Boston collab launches cannabis-infused ice creams

09-Aug-2022 - Last updated on 12-Aug-2022 at 08:18 GMT

MariMed's cannabis-infused ice cream was made in collaboration with Emack & Bolio's

Related tags Ice cream Cbd hemp extracts vegan ice cream vegan

The flavors were concocted by artisan ice-cream makers Emack & Bolio’s and cannabis operator MariMed to form part of MariMed’s Betty’s Eddies brand.

Consumers can now taste a new cannabis-infused ice creams made by Boston’s Emack & Bolio’s in collaboration with cannabis operator MariMed.

Two vegan flavors - Cup O’ Coffee Chip and Chocolate Sunny Days – have already debuted, and a dairy line is arriving ‘in two weeks’, DairyReporter understands. The THC ice creams are part of MariMed's Betty's Eddies brand which also features infused fruit chews. “Our R&D team pays close attention to consumer trends and food categories that make sense to consider infusing with cannabis,” a MariMed spokesman said. “Ice cream has seen enormous growth, particularly craft ice cream.”

Emack & Bolio’s has licenced stores in MA, NY, IL, NV and FL as well as abroad in Korea, China and Thailand. The cannabis-infused vegan ice cream available in 8oz containers is currently only sold in MA, but the company plans to offer 16oz pints in the future and expand its range to other states ‘as soon as possible’.

“MariMed was looking to partner up with an ice cream company to develop products using their full spectrum cannabis oil and CBD,” Emack & Bolio’s founder Robert Rook told DairyReporter. “We both wanted great tasting product, with clean ingredients infused with the best full-spectrum cannabis oil.

“We make great-tasting products and didn't want cannabis oil submitting them to an off-taste. MariMed’s full-spectrum cannabis oil is very pure and doesn’t have any perceptible influence on the ice cream’s flavor, smell, or texture.”

Rook said that the company opted for vegan ice cream at launch due to ‘a very high demand for our vegan flavors, primarily for lactose intolerance reasons’. “Our dairy line will debut in two weeks,” he added.

The ice-cream maker, whose history is closely-linked with Boston’s music scene all the way back to the 1970s, is known for its artisanally-made scoops as well as its rock-star following that includes the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, U2, Aerosmith and James Brown.

For the regular Joe, there’s also plenty in store, with more flavors coming to the company’s licensed parlors regularly.

“There is a lot of excitement and demand for our product,” explained Rook. “Many of our customers for regular ice cream are also our customers for the full-spectrum cannabis oil-infused product. We launch new flavors each month [and will] pick some after taste tests.”