Um, since then we grew into, uh, I think seven total convenience store, gas station, and liquor store location. Uh, throughout that, uh, and, um, and I was mostly spearheading those operations. Um, when cannabis became legal in Missouri, we started looking into it. I, I've had interest in cannabis previous to that, but, uh, but the regulation did not allow us to, um, conduct any business.

So we, we never looked into it once it was legalized in the state of Missouri. I, uh. Um, I started looking into it. We, I asked a lot of question to a lot of healthcare professions professionals about what cannabis can and cannot do in long term with a, with a human. Uh, you know, uh, is it bad for you? Is it, is it likely going?

Is it, uh, gateway drug and in, in many other questions like that, once we received satisfied, uh, satisfactory answers to all those questions, we decided to apply for, uh, our first licenses in the state of Missouri. And, uh, we received them and, uh, uh, rest is history at that point.

Sarah Westby: Interesting. Was there, in all those conversations with the various, um, medical providers, was there anything that you found out about cannabis that surprised you?

Nevil Patel: Um. The surprise was actually a positive surprise. We, uh, so, so my wife is a physician and, uh, um, uh, there are other, uh, family members and friends who are also physicians. So every time I meet with them, I would only ask them a simple question. Say, Hey, I want to get into this cannabis, uh, this business.

Tell me the reasons why I should not be involved in this, right? Because, uh. I don't want to find out, uh, 20 years down the road that now cannabis is responsible for X, Y, and Z and, you know, feel negative about the profit that, uh, that was made from there. So, so I would ask them, I would ask this question every time I see them, to the point they got tired of me.

And, uh, and my request will be always be the same. Say, Hey, if you find something. Please tell me, please gimme a reason. Don't, don't try to convince me to go with it. Try to convince me not to, uh, because I got ample amount of reasons to go, uh, to, to go forward with this. And, uh, and they ultimately, they, they, they came up and, you know, they basically said, no, there's, there's no reason why.

You know, the, the stigma, the so-called, negative, uh, image of cannabis. Uh, there there's very few, uh, medical studies that actually supports that and, and the benefits, uh, outweighs the, the, uh, outweighs the negative side of it significantly. So that was a, that was a bit happy surprise, but, uh, but nothing major beyond that.

Sarah Westby: You must have been a lawyer in a previous life asking him to convince you not to do it. Um, so. Your, you were living in Missouri at the time? Correct. Um, was that the reason why you decided to start with Missouri or were there other. Things about the state that attracted you

Nevil Patel: when it, when it legalized in Missouri, that's when, that's when I started looking into it.

And, uh, and, you know, obviously it was, uh, uh, in our own backyard. So, um, understanding them, attending the conferences that, that, that are around cannabis, uh, meeting with individuals that were, uh, that were involved in this industry was the easiest, uh, thing for us to do. So. So really, you know, we only started looking into it when it was legalized in Missouri.

Sarah Westby: And what did you find appealing about Connecticut after it legalized that made you wanna expand into Connecticut?

Nevil Patel: So. Generally, when we look at any specific state, uh, we look for a few different things. One of the most important thing we look at is how are the, how are the laws, uh, around cannabis legalization in, uh, certain states, they, uh, uh, there are not enough retail licenses.

To support all the patients or all the customers. In some cases, there are too many retail licenses, not enough cultivation or manufacturing licenses. Uh, and in some states they, they have really. Bizarre regulations where you, you can't sell flower or you can only sell X type of gummies, uh, and you can't sell vapes.

So, so we look at what sort of restrictions are, um, are, you know, are there, uh, set by, uh, uh, that specific state. And if we, and if we determine that, uh, okay, you know. Connecticut's is roughly a bit above 3 million population. Um, you know, the number of licenses that will be given on a retail side, number of licenses on a cultivation manufacturing, and what are the neighboring state, what are their regulation and what are the regulations within Connecticut?

And if, uh, if all that seems like it's a good state for us to conduct businesses. Businesses then, then that's when we, we jump in because when we dive in, we do, our investment is pretty heavy specifically instead of Connecticut. So we, we conduct that homework ahead of the time and, and if it seems attractive, which in case of Connecticut it is.

So we went for it.

