Strawberry Fields Plans For Marijuana Home Delivery, A First For Denver

DENVER (CBS4) – From edibles to flower and everything in between, Strawberry Fields has all your cannabis needs, and soon, the dispensary will be able to bring it to your front door.

The company, which operates five dispensaries around the state, received Denver's first store marijuana delivery permit, according to the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses. The permit approval comes after Denver City Council voted to opt in to marijuana delivery in April.

"E-commerce is getting more and more popular, so there's that sense of convenience you can order from the comfort of your own home," said Ethan Shean, Chief of Retail Operations for Strawberry Fields.

While the dispensary now owns Denver's first store marijuana delivery license, employees won't be doing the driving. Denver's new marijuana rules require businesses to use a transporter for the first 3 years of the program. Those licenses will be exclusively offered to people the state defines as social equity applicants.

"It takes two to tango," said Faline VanLandschoot, Chief of Operations at Strawberry Fields. "The transporter needs a dispensary as much as we need the transporter."

According to VanLandschoot, Strawberry Fields is currently talking with several potential partners, including Doobba LLC, which was the first business to apply for a Denver transporter license. According to a spokesperson for the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses, there are currently three 3 pending transporter/delivery business license applications.

So far, Strawberry Fields is the city's only applicant for a store marijuana delivery license.

According to Truman Bradley, executive director of the Marijuana Industry Group, one reason could be the social equity rules.

"That's not necessarily a bad thing, it just makes an already new dynamic a little bit more complicated," Bradley said. "You've got the stores and you've got the third parties, both of which need to be licensed for delivery to happen.

He says others may still be feeling the new market out and waiting to see if delivery is worth the investment.

"We need to see what the demand for delivery is, what the cost to get it to the consumer are, and if there's a sweet spot right in the middle where those align," he said.

Employees with Strawberry Fields believe there is demand for safe, convenient delivery. Once they have an agreement with a transporter and can begin fulfilling deliveries, they could still have the market to themselves.

"We really want to establish a good model to be set, especially for the Denver area," Shean said.