Thom King, CEO of Icon Foods, @Icon_foods, is a self-described “bio-hacker” and serial entrepreneur. He has made it his life’s work to study food science and use his knowledge to help people eat healthier, avoid harmful sugars and maintain diet and exercise habits that defeat metabolic disease.
An accomplished businessman, television producer, filmmaker and author, King follows a “you aren’t doing well unless you’re also doing some good” line of thinking and built his company around the simple principle of “do the right thing.”
We got a chance to interview Thom. Read on to learn more about him and his company Icon Foods.
What is your background and what is your relationship with the cannabis industry?
Thom King: My background is food technology, specifically clean label sugar reduction. I developed CannaSweet to make deep clean cuts in cannabis edibles.
What inspired you to come up with CannaSweet for the cannabis market? Can you tell us some of its awesome benefits?FURTHER READING: Prime Edibles Interview: All-Natural and Handcrafted Gummies
Thom King: With states regulating the amount of thc that can be in an edible cannabis product users generally have to eat a lot more edibles to achieve the same effect. What started as a delivery system for cannabis has now become a snack or in some cases a meal.
One of the most promising attributes of cannabis is its ability to help people suffering from the side effects of chemo-therapy as also the treatment of seizures. Science has shown that sugar restriction has been used for years to help with seizures.
See the Charlie Foundation https://charliefoundation.org/. Additionally, it is widely known that cancerous tumors feed on glucose. This is proven by the use of injections of glucose with radioactive isotopes used in PET scans to identify cancerous tumors… since the uptake with cancer cells is higher than with healthy cells.
It made sense for us to create a sweetener that tastes and functions just like sugar but with 90% fewer calories with no effect on blood sugar levels.
Did you encounter some difficulties in terms of regulation when you created CannaSweet?FURTHER READING: Ganjly Founder Highlight: Sarah Remesch, founder of 270M and Managing Editor of Viride
Thom King: None whatsoever. We supply several cannabis processors. Whether these processors use it for THC products or CBD does not make a difference to us or the regulations we are required to follow.
Is CannaSweet available for the retailers? And is Icon Foods coming up with another product for the cannabis market? If yes, can you share to us a few details?
Thom King: A version of CannaSweet is available on the Steviva.com website under the consumer brand name of KetoseSweet+ https://www.steviva.com/steviva-products/ketosesweet-allulose-2/
We are working on a few more plug and play solutions for the cannabis industry such as a plug and play Gummy dry mix and a plug and play ready to drink beverage dry mix.
What advice can you give to a ganjapreneurs just starting out in the cannabis space?
Thom King: Carve a niche out for yourself and be a market leader by reducing added sugars in your edible creations.
Thank you so much, Thom, for doing the interview! We appreciate the time you took to do it.
About Icon FoodsFURTHER READING: Wreefs Interview: The Birth of the Artificial Marijuana Wreaths
Established in 1999, Icon Foods is a natural food ingredient supplier, focused on all-natural, high-intensity sweetening solutions. Based in Portland, Oregon, King started his company by first asking the critical question, “Why?” and it is the “why” behind it all that makes King’s business truly unique — a company built on quality, health, heart and loyalty.
CannaSweet is Icon Foods first product to target the cannabis industry and is designed to provide clean-label sugar reduction for the medicinal and edible category. More information is available at: http://www.iconfoods.com.
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