Sarah Westby: Yeah. And so for the listeners who may not be as familiar with how Connecticut went about creating this legal framework for selling cannabis, there was a lottery process that. Was initiated in 2022. And for all licenses except for one type, cultivation, you had to enter into this lottery process.

Correct. Um, and there were a limited number of licenses drawn in each, uh, license category that was announced ahead of time, but businesses could put in unlimited applications for those licenses. They just had to apply and pay the fee each time. So what was your experience like with that lottery process?

Nevil Patel: You know, it was great. I mean, uh, we, we, we do too much in plenty of homework before we dive in. So we, we were fully aware of what the regulations said, what regulations were wanting us to do. So, uh, I mean, it was a very heavy, uh, application process, therefore about, uh, I think, uh, we spent about.

15 days Wow. Applying. And there were, uh, I think, uh, 12 plus team members that, uh, uh, f 10 plus hours a day. All we were doing is applying for, uh, for these lottery licenses. So it was an experience in its own,. We, we knew what we were going into. So it was a pretty simple, un expected for us.

But for someone who have, who does not have experience that, that, that could be overwhelming. Yeah,

Sarah Westby: sure. And I know what we saw was there were certain license types, like retail that had, you know, tens of thousands of applications Yeah. And then other types that had fewer. Right. Um, and then the cultivation license was a, a whole different animal.

Yeah. Um, what were some of the challenges that you faced, you know, after you got the lottery results and decided that you were gonna pursue the cultivation? Um, actually getting those businesses off the ground.

Nevil Patel: Oh boy. where to start? That that is, yeah. That it's been, uh, what, two years, three years since the lottery was announced?

Three. Three years. And, uh, and we opened our first retail location about. Uh, uh, year and a quarter ago. So, you know, give or take, we, we were looking at two years before we could even open our first location. Since then, we've opened three more. Uh, our cultivation license is still, um, under construction. We still have two more dispensaries to go.

So that, that process was challenging. I, uh, because once, once State announced. Their licensing process, uh, their licensing winners, they had to go through their own due diligence process to make sure that the licensed winners are, um, uh, are checking all the boxes. They are indeed qualified. They are following all the regulations specifically, um, uh, associated with social equity.

Um, once. We went through that. Then, uh, there was a challenge to work with local municipality who, um, uh, as you know, most of them in Fairfield County and, and many other areas have chosen to opt out. Um, so we can't do business there. Uh, there are municipalities that does allow cannabis within their, uh, within their municipality even they.

Have their own sets of regulations. You have to be in a specific zoning. You have to be X feet away from, uh, uh, sensitive use. You have to be, um, um, you have to go through a spec, special zoning process, then a special approval process. So that part's been challenging. Your construction in itself is, is smooth, but, uh, but, but.

Going through those regulation, uh, regulations and having to, uh, find a location has been very challenging. And of course we always wanna find the best location possible, so there's that.

Sarah Westby: Yeah, sure. And I know I've talked to a lot of people in the state who've been through the same process, and I think pretty uniformly say that zoning was one of the most.

Difficult issues getting it always been very challenging. Yeah. Yes, I'm sure. Um, how did the challenges you faced in Connecticut compare to getting your businesses off the ground in some of the other states? Were they similar? Was it you?

Nevil Patel: You know, it's an interesting question. Uh, no two states are similar in cannabis.

Mm-hmm. Th period. Mm-hmm. Um, Missouri, we had to pre, uh, pre-identify location and that was a merit process, so that was not a lottery reprocessed. They give us a set of questions and a number of words that we can, uh, use for, to answer each one of those questions. We had to identify location ahead of the time.

Receive all the local municipality approval ahead of the time. Wow. And, uh, then we make an application and, uh, and because it was merit based, uh, I think it was a, I wanna say 1800 point application, and they chose the highest scoring application in that specific region.

Wow. Um, so Missouri, we did all, all the homework. Mm. Front end, ahead of the time in so many ways. Um, in, um, Ohio, we also had to identify location ahead of the time. But after identifying location, Ohio was a lottery. So the number of applications that went in were limited compared to Connecticut, because Connecticut, you just.

Apply for it first, and then find location. Mm-hmm. Ohio. You have to find qualifying location first and then apply for the lottery. Um, along with lottery, it had many questions that you have to answer. Um. Ena was also a merit based application. So, uh, that that, and that one did not have a limitation on number of words.

