NuWu Sessions: Eddie Waldron of M.P.X. on the singular focus of the concentrate-famous Brand
"Welcome to NuWu Sessions, where we invite guests to enjoy one of our top-shelf table packages in Las Vegas' first and only cannabis consumption lounge: The Vegas Tasting Room. In today's episode, we are excited to have the Lab Operations Manager at Melting Point Extracts, Edward Waldron. Watch as we learn how M.P.X. came to be, all while trying some of their delicious concentrates. It's only here on NuWu Sessions, so let's get into it!"
About Eddie Waldron & Melting Point Extracts
Melting Points Extracts is a cannabis cultivator and producer company. Founded in 2015 by cannasseurs such as Elizabeth Stavola, the company has upheld its mission of "providing the best cannabis experience possible." By staying in control of its entire growing and extraction process, the concentrate brand can create the most optimal cannabis derivatives. While Eddie Waldron, the brand's Lab Operations Manager, has been with the company since its founding in 2015. Despite taking a short break to learn about CBD products, Eddie, a fan of live resin concentrates from M.P.X., returned to the brand and was soon promoted to manager. He and his small team produce an expansive variety of concentrates making the brand a fan favorite among concentrate lovers. Now let's dive into the interview highlights:
Let the viewers at home know who you are and what got you started in cannabis.
My name is Eddie. I work for M.P.X., which is Green Mart Production. I was born and raised in Las Vegas, and I've always been into cannabis. I'm a 90's baby, and my cousins and I used to sell weed for my aunt all the time around 6th grade, so I got into it like that, and of course, I consumed it recreationally. I was always having fun with it.
I didn't really find the medicinal side until around 2011-2012 when I was diagnosed with epilepsy and had a random seizure out of nowhere. Never had one before in my life. It was nothing too crazy, but I couldn't tell you why it happened. Still, after that point, I was continually medicating. I had been up until that point for several years, but I was now taking it more seriously. I was a patient for a long time, and still am, and when the medical market came on board in 2016, I was recruited from social media of all places.
Back then, social media was everyone's platform; in the black market, you could show off what you were doing. So, I was contacted by a couple of individuals building the facility. I got the chance to tour their facility, so I knew they were serious, and they had licenses, and from there, it was just getting my foot in the door. I went to college for business at UNLV. I was in property management and real estate for several years, up until 2016, and then as I got my foot in the door just left it behind and made this my career.
I've been with M.P.X. since 2016, since day one, and we're originally from Arizona as far as where the company started. Still, from 2016 up until now, I used to be entry-level. I used to pack and unpack columns, learning the equipment's ins and outs and the entire process. From start to finish, from prepping material to the extraction to post-processing. Different consistencies and purging and just working my way up. Since then, we haven't had a lot of turnover in the lab. I did leave for about a year, from 2018 to 2019, and then I had an opportunity to come back because they needed some good people. I had dabbled in the CBD world for a while, and I came back. Since then, I have had an excellent mentor named Jesse, and he taught me everything I know now, and he's on to bigger and better things now. Once he left, I got the opportunity to take over and take the reins, and here we are today.
Is there a specific strain or terpene that you prefer?
I enjoy the newer stuff, but I'm an OG Kush guy. The strain I really like right now because I enjoy the terpenes, and the palate is G.M.O. Everyone says that a lot, but if you try it, it's clear why that's a favorite. It's a Cookies and Chem cross. It's interesting that the guy who found it with Skunk House Genetics, many of his strains are crossed with a Larry OGFA. The other strain that I'm a big fan of is the Jack and Haze strains. Anything with terpinolene in it, like the Dark Knight.
As a user, what are you smoking at home?
Definitely M.P.X., I do dabble with other concentrates, but mainly M.P.X., I only shop around a little. I am very familiar with many of the higher-end brands in Nevada that compete with us. Still, I always have my eye on the market, not just for other brands and flavor profiles but also for deals! I am a big Dab Rig guy, Quartz nail. I have experienced working with the Puffco and some other dab rigs on the go, and while those were great, the effect is different. The Quartz really brings out a lot of the profile, and I add a lower temp depending on my dab size. I like supporting many local glass blowers, like Lekseno and Night Wolf. A lot of the guys down in his shop pump out a lot of good glass and really good quality rigs. I like a lot of the really small little chuggers. They rip really hard, and they function well. I feel like that's what I like and what I need to get medicated.
Let's talk about M.P.X. when did you guys get started?
It was actually in 2014 in Arizona that a woman named Elizabeth Stavola from New Jersey got some production, cultivation, and dispensary licenses out there. A gentleman named Bryan, one of the lead extractors and head individuals that started in Arizona, came up with the name collectively, and everyone agreed on Melting Point Extracts. That's all they did.
Even looking forward to 2016, when we entered the Nevada market, we only started selling flowers in 2019? 2020 was when we officially launched the Anthology brand. Everything was for extraction. We are an extraction-focused company. At least at the time concerning the brand, we didn't have any Black Label products. We just had M.P.X. cured resin, then M.P.X. live resin. From there, we have yet to expand too much, we've been looking at other avenues in the market, but we're focused on what we do well: make fire extracts. With Anthology, we're at the point where we are selling a lot of flower now. We're finding that balance with what works for us.
