Rosin Heads is a leading edible producer in Canada with one of the top-selling hash rosin edible brands in the country. This article will explore the history of Rosin Heads and its founder Todd Neault, as well as analyze the marketing and branding strategies that the brand utilizes.
History Rooted In The Legacy Market
Chocolate was always a deep, passionate pursuit for Todd Neault, founder of Rosin Heads. Todd learned how to craft artisanal chocolates in order to bring plant medicines to the community.
Several years pre-legalization, Todd stumbled upon an excess of shatter – a solid, translucent cannabis concentrate that was very popular at the time. With his knowledge of edible and chocolate making, he decided to launch a legacy market brand named Shattered Sweets, an homage to the input material he would be using. For this venture, Todd produced a variety of different ingestible cannabis products including chocolate and various candies. Not too long after this venture began to take off, a private equity firm approached Todd to purchase the brand name and recipes and bring Shattered Sweets to the legal market in the United States. Todd accepted and Shattered Sweets was officially sold.
After this acquisition, Todd truly realized his passion for chocolate-making specifically. The Canna Chocolatier was born in late 2016. These high-end artisanal-infused chocolates were sold at numerous legacy events across Toronto including The Green Market and received considerable attention through various publications such as High Canada Magazine.
Legalization and HEXO
Todd’s adventures were going on during a very important time in Canadian cannabis history. As his legacy brand was growing, the legalization of recreational cannabis was taking place in the background. In 2018, just prior to the official legalization date, Todd met with over 25 different Licensed Producers in order to bring his product to the legal market. Eventually, HEXO acquired Todd and his company The Canna Chocolatier. Todd served a variety of roles within HEXO – developing their in-house edible recipes and eventually moving on to R&D and new product development. Todd himself helped formulate some of their best-selling products including OS.Hash and the OS.Klik. After working in non-edible related capacities for some time, Todd decided to “go back to chocolate”. This is when Rosin Heads was born.
The Creation of Rosin Heads
Rosin Heads was initially founded in the legacy market – offering uniquely shaped, premium quality and properly dosed edibles. The brand quickly took off as a result of Todd’s strong products and strong branding. Once Todd decided to bring the brand to the legal market, he had to find manufacturing and distribution partners. WeedMe, a premium legal Licensed Producer focused on craft cannabis, teamed up with Todd to distribute Rosin Heads-branded and WeedMe-branded chocolates and truffles across Canada. The brand came to market in October of 2022, making a big splash in Ontario and Alberta. Rosin Heads really defined and popularized the solventless hash rosin edible market in Canada. It became apparent that consumers do really care about the inputs of their edibles, specifically looking for hash rosin and similar concentrates. Todd acted against the data – betting that consumers didn’t mind the taste of cannabis in their edibles as long as they knew the inputs were high-quality concentrate. Defying the norm and breaking the status quo is something the Rosin Heads brand has accomplished since day one – and it’s paid off.
Rosin Heads Branding and Marketing
Rosin Heads is one of the most well-thought-out and executed cannabis brands in Canada. The core of the entity’s brand is centered around its unique chocolate molds. Initially, Rosin Heads offered chocolates in the shape of buddhas, hamsas and ganesha – all symbols associated with hinduism and spirituality. Todd was inspired by a spiritual psychedelic trip and fell in love with these symbols. These icons resonate deeply with those who are familiar with them. The name “Rosin Heads” was conceptualized by Todd in an Ontario parking lot. The name was born when Adam from Sieve Solventless requested for Todd to create hash-infused edibles and the fact that Todd’s main products at the time were Buddha heads. Rosin + Heads = Rosin Heads.
When the brand transitioned to the legal market, some of the branding concepts needed to evolve. Unfortunately, Health Canada bans producers from depicting people or using religious icons in their products or marketing and advertising. Todd investigated the regulations and found that his Hamsa was considered a cultural symbol and therefore is not depicting a person or even a body part. For this reason, moving forward, the Hamsa became Rosin Heads signature symbol. The Hamsa is a universal symbol of protection, promoting the feeling of safety and trust in the RH brand.
One of Rosin Head’s main taglines is “Rosin Heads is Legal Tender”. This is a reference to the fact that the brand is now legal. Furthermore, their logo is round like a coin with RH as the numeral denominator – which is derived from “hash rosin coins”, a popular hash rosin product type. Further, the brand’s new molds and product lines are in the shape of hash rosin coins. Rosin Heads has always proclaimed and even filed for a trademark for the term “In Hash We Trust”. This is a play on American currency, further contributing to the “Legal Tender” theme.
Rosin Heads stated brand goal is to restore the relationship between indulgence and cannabis consumption with beautifully crafted chocolates that focus on taste, quality, and precise dosing. The brand is extremely well thought-out with intricate guidelines and iconography.
Chocolate Beyond Cannabis
Todd has a big vision for his chocolate business. The future of Rosin Heads and Todd’s chocolate endeavors may not have anything to do with cannabis, though. Todd initially learned how to make chocolate in order to deliver cannabis to consumers, but in the process he fell in love with chocolate-making. One day we expect Todd to have his own chocolate storefront where he can continue to share this passion with the world.
Last Updated on July 18, 2023 by ADCANN