So we, we were just writing essays and essays and essays to, uh, and then, uh, uh, I think we also applied in, uh, a Delaware, which where we received licenses. That was a unique process in its own. Um, we have a pending application in Texas that was a unique application. Uh, and, uh, uh, same thing with a couple other states.

South Dakota, we were in, uh, uh, for about a year. We, the market did not work out for us, so, yeah. Yeah, every state is different and I can't really necessarily say if Connecticut's been better or worse than the others. They all have their own sets of, uh, challenges.

Sarah Westby: For sure, and I'm sure that it's a full-time job just staying on top of all those different regulatory systems and licensing processes.

Nevil Patel: Yes. The most confusion, the confusion occurs because it's a, it's the same business in multiple state, but you can do certain things in one state that you cannot do in the other states. So it's like, can I, can, is this marketing accepted in Connecticut? Mm-hmm. No, but you can do that in Missouri and you can do that in Ohio.

Same thing with the compliance regulation. They all use different system in so many ways, so we have to keep track of those.

Sarah Westby: Right. And those change, at least in Connecticut, every year,

Nevil Patel: they change, they change everywhere They.

Sarah Westby: When you were starting up your various cannabis operations, what were some of the resources that you relied on? Most heavily?

Nevil Patel: Starting as if during construction, which, which phase are you? So, so it's got multiple phases, application phase to regulation, uh, and choosing a location phase to construction or, and operation. Which, uh, phase are you referring to?

Sarah Westby: So let's start with the. Just the initial phase, you know, deciding where you're gonna operate in and you know, what the licensing process looks like.

Did you try to figure out most of that yourself? Or did you hire experts and consultants? So,

Nevil Patel: in Missouri, we, we hired expert, uh, a third party consulting company, uh, uh, who helped us, uh, who held their hand all the way through. Um. Um, but that was after, uh, but, but I put in heavy, heavy, heavy amount. but since then, we've mostly. Been doing it ourself. We do hire subject matter experts if we don't have, um, that part of our team at this point. Our team is large enough. We, uh, we have total about 230 professionals within our team.

Oh, wow. Uh, and we're, we're actually adding about 140 over next, uh, 12 months. So at this time, our team is pretty robust, but, uh, when we first started, we, we had to scrap, uh, for. Those expertise will have. Um, even right now we have, uh, um, uh, a lawyers team in each state who, uh, knows specific regulation about state.

Then sometimes we have to have, uh, legal help within a specific city. Uh, um, but as far as application process, we, we had to, we had to hard consulting about twice. But since then, we've done most of it ourselves. Um, just because our team grew mm-hmm. Um, construction phase, um, it's standard. You, we go through the bidding process for on that and operations.

We, it's, it's now becoming standard for us. We try to do as much as we can in-house and if we have a, if we see a need for any subject matter expert in the long run, we try to hire that per se individual as part of our team.

Sarah Westby: Was there any aspect of your experience in your prior. Line of business with running the convenience stores that really helped you in cannabis or that translated really well

Nevil Patel: retail.

You, uh, we, we, in a convenience store business, we, um, we sell, um, used to sell or, uh, $1 a candy bar at a time. Mm-hmm. And, uh, we gained 20 cents in profit. We sell a lottery tickets and we gain 5 cents in profit. Um, so we, uh, we, we've gone through, you know, it, it's some of them, I mean. I don't think any other business were, uh, uh, is willing to complete a transaction for 5 cent minus the credit card processing fee, and a convenience store does that all day long.

Uh, so that that allowed us to, uh, to that required us to be efficient. Uh, and, and that has helped us a lot. Uh, beyond that, we understood consumer's mindset because a convenience store would go through about a a thousand customers a day. Mm-hmm. So what are they looking for? Where are they traveling? What, you know, what sort of price point is attractive?

Uh, and, uh, you know, the cleanliness of the store, the visit, the how. Where the location should be at and, and all of those things. So retail portion was very helpful, but we had little experience with manufacturing or cultivation previously. Mm-hmm.

Sarah Westby: Can you tell me a little bit about, um, your, your main partners, at least for the Connecticut side of the business, you know, who are you working with at the beginning and, and now?

