A Local Chocolate and Cannabis Pairing

By Natalya Estrada

The idea of chocolate edibles isn’t new but in an area that’s marketed itself as the cannabis capital of California, making a point to stay local is significant — especially for a region where farmers feel stifled by shifting regulations and the challenging financial cost of coming into and maintaining legal compliance.

That’s one main reason Jonah Ginsburg, president of Humboldt Chocolate, and Isaiah O’Donnell, COO of Emerald Family Farms, decided to collaborate and create three new types of edibles called Humboldt Chocolate Bites. Beyond the business patnership, the two have been friends for five years.

“We spoke years ago about a possible collaboration but weren’t in a good place for it, says Ginsburg, who owned the non-cannabis Humboldt Chocolate retail shop in Snug Alley before selling it last year. “It was important that, if we were going to do this, that we kept it local,” Ginsburg says, noting that staying with local cannabis products was essential in the process. “I couldn’t do it any other way and wouldn’t want to. I’m excited and happy about this new collaboration.”