Learn about the origin story of Ounce of Hope, first featured in the Memphis Health and Fitness Magazine (view full article). In this blog, we want to give you some behind-the-scenes insight into our shop. Namely, we want to touch on how Ounce of Hope’s owner got the brand started — and the growing dispensary side of our job.
Ounce of Hope’s Origin
Two years into his college career, Collin Bercier had to move back home to Louisiana to care for his mom who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Progressive and incurable, Bercier’s mom spent the last few years in Louisiana. Unfortunately, the state offered no legal access to cannabis at the time, despite studies showing its benefits for pain relief.
The urge to help his mother and others like her sparked a fire in Collin. He went on to pursue his mission of providing high-quality, medicinal alternatives to anyone in need. And so, Ounce of Hope was born. Inspired by a mother’s pain, it’s our goal to relieve as much pain and other symptoms from our community as we can.
Vertical Business Progression
It took studying aspects of CBD and other hemp product production, but Bercier put together a local facility. That shop uses colorful pet fish as our starting point to create a vertical business. A vertical business produces almost all of its supplies for the finished product in-house, which was always our goal.
“Fish produce nutrients that plants love, and plants help keep the water clean. We take the traditional ‘vertical’ definition further because we’re fish farmers and a nutrient company, too,” says Collin.
“We rely very little on outside inputs to supply our customers with organic products.”
If you don’t know yet, we put a lot of effort into aquaponics to produce high-quality hemp. And if you’re unsure of what aquaponics is, be sure to check out our blog on the topic!
In short, aquaponics is a form of agriculture. We combine raising fish in tanks with using their poop as a nutrient source to power our plants. Essentially, we take care of the fish, and the fish take care of our plants!
Unique Tours at Our Facility
We’re so proud of the fish, in fact, that we’ve built an entire tour around our facility. It’s time for you to meet our fish! Our unique facility raises fish for nutrients and proteins, grows plants, and extracts CBD-related products from harvest. Guests on our tours learn about the different life cycles of fish, the cannabis plant, and much more!
Why are we so proud of the fact that we grow our hemp differently? Because we know, that means we grow it better using our careful practices. Very few cannabis companies raise fish to produce their own nutrients. Even further, few brands are growing their weed through aquaponic means.
We aim to position ourselves for continued growth with a low carbon footprint as we set out on this eco-friendly adventure. With overfishing, global shortages, and ocean pollution worsening daily, we’re honored not to be part of the problem.
In our aquaponics facility, we carry almost 5,000 gallons of Ornamental Koi and Tilapia. We aim to bring our clients a product that has a minimal environmental impact. Plus, “we can harvest about six times per year, and we grow plants and raise fish 365 days per year,” according to Collin.
All Our Offerings
CBD, a non-psychoactive component and cannabinoid in hemp, is what got Bercier started on the brand. Now, though, we’ve expanded to several additional cannabinoids. We carry delta-8 THC, legal THC, THC-O, HHC, CBG, and CBN, to name the current ones.
We’re also constantly trying to expand further as we discover all that hemp has to offer. It’s a beautiful plant, and that beauty is amplified when you get down to the molecule with it.
“I also tell my CBD newcomers to Google endocannabinoid system and read about your CB1 and CB2 receptors concerning maintaining homeostasis within the body. For example, THC and CBD help with sleep, mood, appetite, pain, nausea, and other symptoms associated with multiple conditions,” Collin says.
“We’ve had success with our CBD+Delta 8 products for sleep, anxiety, and pain. If the patient cannot use THC, I recommend our CBD+Melation+CBN gel caps.”
More on CBD
CBD helps balance the endocannabinoid system in the body. Abundant in antioxidants and neuroprotectants, CBD doesn’t provide a “high” feeling. However, some of our other products do. We have a bit of everything you might want throughout our shop. And if you’re unsure, stop by in person. One of our associates will be happy to help you find the product that fits your needs.
Products, trends, and patient needs are rapidly evolving every day. It’s our goal as a hemp company to try to evolve with our patient’s needs.
And while anyone can use CBD products, they’re not for everyone. It’s good to consult with a medical health professional before taking any product. That goes double if you intend on incorporating that product into your daily routine.
On another note, Collin recommends using our broad-spectrum CBD oils if you have to pass drug tests. “If you have to pass drug tests for your occupation, you shouldn’t use full-spectrum CBD as it contains a little THC.”
Finally, we offer sample sizes to help give you a taste of our products. If you don’t like them, then you’ve only a negligible amount.
“One of the things we’ve done is put the majority of our products into a $5 sample size,” says Collin. He recommends trying all the different consumption methods, such as edibles, smoke, vape, sublingual, and more. “We want our customers to be able to try multiple products, to see what works best for you.”