Nevil Patel: Partners does it Partners in business or partners in a third party? Yeah. Partner business. Um, so partner in business. We, uh, Jocelyn is our, Jocelyn Cerda is our main partner. She is a Hartford local. Uh, she lived in Hartford I think her entire life. And, uh, she's been fantastic to work with. If anybody have ever met Jocelyn, she's always got the smile on her face.

She's always happy. Go-to agreeing to, uh. Everything that is right and, uh, and, and helps when you need her, uh, uh, stays back and watch and learn and grow, uh, when opportunity arises. So working with her has been a Great experience. Um, beyond that, outside, we work with, uh, multiple law firm. many construction company that are local to Connecticut. construction's been the larger part of it. Sure. And then obviously all the individuals that are within our team that we work with and experience has actually, we have been very positive so far in Connecticut.

Good.

Sarah Westby: Can you tell me a little bit about what the. Cannabis market in Connecticut looks like today, from your perspective, um, and how that, you know, may or may not differ from, you know, what you thought when you got into the business back in 2022.

Nevil Patel: So back in 2022, there were about, uh, total four cultivation, cultivator and manufacturer.

Um, when we entered, uh, product supply was a challenge, specifically when state went from, uh, medical to, uh. Adult use. Uh, at this point I think we have about, uh, nine or so cultivator and, and, and maybe 10 plus, uh, manufacturer. Uh, so that has improved, but most of them have only came alive. Came alive in last 12 months.

So there are some challenges associated with, uh, product availability. They, those problems were significantly worse, um, two years ago than what they are now. Uh, but every day that goes by, the, the quality of the product is improving because the competition is getting heavier, which is generally a very positive thing for, uh, and consumers.

Mm-hmm. Uh, prices are slowly coming down. In my personal opinion, they are not where they should be. Um, so when we have, uh, when we activate our cultivation, we are hoping to, hoping for a bit, uh, a bit more price compression. Ultimately, consumers, uh, will win at that point. as far as regulations are concerned, I've, I've noticed that, uh, uh, state and, and legislators have been very, very, uh, helpful.

Uh, this year. They've listened to their consumers, they've listened to their, uh, uh, stakeholders, uh, uh, stakeholders of the community. They've listened to businesses. They, uh, have improved. Uh, they made many improvements this year. Mm-hmm. Uh, this year they've made more improvements than, uh, and I think.

Every year for last three years, they, they've been making positive improvements. Uh, and, and all of those benefits goes towards consumers. Um, THC percentage on flower used to be kept at 30 for adult use. Now it's, uh, changing to 35%. Um, concentrate cap was at 60%. Now it's coming up to 70, which is still not.

Enough because, uh, the whole point of having concentrate is to ha is to be heavy on a THC side. For some of us that needs, uh, uh, that heavy, uh, that that heavy THC uh, percent concentrate. But it is, it is better now. You know, up until now I don't think there was any brand that was selling, uh, concentrate to adult use.

And we do believe that at 70% there will be some brands that the, so the product. Choice will be available. Um, so those are the improvements that have already happened, and I'm sure I'm skipping on a few of 'em that I can think of right now.

Sarah Westby: Have you personally been involved with legislative efforts to try to revise and tweak some of the, the laws and regulations for adult use cannabis?

Nevil Patel: So we do, but larger, uh, the, the, the heavy lift is being done by Adam Woods and, uh, Nicole. From, uh, Connecticut Chamber of Commerce for Cannabis, they have a consistent communication, uh, with us.

And during that they, they try to understand, uh, they ask similar questions as you're asking right now, as to what can we do to improve the industry.

And once they receive similar answer from multiple operators and multiple consumers, they then take it to the legislators, uh, legislators. And then, uh, the, the improvements are generally made.

Sarah Westby: Good. Yeah. And it's a, they're slow, but they're happening. Yes, yes. And the, and the chamber is, is very active.

Chamber's been great. Yeah. They, they communicate very well. Members chambers, very active. Um, what are some of the legislative changes that you are looking forward to or hoping that will be made in the next session?

Nevil Patel: Yeah, so, you know, Connecticut industry is roughly about, uh, 24, 20 $5 million a month. Um. At a 3.1 million population.

