HEMP BEVERAGE ADVISORY & EXECUTION

FOR ESTABLISHED HEMP BEVERAGE BRANDS

Hemp beverage expertise.
Built for what comes next.

We help established hemp beverage brands enter markets, resolve manufacturing challenges and improve day-to-day operations. Work directly with specialists in regulatory and scientific affairs, product development, manufacturing and distribution, from the first assessment through agreed implementation.

Request a consultation ↗Compare engagements ↓

Start with an assessment, a defined project or ongoing advisory support.

FOUNDER EXPERIENCE IN HEMP & CBD

Our founders bring hands-on experience from Goodland FNB, Hi Seltzer and Novel CBD. Our team’s cannabinoid-industry experience dates to 2018, the year the federal Farm Bill established a national framework for hemp production.

Goodland
Goodland FNB
Hi Seltzer
Hi Seltzer
Novel CBD
Novel CBD
DR. APPLETON12 submission statesConfirmed state-submission experience
PETER ARCHEYManufacturing experiencePartner sourcing and production coordination
DR. APPLETON20+ beverage SKUsRegulatory and quality support
PETER ARCHEYHands-on leadershipFrom operating plan to daily execution

EXPERIENCE INSIDE OPERATING BUSINESSES

Experience with measurable
operating impact.

Prior founder work in regulatory readiness and beverage operations. The examples below describe historical engagements, not results attributed to the new firm.

DR. APPLETON / REGULATORY & QUALITY

Supporting a multi-state beverage portfolio

The business need
Coordinate product submissions, labels, testing and market-entry requirements as beverage portfolios expand.
The work
Prepared registration materials and supporting laboratory records, coordinated state submissions and follow-up, and translated packaging requirements into practical work for production and distributor teams.
Experience delivered
Supported more than 20 beverage SKUs across a confirmed 12-state submission record, qualified three laboratories and worked with more than a dozen laboratories nationally. Experience spans two beverage businesses.
Discuss product or market readiness ↗
PETER ARCHEY / LOGISTICS & OPERATIONS

33% lower total shipping expense from 2024 to 2026

The business need
Improve the cost and coordination of warehousing, shipping logistics and packaging for a beverage business.
The work
Implemented logistics changes, including the use of expedited logistics, alongside improvements to warehousing coordination and packaging.
The reported result
Total shipping expense fell 33% over the two-year period from 2024 to 2026 after implementation. The comparison measures total shipping expense, not cost per shipment or per unit. Warehousing, logistics and packaging were part of the improvement work; no separate savings percentage is attributed to those areas.

Anonymized prior work by Peter Archey. Historical result; savings depend on the business and are assessed from its records.

Discuss your logistics challenge ↗

Selected prior founder experience. Engagement scope is tailored to your products, markets and operating needs.

OUR PRACTICE

Clear deliverables.
Practical support.

Bring us the decision or bottleneck in front of your team. We scope the work around your products, markets, priorities and the support you already have in place.

01 / REGULATORY & SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS

Regulatory & Scientific Affairs

Understand the requirements for your products and markets, then organize the work needed to meet them.

  • State market-entry requirements, registrations and submissions
  • Can and multipack label, claims and COA review
  • Laboratory qualification and testing documentation
  • Traceability, quality systems and regulatory monitoring

What you receive A market requirements matrix, packaging review or submission-readiness checklist, with prioritized testing and documentation actions.

Discuss regulatory support ↗
02 / PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Product Development

Connect the product brief with ingredient decisions, testing needs and a workable manufacturing plan.

  • Technical formulation and ingredient assessment
  • Technical product assessments and specifications
  • Laboratory and manufacturing partner coordination
  • Shelf-life testing planning and product-readiness review

What you receive A technical assessment and development work plan identifying specifications, testing needs and decisions to resolve before production. Full formulation development is scoped separately.

Discuss your product ↗
03 / MANUFACTURING & OPERATIONS

Manufacturing & Operations

Identify operating constraints and help your team put improvements into practice.

  • Co-packer evaluation and manufacturer sourcing
  • Supplier negotiations and procurement
  • Cost-of-goods and margin analysis
  • Production planning, inventory forecasting and operating processes

What you receive A production or supplier plan, a documented cost analysis or an operating improvement plan with responsibilities and milestones. We identify, quantify and implement improvements using your operating and financial records; savings are assessed after reviewing those records.

Discuss an operating challenge ↗
04 / DISTRIBUTION & COMMERCIALIZATION

Distribution & Commercialization

Prepare the documentation and operating handoffs behind a launch or market expansion.

  • Distributor documentation and onboarding
  • Retail readiness and channel requirements
  • Warehousing, freight and fulfillment coordination
  • Launch milestones, sales operations and market-entry planning

What you receive A launch-readiness checklist, distributor onboarding plan or fulfillment workflow with named owners and dependencies.

Discuss your next market ↗

HOW WE WORK

Start with the work
you need done.

Start with a defined business problem. Agree the deliverables, responsibilities, timing and commercial terms before engagement.

UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM

Operational or Regulatory Assessment

Best fit You need to understand a regulatory risk, production bottleneck or margin issue before choosing the next step.What you receive A findings summary, prioritized action plan and review meeting for one agreed regulatory or operating workstream.

Assessment scope and timing

We agree the questions, decision-makers and records before starting. Inputs may include labels, COAs and market requirements, or supplier quotes, freight invoices, packaging costs and inventory records.

Planning target: two to three weeks after receipt of the agreed inputs, confirmed in your proposal. Implementation, legal opinions and approval guarantees are outside the assessment unless separately scoped.

