Inside the “Amazon of THC”: Edibles.com Reinvents Cannabis E-Commerce

With the nationwide launch of Edibles.com last spring, Edible Brands, the
company behind Edible Arrangements, is entering bold new territory: THC.
Yes, *that* Edible Arrangements — the name behind the flower-shaped
pineapples and chocolate-covered strawberries gracing teachers’ desks and
mother-in-laws’ kitchen islands since 1999.

The idea of transitioning to THC had been percolating for a while, with the
brand acquiring the domain name a year ago after settling a cybersquatting
lawsuit to release the name from World Media Group, an entity that had
acquired the site with the hope of turning a profit by reselling it. Soon
after, Edible Brands hired cannabis business professional Thomas Winstanley
as executive vice president and general manager of the new venture,
Edibles.com. Later that year, Somia Farid Silber stepped up as CEO after
eight years with the company.

The synergy comes not only from the name, but also from the brand’s trusted
reputation. In a market dominated by gas station grams and poorly labeled
edibles in prohibition states, Edible Arrangement’s trusted reputation is a
salve for those seeking regulation and reliability.
Thomas Winstanley

Edibles.com now reaches more than 65% of Americans with lab-tested,
federally compliant THC products, offering same-day delivery in select
markets. It’s a first-of-its-kind e-commerce network built for a category
that, until recently, was defined by patchwork regulation, consumer
uncertainty and underground connections.

Cannabis Now recently spoke with Winstanley to understand how this new
model came to life, and what it means for the new era of cannabis commerce.
*Building the “Amazon of THC”*

Winstanley has described his ideal model as “The Amazon of THC.” In the
same way Amazon helped build trust and ease in e-commerce, Edibles.com
seeks to educate and serve as a central hub for THC nationwide.

“We shied away from that moniker initially, but the parallels are there.”
Winstanley says. “Amazon started with one category, books, that made sense
for e-commerce. For us, that entry point is functional ingestibles:
products that are safe, tested and outcome-driven.”

But Winstanley’s ambitions go beyond product aggregation. “Amazon built an
ecosystem that educated consumers about online shopping. We’re trying to do
the same for cannabis,” he explains. “Our goal is to demystify the access
point—to help people understand what they’re buying, why it’s legal and how
to shop by outcome rather than just strain or potency.”

At the end of the day, Edibles.com’s is focused on consumer health and
wellness—helping people enhance their wellbeing through hemp while being
able to skip the hassle of going to the store. “Wellness is our guiding
principle: highly categorized products that focus on outcome,” Winstanley
says. “We have a lot of folks who are purchasing products online for the
first time and having them delivered to their door.”

Even within such a massive framework, starting a new business is never
easy. “In some ways, we’re beginning a business within a company. This is
not an extension of more ways to sell strawberries, but a whole new
portfolio of substances,” he says, adding that Edibles.com is currently
primarily speaking to Edible Arrangements’ existing audience.
*Designed for Function*

Edibles.com’s UX/UI mirrors the company’s mission to deliver outcome-driven
products. Rather than overwhelming users with a dispensary-style menu of
hundreds of SKUs, Edibles.com organizes its offerings by need: sleep,
stress, pain management, energy and mood uplift.

That health-forward lens, he notes, aligns more with Target’s vitamin aisle
than a traditional cannabis shop. “My wife and I love Olly Sleep Gummies,”
he says. “Our products belong in that same conversation. We’re not
marketing ‘getting high’; we’re marketing better sleep, less stress and
overall functional outcomes. That’s the bridge between cannabis and
wellness.”

This framing places THC as a nootropic along the lines of ashwagandha,
demystifying the ingredient as a part of the larger wellness landscape.
Winstanley describes their framing as “more aligned with nutraceuticals
than controlled substances.”
*The Compliance Maze*

With each state comes a new set of laws, bylaws and risk assessments, along
with a separate set of legal reviews and ongoing vetting. “We move fast,
but we’re also cautious,” he says. “Every day involves balancing innovation
with compliance. You want to grow quickly, but you can’t jeopardize
consumer trust or partner integrity.”

That trust is earned through curation and transparency. Edibles.com only
features brands with established reputations, such as Wyld, Wana, Kiva, and
Cann—all of which undergo rigorous compliance audits before being listed.
“This is our varsity lineup,” Winstanley says. “It sets us up to reach
further outside the margins.”
*Restoring Confidence in a $28B Market*

While the U.S. hemp-derived THC market now exceeds $28 billion, consumers
remain skeptical of its legality. “We get asked all the time: ‘How is this
legal?’” he says. “We’re talking about the same molecule, just different
extraction processes due to regulation.”

Since hemp plants legally contain less than 0.3% THC, industry practice
requires hemp-derived THC to take the route of using CBD to convert into
THC. This process requires more sophisticated techniques, such as
isomerization. “Marijuana” plants, however, have a naturally higher THC
content, lending themselves to a more straightforward extraction process
(including solvents, ethanol or CO2).

“Hemp leveled the playing field,” he says. “It allows for a vibrant, more
diverse community of entrepreneurs and businesses that are no longer locked
out of the market and can pursue their goals, finding a manufacturing
contract with a brewery or gummy company, rather than in a regulated
market.”

However, in November, President Trump signed a spending bill to end the
43-day government shutdown, which included a ban on all hemp-derived THC
products. While nothing has taken effect yet—and industry professionals are
pushing back—it remains a very real threat. Winstanley is one of those
professionals, pledging to use the one-year grace period to organize
resistance: “Farmers, brands, and consumers, once fragmented, are now
mobilizing together to defend what they’ve built and to finally push for
the federal framework the hemp industry has long demanded.”

“We’re executive directors of the US Hemp Roundtable. We’re aiming to
ensure that federal laws don’t eliminate the $28 billion industry, 3,000
jobs, and revenue for farmers that they currently generate from soy and
corn production. I’m fortunate to have to solve these problems; I think
there’s a major generational shift happening – the issues we’re arguing
about now will be so far in the rearview mirror in the next ten years. The
pain will be worth it in the end.”
*A Responsible Revolution*

For Winstanley, the stakes go beyond business. “We’re not just selling THC,
we’re proving we can do it responsibly at scale,” he says.

He’s candid about the risks that keep him up at night, the first concern
being the very real consumer health threat posed by unregulated products.
“I have a four-year-old and one-year-old, and if my son saw a Nerd’s
Rope-infused gummy, he’s more likely to try something he shouldn’t. That’s
why we self-regulate, use age gates, and push for better policies.”

Amid the challenges, Winstanley remains optimistic. “THC can help our
country,” he says. “It’s grown, processed and sold here: a true homegrown
supply chain. What excites me most is that we’re finally bringing cannabis
into the same conversation as wellness, health and happiness.”
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*Catch the full story on how Edible Brands brought cannabis to the
mainstream — coming to the next print edition of Cannabis Now.*

The post Inside the “Amazon of THC”: Edibles.com Reinvents Cannabis
E-Commerce appeared first on Cannabis Now.