If we compare that to any other, um, many other surrounding except New York, is it still coming up? But if you compare that to Massachusetts or the states that I'm familiar with, which is Missouri, uh, or Michigan, which is an outlier, uh, and, and some of the other states, uh, around us, I think the industry, in my opinion, should be close to $50 million a month.

Um, and. There are a few reasons why we're not there yet. One of the main reason is, uh, price compression. The factual information is that Massachusetts, which is uh, 30 minutes from Hartford, uh, have more product choice available at, uh, better prices today. So anybody live who lives within 30 minutes of Massachusetts is still likely to continue purchase.

Uh. Indeed it is not legal to cross border with it, but, uh, that doesn't necessarily stop the, a normal consumer because they're saving significant amount of money as well as they are, uh, getting more choice. But as Connecticut is, um, improving as Connecticut, the number of, uh, wholesalers are increasing in Connecticut, the choice is, uh, there, um, as the reg, uh, as, uh.

Number as competition increase within wholesalers, the prices are going down, which is, which are the two main factor. Mm-hmm. Along with that, uh, some other regulation changes that I would like to see is, uh, right, I think we're limiting the, the per transaction purchased to about one ounce. Um, some of the more successful states see that, uh, uh, in the range of about two to three ounces per transaction.

Um. And, you know, there's, there's a question, you know, why does one need three ounces of cannabis at a time? Why does one need, uh, uh, 36 bottles of Coca-Cola, uh, from Sam's Club or three liter 40 rolls of

Sarah Westby: paper towels or 40 rolls of paper

Nevil Patel: towel at a time? Right? Sure. We don't always have time to make repeat purchase, so, so we are in the society where we stock up.

We BJ's, uh, Sam's Club, Costco, they exist because, uh, we stock up. Right? Right. What, what, what do we need? 1.75 liters of, uh, a whiskey. But the bottle's available. And that's doesn't mean that anyone's going to consume all of that at the same time. It simply means that it's saving time, uh, and uh, gas to consumers.

So that's one factor. Uh, increasing limit of TAC percentage within concentrate is another factor I. 70 is better than 60, but I don't believe it should stop there. I think the whole purpose of having concentrate is to allow, um, the, the total experience, which, uh, which should not be capped at. Um, a few other regulation changes.

 marketing is also extremely challenging. So while it's a Connecticut business owner cannot. Do reasonable amount of marketing to educate their customer.

So the customer is now either going to, um, remain uneducated or is going to make incorrect choices. So allowing us to do reasonable amount of marketing will be very, very helpful and it doesn't need to be. And open and without any regulations, but state like Ohio, Ohio is Ohio's a pretty reasonably strict, uh, marketing, uh, uh, have pretty reasonably strict marketing regulations, uh, packaging.

We are still living in the world where we can only use one color. Cannot be, uh, the logo cannot be larger than certain size. So I, I don't really see a need for that. Uh. So, you know, so far we talked about packaging, uh, pricing, product choices, THC percentage, uh, limit of, uh, what they can buy, uh, in any one transaction.

those are the few things that will help.

Sarah Westby: Yeah. And it's interesting that you mentioned consumer education as a limit, because I've heard from a lot of people about the packaging restrictions and the marketing restrictions.

Correct. Using, you know, very limited colors, black and white packaging. I think you can have one more color now for the logo. Um, but you know, nothing that stands out. Nothing that really you can. Um, take advantage of unique branding, but the consumer education is something I haven't heard much.

Nevil Patel: I'm referring more towards a, uh, a illicit market. Um. While license holder within state of Connecticut are having to go through monthly inspection, have to follow strict regulation around compliance, have to spend.

God awful amount of money achieving a license. Mm-hmm. And cultivation license is, is an example. $3 million is what we had to pay. Uh, interest alone on that is ridiculous. Um, then we have to, uh, follow all these next and next regulation, the testing requirement. It's just, I mean, you know, on one hand I think, I think those requirements should be there, but on the other side.

Why can I still go to a gas station and be able to purchase air quote THC product? Mm-hmm. It's not grown in Connecticut. It is not tested in Connecticut. A normal, average consumer doesn't necessarily know the difference between a, a product that they purchase from a vape shop or a gas station versus a product, uh, versus a.

Connecticut grown product that's been manufactured, tested and regulated versus a, a product that was shipped from God knows where and placed in a extremely colorful packaging. Mm-hmm. With logos such as Spider-Man logos, such as any other cartoon character.