Discuss an assessment ↗
DELIVER A SPECIFIC IMPROVEMENT

Defined Improvement Project

Best fit You have a defined challenge, such as a market-entry submission, manufacturer transition or inventory planning gap.What you receive The agreed analysis, working documents and implementation support, with milestones and a named owner for each deliverable.

Discuss a project ↗
ADD ONGOING SUPPORT

Fractional Advisory

Best fit Your team needs recurring regulatory, quality or operating support.Starting model 10 combined consultant hours per month, including two working meetings, preparation, agreed execution tasks and a written priorities and progress tracker.Responsibilities One lead coordinates the work. We own the agreed analyses, documents and follow-through; your team retains business decisions and approvals. The proposal defines each founder’s contribution. Larger advisory and implementation engagements are available beyond this 10-hour starting model, with hours and responsibilities agreed in advance.

Discuss ongoing support ↗

Fees are quoted after we understand your priorities and scope. Regulatory and operations work can be scoped separately. Your proposal confirms deliverables, hours, timing and responsibilities before work begins.

Request a consultation ↗

SEE WHAT THE WORK LOOKS LIKE

A label review
with a launch plan.

Explore an illustrative market-entry deliverable for Minnesota, Tennessee and Kentucky: a requirements matrix, beverage label checklist, designer handoff, launch milestones and regulator and distributor coordination.

View sample deliverable ↗

Four-page PDF. Illustrative workflow with fictional findings; market eligibility and current requirements are verified for each engagement.

INSIDE THE SAMPLE

From target market
to release readiness

  • Market requirements and evidence register
  • 14-point beverage label review checklist
  • Designer, laboratory and agency handoffs
  • Target-date planning and distributor readiness
  • Documented launch go/no-go decision

YOUR FOUNDING TEAM

Product decisions grounded
in science and operations.

Evaluate a formulation or supplier change for its testing, labeling, cost and production implications in the same discussion. Dr. Appleton leads regulatory and scientific work; Peter leads operating and commercial work. One lead coordinates the engagement, with both founders involved where their responsibilities overlap.

Dr. Appleton

REGULATORY, QUALITY & SCIENTIFIC AFFAIRS

Dr. Malik AppletonPharmD, MBA

With cannabinoid-industry experience dating to the 2018 federal Farm Bill era, Dr. Appleton connects pharmaceutical training with hands-on regulatory and quality leadership inside hemp beverage businesses.

His work includes more than 20 beverage SKUs, three laboratories qualified and more than a dozen laboratories engaged. His confirmed state-submission record covers 12 states.

His primary specialty is beverages, with additional experience in CBD products, edibles and smokables.

Agency engagement, state experience and advocacy

Confirmed submissions: New Jersey, Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Indiana, Illinois and Texas.

His hands-on work spans registration materials and submission follow-up, label review across cans and multipacks, laboratory submission documentation, chain-of-custody preparation and batch traceability. He also supports shelf-life testing planning, early product-development assessments and technical education for internal teams, distributors and retail partners.

His agency engagement includes the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management (OCM), Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), Georgia Department of Agriculture, Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC), New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJ-CRC), and other state alcoholic beverage control agencies and ABC networks.

He has also contributed to lobbying and legislative advocacy efforts through expert testimony submissions, stakeholder engagement and on-the-ground work supporting hemp legislation. His experience combines scientific and operating context with direct participation in regulatory and policy discussions.

Agency engagement describes professional experience and does not imply agency endorsement.

Dr. Malik Appleton, PharmD, MBA
Peter Archey

OPERATIONS & COMMERCIALIZATION

Peter Archey

Peter works alongside beverage business owners on manufacturing economics, procurement, inventory and distribution. His focus is practical execution: understanding the cost and operating constraints, then helping the team implement improvements.

His background spans retail, COO and ownership responsibilities, early-stage beverage operations and director-level leadership. His work includes the logistics improvements described in the case study above.

A University of Kentucky economics graduate, Peter helps teams turn commercial analysis into production and fulfillment decisions.

Manufacturing experience and leadership approach

Peter has supported beverage businesses through portfolio expansion and increasing production scale. His experience includes working with an existing manufacturer to address concerns about THC beverages and evaluating alternative manufacturing partners when a different production path is needed.

His work connects supplier and manufacturing relationships with cost-of-goods analysis, production coordination, inventory planning and commercial execution. Facility capacity is assessed as a partner capability, rather than represented as production volume personally managed.

He prefers hands-on engagements with small, growing teams that need experienced operating leadership and consistent execution. Scope, weekly involvement and availability are agreed before work begins.

Outside work, Peter enjoys running, golf, basketball and baseball, and lives in Austin with his wife.

Peter Archey

Before we work together.

A clear scope and a practical next step.

Do you advise, or help execute the work?

Engagements can include assessment, defined project execution or fractional leadership. Deliverables, authority and dependencies are agreed before work begins. We do not promise approvals, retailer placement or sales outcomes.

Can you provide ongoing regulatory monitoring?

Yes. Monitoring can be included in advisory support for agreed federal and state markets. We distinguish enacted law, proposals and guidance, with source-linked findings and a defined reporting and escalation cadence.

Do we need both founders for every engagement?

No. A focused assignment can draw on one discipline. When regulatory and operating needs overlap, we agree how both founders contribute, who owns each deliverable and how decisions are coordinated.

What happens in the first conversation?

Dr. Appleton coordinates initial inquiries and identifies the right lead with Peter. We discuss your challenge, products, markets and timing, then recommend an assessment, project or advisory scope. The written proposal confirms deliverables, fees, responsibilities and dependencies before work begins.

START WITH THE BUSINESS PROBLEM

Request a
consultation.

Tell us about your business and the challenge you want to discuss. Include a few preferred meeting times and your time zone. We will coordinate the consultation by email.

Send your request using the form. We will reply to arrange a time.

What would you like to discuss?

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