| AGREEN1 recently conducted an interview with Alex Pasternack, Executive VP of Binske. Along with his brother, Jacob, who is the company’s CEO and Chairman; they created an iconic brand called Binske (pronounced binsk) under the parent company called Praetorian Global. A 21st Century story of pot pioneering success, with no road map and oodles of hurdles to overcome. Here is Part One of a two part interview |
| AGREEN1: Why cannabis? ALEX PASTERNACK: My brother and I have been pretty fascinated with the plant for many, many years… I also attended the University of Colorado in Boulder where I received a double engineering degree, and during that time Colorado went legal. This gave us the opportunity to see the country’s very first dispensaries popping up. But most of the credit goes to my brother who, about six years ago, decided we should jump into the industry after he was unable to find any luxury cannabis products. There was a void in the market and he knew there were many others wanting a connoisseur or luxury cannabis line of products. AG1: That makes sense. Amendment 64, which legalized cannabis in Colorado, passed in November 2012 and Binske was founded in 2015. ALEX: That’s correct. The timing was perfect and it afforded my brother, Jake and I, a once in a lifetime opportunity to witness front row and center, the birth of the regulated cannabis industry in the US. It was his forward-leaning vision of a more refined and cultured line of skus that compelled us to make our way in the industry. |
| AG1: Where does the name Binske come from? ALEX: In our younger days, my brother and I would use the code word “dubinsky” for weed, which is our own derivation of the word “doobie” which is also code for a joint. So we agreed to keep some form of that word to represent our brand of products, simply calling it Binske, and the “e” is silent. AG1: So you have six years into the legally regulated adult-use cannabis industry, which didn’t exist before; you’re all true pot pioneers in that sense. How does it feel today from the rearview mirror? ALEX: Honestly, it’s been a grueling last few years, a bit like carving out something that doesn’t exist, no template and no real mentors. Still, I’m grateful to be living the dream, to be making cannabis a legal product… it’s a product that helps people, and it’s a product that millions of people across the earth love to safely consume. And like we say at Binske: enjoy the journey. In the next Wednesday issue, Alex will tell us how they survived the pandemic, secrets to their products and what’s next for the award-winning cannabis brand. Please stay tuned! |
