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5 Questions with Oscar Bonilla Jr of Herbal Goods Company


Herbal Goods Company

1. Please tell me about yourself. Why cannabis instead of law, medicine or science?

I was on track of becoming a doctor… . I was doing the pre-med courses, the long nights and sometimes all-nighters in the dorm room studying… but really this was more the vision my parents had loaded onto me (the classic immigrant parent story- “the way to be successful is to become a lawyer or a doctor!”). My parents immigrated from El Salvador during the civil war and I was born and raised in San Francisco CA. My parents are a big motivator and importance in my life. My father is a custodian and my mother a florist. 
Thankfully I had it within myself to challenge the family pressure and to drop the pre-med studies and to follow my true calling, entrepreneurialism.

2. Please tell me about your company. What is your goal? 

Herbal Goods Co. is a Vancouver, BC-based company with startup roots in my hometown of San Francisco, CA. All we focus on is our wild foraged pre-roll cones we call Herbal Goods. 
We’re not trying to introduce new grinders, cone fillers, pipes, or anything like that. We are literally head down in making what we truly believe is the smoothest pre-roll cones in the game. 

Each and every Herbal Goods pre-rolled cone is meticulously hand-rolled and tied. This allows us to completely eliminate toxic glues, bleach, paper, and additives while providing you with what we believe is the smoothest and cleanest smoke you’ll experience from a pre-roll. 


Herbal Goods Company

We wild harvest our Ebony leaves in Bengal. This process enables a machine, pesticide, and monoculture free harvesting process. After harvest, our leaves are sun-dried for two weeks in preparation for rolling. Once dry, each Herbal Goods leaf is cut to size and shape by hand. Each of our cones is then carefully rolled and tied by hand to create our Herbal Goods cones.

Our unique filters are made from sun-dried corn husks that are rolled and tied by hand. No paper, no card stock, no glue. Finally, our cones undergo a curing process which sets the final Herbal Goods cone shape and removes all remaining moisture. This is done in an open flame clay oven.

What’s really lovely is that our cones are made by our amazing team of workers in India. We are proud to have a workforce made up of 85% women who would otherwise be without work given their rural location. By decentralizing the process of rolling our cones we are able to offer workers the freedom to earn a living while staying in their local communities. What this means is that rather than traveling to a local center for work, they are able to sustain normal rhythms and tasks by working from home. This is particularly important for female workers in rural India who are expected to care for the home and children.

Our goal here is to have Herbal Goods be a widely distributed accessory product within the space of cannabis as the best all-natural pre-roll option. 

3. Our ‘elevator pitch’: A 100% natural wild forge ebony leaf pre-roll that eliminates toxic glues, bleach, paper, and additives and provides you with what we believe is the smoothest and cleanest smoke you’ll experience.


Herbal Goods Company

4. Favorite food memory?: 
My nickname my entire family (including distant family) calls me is Gordo (fat in Spanish). I was nearly 13 pounds when I was born. Yes, poor mama, indeed.
Anyways… I loved mangos, still do! My earliest memory is chasing the mango with my mouth as it danced around the bowl my parents put it in. I’d be chasing it for hours… The result, a face that looked like a mango. 
Do you cook?:
I love my breakfast. Two poached eggs over a bed of sunflower sprouts, organic farmers market sauerkraut, a cashew jalapeno spread on a lightly toasted olive sourdough bread. 
Favorite thing you prepare?
Pupusas! A Salvadorian dish I highly recommend.

5. What is your passion? 
My passion is using my creativity to create things people love and enjoy. Since University I’ve been designing products and putting them out into the market. From meditation tools, water bottles, to plant-based shower sponges, Herbal Goods is just another one of my product creations made with a lot of love and creativity – that we hope everyone loves and enjoy when they try!