Nevil Patel: So the ones who are following the regulation have to go through so much to be able to conduct normal business. So that is a huge challenge for us. Sure. We, we live in a society where we're required to set, follow a separate set of regulation, and our competition don't have to go through any of it.

Sarah Westby: Yeah. So I, I think what you're saying is there isn't too much you can say or do to compete with these unlawful and regulated stores.

Nevil Patel: They're following same set of regulations. Yeah. But you know, the fact that state is taking heavy action, I, I appreciate that. And ultimately over the long period of time, this, uh, Connecticut will. Get to, uh, the size that they should get to. Um, and, and all these, um, um, illicit activities at some point will have to stop.

Sarah Westby: Yeah, and I think we're gonna continue to see. That as a significant priority for the regulators in Connecticut? Yes. What are some of the operational issues, like the day-to-day things that keep you up at night?

Nevil Patel: You know, I, I sleep very well. But, uh, but on the realistic side of it, um, you know, federal, federal, uh, federal legalization is always a question mark. We, we don't know which direction will Federal go to.

Sure. Uh, will, will they allow, uh, uh. Will there ever be a, uh, a situation where, uh, federal, uh, federal government recognizes the product and, uh, they, they legalize it? And if so, what is that going to look like? That that is a largest, uh, question that no one have an answer to. Uh, beyond that, some more operational issues, security issues, I mean, you know, and, and many others.

Those cultivation is a large facility. Sure. And, uh, at night, if they get broken into what can happen or, uh, you know, and, uh. One of the employees that are working with us, uh, makes a compliance related mistake. What happens then? Do we, you know, so situations like that, that, uh, that keeps so-called, keeps me up at night.

Sarah Westby: So, on the flip side of that, what are you most looking forward to with the Shangri La business in the next year?

Nevil Patel: We are most looking forward to, um, opening all the locations throughout, um, a nation that we have licensed for. So I wanna, uh, our retail team is strong and most of the licenses that are, um, that will, will be opening over the next 12 months will be retail related licenses.

So that's a positive thing that we're looking for. Uh, we are, we're extremely positive for Connecticut. We. Do see the state making positive changes. We are seeing that consumers are starting to recognize your brand. We're seeing, uh, increase in sale, uh, within state of Connecticut every single month in.

Almost every one of our location, uh, we are, uh, seeing better quality of the products coming up. So we're, we're coming up with Borealis, uh, which is our premium, uh, line. And, uh, that, that line have, is craft, craft cannabis. It's, it's basically. Handpicked, uh, cultivars that, uh, that we put in those jars. Um, if it's, um, if it's pre-rolled, then they're generally hand-rolled pre-roll.

Um, if it's edible, um, then the gummies, gummies are made with real fruits versus, uh, uh, uh, versus syrups in, um, in most of the cases. Uh, so we're really, we're really looking forward to that launch of that brand in, uh, in state of Connecticut. Um. And uh, and yeah, hoping to see the market share increase at the same time.

Sarah Westby: Definitely. Well, it's nice to hear some positive outlook for Connecticut because a hundred percent, and on the federal level, it's been a lot of doom and gloom in the past six months. Um, so Nevil, this has been a really interesting conversation. I know I've learned a lot about you and the business. So just to close out our conversation, where can our listeners find Shangri La Stores?

Nevil Patel: So, um, instead of Connecticut, we, uh, have, uh, two locations in Norwalk, uh, one on 75 Connecticut Avenue, and one on four 30 Main, uh, they're hard to see

Sarah Westby: From the road, right?

Nevil Patel: Yeah, yeah. The bright pink and purple building. Yeah.

Sarah Westby: You can't miss it.

Nevil Patel: Connecticut doesn't allow us to have a billboard so that is our creative response. Yeah. Uh, Plainville is another location that we have active in. Waterbury is the fourth location that we have active, and, uh, east Hartford, uh, um, closer to Glastonbury will be the next location that we will, that they can find us at. And hopefully they'll be able to find all the borealis and asteroid products over next, uh, two to four months in, uh, almost every dispensary within state.

Sarah Westby: That's great. Well, thank you so much for coming on and good luck in the next year.

Nevil Patel: Sure. Thanks for having me.