With the nationwide launch of Edibles.com last spring, Edible Brands, the company behind Edible Arrangements, is entering bold new territory: THC. Yes, that Edible Arrangements — the name behind the flower-shaped pineapples and chocolate-covered strawberries gracing teachers’ desks and mother-in-laws’ kitchen islands since 1999.

The idea of transitioning to THC had been percolating for a while, with the brand acquiring the domain name a year ago after settling a cybersquatting lawsuit to release the name from World Media Group, an entity that had acquired the site with the hope of turning a profit by reselling it. Soon after, Edible Brands hired cannabis business professional Thomas Winstanley as executive vice president and general manager of the new venture, Edibles.com. Later that year, Somia Farid Silber stepped up as CEO after eight years with the company.

The synergy comes not only from the name, but also from the brand’s trusted reputation. In a market dominated by gas station grams and poorly labeled edibles in prohibition states, Edible Arrangement’s trusted reputation is a salve for those seeking regulation and reliability.

Edibles.com now reaches more than 65% of Americans with lab-tested, federally compliant THC products, offering same-day delivery in select markets. It’s a first-of-its-kind e-commerce network built for a category that, until recently, was defined by patchwork regulation, consumer uncertainty and underground connections.

Cannabis Now recently spoke with Winstanley to understand how this new model came to life, and what it means for the new era of cannabis commerce.

Building the “Amazon of THC”

Winstanley has described his ideal model as “The Amazon of THC.” In the same way Amazon helped build trust and ease in e-commerce, Edibles.com seeks to educate and serve as a central hub for THC nationwide.

“We shied away from that moniker initially, but the parallels are there.” Winstanley says. “Amazon started with one category, books, that made sense for e-commerce. For us, that entry point is functional ingestibles: products that are safe, tested and outcome-driven.”

But Winstanley’s ambitions go beyond product aggregation. “Amazon built an ecosystem that educated consumers about online shopping. We’re trying to do the same for cannabis,” he explains. “Our goal is to demystify the access point—to help people understand what they’re buying, why it’s legal and how to shop by outcome rather than just strain or potency.”

At the end of the day, Edibles.com’s is focused on consumer health and wellness—helping people enhance their wellbeing through hemp while being able to skip the hassle of going to the store. “Wellness is our guiding principle: highly categorized products that focus on outcome,” Winstanley says. “We have a lot of folks who are purchasing products online for the first time and having them delivered to their door.”

Even within such a massive framework, starting a new business is never easy. “In some ways, we’re beginning a business within a company. This is not an extension of more ways to sell strawberries, but a whole new portfolio of substances,” he says, adding that Edibles.com is currently primarily speaking to Edible Arrangements’ existing audience.  

Designed for Function

Edibles.com’s UX/UI mirrors the company’s mission to deliver outcome-driven products. Rather than overwhelming users with a dispensary-style menu of hundreds of SKUs, Edibles.com organizes its offerings by need: sleep, stress, pain management, energy and mood uplift.

That health-forward lens, he notes, aligns more with Target’s vitamin aisle than a traditional cannabis shop. “My wife and I love Olly Sleep Gummies,” he says. “Our products belong in that same conversation. We’re not marketing ‘getting high’; we’re marketing better sleep, less stress and overall functional outcomes. That’s the bridge between cannabis and wellness.”

This framing places THC as a nootropic along the lines of ashwagandha, demystifying the ingredient as a part of the larger wellness landscape. Winstanley describes their framing as “more aligned with nutraceuticals than controlled substances.”

The Compliance Maze

With each state comes a new set of laws, bylaws and risk assessments, along with a separate set of legal reviews and ongoing vetting. “We move fast, but we’re also cautious,” he says. “Every day involves balancing innovation with compliance. You want to grow quickly, but you can’t jeopardize consumer trust or partner integrity.”

That trust is earned through curation and transparency. Edibles.com only features brands with established reputations, such as Wyld, Wana, Kiva, and Cann—all of which undergo rigorous compliance audits before being listed. “This is our varsity lineup,” Winstanley says. “It sets us up to reach further outside the margins.”

Restoring Confidence in a $28B Market

While the U.S. hemp-derived THC market now exceeds $28 billion, consumers remain skeptical of its legality. “We get asked all the time: ‘How is this legal?’” he says. “We’re talking about the same molecule, just different extraction processes due to regulation.”

Since hemp plants legally contain less than 0.3% THC, industry practice requires hemp-derived THC to take the route of using CBD to convert into THC. This process requires more sophisticated techniques, such as isomerization. “Marijuana” plants, however, have a naturally higher THC content, lending themselves to a more straightforward extraction process (including solvents, ethanol or CO2). 

“Hemp leveled the playing field,” he says. “It allows for a vibrant, more diverse community of entrepreneurs and businesses that are no longer locked out of the market and can pursue their goals, finding a manufacturing contract with a brewery or gummy company, rather than in a regulated market.”

However, in November, President Trump signed a spending bill to end the 43-day government shutdown, which included a ban on all hemp-derived THC products. While nothing has taken effect yet—and industry professionals are pushing back—it remains a very real threat. Winstanley is one of those professionals, pledging to use the one-year grace period to organize resistance: “Farmers, brands, and consumers, once fragmented, are now mobilizing together to defend what they’ve built and to finally push for the federal framework the hemp industry has long demanded.”

“We’re executive directors of the US Hemp Roundtable. We’re aiming to ensure that federal laws don’t eliminate the $28 billion industry, 3,000 jobs, and revenue for farmers that they currently generate from soy and corn production. I’m fortunate to have to solve these problems; I think there’s a major generational shift happening – the issues we’re arguing about now will be so far in the rearview mirror in the next ten years. The pain will be worth it in the end.”

A Responsible Revolution

For Winstanley, the stakes go beyond business. “We’re not just selling THC, we’re proving we can do it responsibly at scale,” he says.

He’s candid about the risks that keep him up at night, the first concern being the very real consumer health threat posed by unregulated products. “I have a four-year-old and one-year-old, and if my son saw a Nerd’s Rope-infused gummy, he’s more likely to try something he shouldn’t. That’s why we self-regulate, use age gates, and push for better policies.”

Amid the challenges, Winstanley remains optimistic. “THC can help our country,” he says. “It’s grown, processed and sold here: a true homegrown supply chain. What excites me most is that we’re finally bringing cannabis into the same conversation as wellness, health and happiness.”

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