With an exclusive drop at GOAT Global, LA-based brand Planta makes its much-anticipated debut on the rec market with three strains: two new crosses and one classic. The brand began when Freddie Bigg ((Taste Maker/Marketing Strategist/Co Founder of Planta; co-owner of SF Canna) teamed up with close friend in the industry Derek (Cultivator/Co Founder) who explains the dynamics of their partnership, ”I’m the grower, he’s the tastemaker.”
Derek contributes 15 years of genetics and cultivation experience while Bigg focuses on the pheno-hunting selection, he says “a large part of our brand is a commitment to quality.” Though the strains are being grown at scale, Derek says, “the quality is small batch, it’s boutique quality.”
The two first met in Sacramento training to be professional MMA fighters, and at one point over the years Bigg was even Derek’s boxing coach. “As fighters, you go through a lot,” Derek says, “who better to have as a partner than someone that you trust like that.”
The pair worked together for many years before the official launch of Planta in 2021. Derek says it was Biggs who pushed him to launch their own brand saying “we need to put our own bag out, we need to put our own brand out.”
The debut strains Coffin Candy and Cleopatra are a collaboration with the Duke of Erb and are both crossed with Strawberry Zkillato. Coffin Candy was released in the spring to much acclaim. Biggs says it was “a change from the typical type of candy that’s been prevalent in the market right now. It’s a unique flavor and I think it has a unique potency, look and smell.”
“A lot of the contemporary flavors that people want are integrated into these strains in a unique different way” Bigg explains, “We have some really unique candy gasses with different textures and different flavors than anybody’s seen before.”
Rounding out the trio ”the original Biscotti cut, it’s a fan favorite. it’s always a classic,” Derek says. But “the goal is to have our own unique line of genetics and we are well on our way.”
Planta is only just getting started, with big plans for the future. “We’ve been dedicating a lot of space to pheno-hunting, currently hunting 200 seeds a month.” Derek says, “You can expect a lot of new flavors.”
