From client to co-founder, Storz & Bickel executive on US tour to drum up cannabis business

Jürgen Bickel is not only the founder and managing director of Storz & Bickel, he’s also a longtime client of the company’s iconic cannabis smoking device.

The medically certified product manufacturer, based in Tuttlingen, Germany, is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its Volcano vaporizer, which has sold hundreds of thousands of units worldwide since its early days on the market when Bickel first tried it as a consumer.

“It’s really for people who are frequently using cannabis,” he told MJBizDaily during a recent interview and product demo at a private cabana at The Woods in West Hollywood, California.

“There’s a lot of patients who really need to use it several times a day.

“They need reliability and reproducibility.”

The Woods, owned by actor Woody Harrelson and comedian Bill Maher, is the latest cannabis consumption venue to partner with Storz & Bickel as the company expands its presence in the United States and other countries.

“This is an excellent environment for the Volcano,” Bickel said moments after clearing a vapor hit from a balloon attached to the device.

“It really couldn’t be any better.”

Bickel’s stop in Los Angeles was sandwiched between a trip to New Orleans, where the company showcased the Volcano at the Sports Illustrated party during Super Bowl weekend, and the San Francisco Bay Area, where he met with other marijuana businesses and executives.

Bickel spoke with MJBizDaily about the evolution and success of the Canopy Growth Corp. subsidiary, its rigorous testing protocols, the growth of Germany’s medical cannabis market and potential policy ramifications under the country’s newly elected conservative party.

It is really an easy device to use, and from the very beginning, designed to use in a group.

And now today, we have new consumption launches on a very high level. This environment fits perfectly.

We are trying to onboard as much consumption lounges as we can.

We are really happy to work with all of them and provide this way of usage.

We are convincing almost everybody the experience is very, very positive.

Many people describe the high as being a little more clear, more focused.

My partner, Markus Storz, came up with this concept, and I was one of the first clients.

I bought two of them … and when I came back from South America a year later, Marcus was going to a trade show and he needed someone who knew the device and could explain it to customers.

It’s several hundred thousand and, at the moment, we are producing 2,000 balloons a day.

It’s one of the most-used devices in Canada. We distribute worldwide, and last year we were in 121 countries.

You see that cannabis is consumed around the world independent from the legal situation.

There are people who are consuming everywhere. This is really always interesting, always fascinating.

We have two versions of the Volcano.

One is the classic. It’s very robust technology, it’s electromechanical and will never die.

And we have the electronic, in which the temperature is more exact. We always use the concept of conduction and convection.

We are developing our products in-house, so we purchase everything mainly from Germany but also from other countries.

Chips are coming out of China and other Asian countries.

So, there’s a mix, but we are sampling everything in Tuttlingen.

We are the only one globally that has a medical device approved in Canada, Israel and Europe, in Australia and New Zealand.

We are working on one in Argentina.

And this, of course, brings an additional layer of quality in production but also in the development phase.

Your whole supply chain needs to be approved.

It’s not perfect, but it is a big advancement.

I’m on the board of the German Cannabis Industry Association, and we were involved in the process.

For the medical side, it’s much easier to prescribe.

And on the recreational side, they allowed you to have up to 50 grams, but there’s a little bit of difficulty in sourcing.

You don’t have really a shop that you can go to and buy.

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Yes, like 80% growth in this market.

Last year, we more than doubled our business in Germany.

We’re a German brand, and of course, a lot of people like that.

I do not believe that they will roll it back completely and say it’s a narcotic again.

They might make some restrictions to telemedicine prescriptions.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Chris Casacchia can be reached at chris.casacchia@mjbizdaily.com.