Video: The couple behind Kapnos is finally cultivating the exceptional flower they set out to grow more than a decade ago
Many businesses vying to operate in the Massachusetts cannabis industry will never get the opportunity.
It’s a total slog to move from concept to approval, and while some who make it to opening day will shutter soon after, they still made it further than applicants who never passed through the provisional phase of the licensing gauntlet.
But while thousands of applicants will never experience the commingled joy and frustration of working their way through the whole awful process, from insane municipal hurdles and neighbor approval to the Cannabis Control Commission crucible, Lynne and Brian Striar have basically—patiently—done it twice.
While one prominent multi-state operator appears in their story, the saga of the Striars in the regulated Bay State marijuana world is one of a literal mom and pop force. Better yet, it’s one that started at the dawn of regulated weed in New England.
“Lynne and I have been involved here in the cannabis space in Massachusetts since the beginning,” Brian said during a recent tour of the Tier 2 (5,001 – 10,000 sq. ft.) Kapnos grow in Sharon. “We applied for the first round of medical licensing in 2012.”
After several years of wrangling and having to sing and dance for townspeople at a time when prohibitionist fears still posed significant challenges, by 2019 the Striars were finally in a position to bring Four Daughters Compassionate Care, a vertically-integrated operation that could produce for the medical market, across the finish line. The business was named for their own daughters who are all grown, and with that inspiration they set out to raise $20 million in order to build a 33,000 sq. ft. manufacturing and cultivation facility.
They also had a location and lease for a dispensary in Plymouth, plus a store ready to go in Sharon, right next to where the current Kapnos grow is on Route 1, just north of Gillette Stadium. They’d learned how to navigate the system, to the point that Brian even volunteered to coach participants in the state’s Social Equity program. Hot prospects aside, though, he said they “weren’t good at raising money.” And since they “couldn’t raise the money on [their] own,” they “decided it was a good deal to get involved with Verano.” The Striars came to an agreement with the major brand, which has more than 120 stores in 14 states. Verano currently operates a Zen Leaf dispensary in the Sharon space formerly planned for Four Daughters.
As they explain it, the offer was a savior. But despite their fortunate exit from that massive endeavor, the Striars never got to do what they “set out to do,” “which is to grow quality cannabis.” More specifically, medical-grade weed, since Lynne has consumed for her Crohn’s disease, and Brian has used it in his own healing as a cancer survivor.
“Cannabis,” Lynne said in their storage room surrounded by hundreds of pounds of the stuff, “is the best thing.”
Now proudly serving that essential principle foremostly, the couple behind Kapnos is producing top-shelf small-batch flower that screams quality in every dimension. For our tour, Director of Cultivation Tom Tweed brought us on a joy ride through a sweet and skunky purple-green kaleidoscope, all demonstrating why their prerolls are so stellar—there’s no shake, or trim, just all bud. Several companies make a similar claim, but in watching theirs get twisted up close, it is clear that they actually mean it. Of course, the proof is in the puff, and we recommend their Strawberry Apricot, Sundae Driver, and Super Boof—or really anything they’re growing.
Meanwhile, Kapnos is also growing in ambition. In addition to performing big and tiny tasks around the cultivation, the Striars run the Broccoli Gallery down the street, where they host and rent the space for product launches, wholesale buyers, and infused dinners. The maze of rooms features a wide array of styles, streetscapes to international exhibits, with an anchor in a knockout spread of canna-friendly rock and jam band concert posters that the couple has collected through the years. They’re interested in eventually potentially exploring social consumption there. At the same time, they’re back to scouting retail locations, and revisiting select aspects of their original plan.
“We’re contemplating opening a small dispensary in Sharon, if we can get approval,” Brian said. “We’re still in the early planning stages, but we’d like to help the medical community in that way.”