We're currently in Florida, Arizona, Nevada, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, which has an M.P.X. dispensary. In Florida, where they do a lot of live rosin, you have to vertically integrated. You can't buy other people's flower. I believe they chose rosin initially because it's just all the regulations with hydrocarbon extraction and the fire regulations. I'm not sure if it, wasn't allowed at the time, or they just wanted to take that approach of just sticking with rosin. Still, we're pumping it out in other states, so I would love to get the opportunity to set up a lab in Vegas. We have a comparable area, a.k.a. "The Kitchen," that could potentially be used for that process. We have some walk-in freezers and everything, so we'll see what the future holds. There was one point where we looked at many different products, R.S.O., gummies, and chocolates. Then the discussion went back to "let's focus on what we do best" and make sure we're not trying to capture everyone or all parts of the market. But let's try to stay in our niche and do it really well.
Do you have a favorite product that M.P.X. makes?
I'm my own harshest critic, but I love good quality. Coming from the medical background, I always want it to be of the highest quality, so it's definitely the live resin. I love the sauces and sugars. I love a nice terpene-filled, wet live resin batter, whether it be a kush, fruitier strains, Haze strains, or anything like that. That transcends into our sauce cartridges because we use a lot of our live resin H.T.E. for the sauce cartridges. I'm always thinking of what strains to mix well for the sauce cartridges.
We also don't buy a lot of outside fresh frozen. Still, one of the companies we buy a decent amount from is the Grower's Circle. We bought their Kosher Nostra, and then we had some Zkittlez Cake from Reina, and we made a mix of those two strains. That's what the Kosher Zkittlez is.
What does it take to run a successful extraction lab?
There are a lot of things that go into it. A part of being one of the industry leaders is it really starts with a properly designed lab. You gotta have good flow. It has to flow correctly. Since we have cultivation and production in the same buildings. I'm talking about everything from how you prep your material to where it is, to your lab area, to your extraction room, just making sure it flows well. Second to that is your extraction equipment. You gotta have the equipment that's going to be able to meet your desired output.
Also, having that vision with the owners or whoever is just setting this up because they have to design it correctly. We're purchasing the right equipment and having the budget available. Just making sure everything flows correctly, and outside of that, having somebody to run it.
We're a small team. It's just 2 other guys and me, and we run one shift. We don't run 24/7. If we did, then we would definitely be running out of biomass. You prepare the equipment for the rest of the team. It's one of the most important jobs for what we do. Ensure you have skilled people familiar with the process, even the extraction prep guy, in an entry-level position. You also get to learn from the ground up. If you screw that up, then it becomes a domino effect. Everything transcends, from the biomass to where we have the finished jet fuel acai sitting in front of us.
All those things really fall into place because I've been in other people's labs, and then I looked back at mine and realized that it was designed semi-decently. I am grateful it was put together correctly because I was not involved in that process. It does have a good flow. I'm not unpacking my columns in my extraction room, which is a huge contamination issue. Still, it allows us to do our job efficiently.
Could you describe the team that you cultivated over there at M.P.X.?
I've been there since 2016, I did leave for about a year and a half, and some different techs came in and out during that time. But since I came back in 2019 and subsequently took over the lab, we've had an individual there since I started. He didn't start in the lab. He worked his way up into the lab. He started doing our distillations, and now he's our Senior Extraction Technician right below me. He can do everything in the lab, but he's been there for six years, and it's just finding people that are passionate about this. I'm 100% passionate about it.
My extraction technician is from Puerto Rico. He's a really good friend of mine, and his name is Jose. He got into the industry maybe four years ago, and he's been working at M.P.X. for about three years, two of which he's been in the lab. He also started in the entry Level Extraction Technician role. He went through the whole training and learning process of that job and how it transcends down the line. He is a great guy with a lot of passion. He's knowledgeable and intelligent. Anybody with that passion is in it for the right reasons. For me, that's what sets people apart; those are the people I want to work with. The guy that taught me, my mentor Jesse, was super passionate and instilled a lot of really great values that I follow to this day and teach my team. The team is important. You're only as good as your team. You have to be able to trust them without having to babysit them.
We run a well-oiled machine. As I said, we're only there Monday through Friday, from seven to three every day, and we only do four days out of the week. One day is for maintenance on our systems and solvent distillations and cleaning our systems.
Let's talk about the future. Where do you see M.P.X., or what are your goals over the next five years? And where do you see the market going?
Well, five years is hard to say. With this market, you have to pivot a lot, especially after COVID. Just focusing on what we do well. Continuing to ensure we're giving the consumers and the people what they want. Potentially starting the rosin line, there may be some other avenues. I could go on for days about things that I would personally like to do. I think Edibles made with Hash Rosin vs. Distillate. When I've had an edible with hash rosin, it smacked. With distillate, it's not bad. It still gets you high, but personally, I don't like the lethargic body high.
I like the dab high, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. With edibles, it makes me want to lay in a chair, but I feel like the hash rosin edibles definitely smack. If we did start to venture into rosin, there are many more byproducts that come out of that.
That's where I see it going. Unfortunately, like with most big corporate industries, as they continue to progress, it is a race to the bottom. We're seeing it now in Cali, but what does that mean? We don't have any more small boutique processors, and what do people relate to that? Higher-end quality (usually high price) though not always the case. If you're going expand, you're likely to sacrifice quality because, at that point, it's a business. Even going back to the team and me, it is a business. Still, we obviously don't have that mindset regarding our products.
M.P.X. was a small boutique business. It started in Arizona, and we got a license in Nevada. Then we became an even bigger brand with brand recognition, and a big corporate company came and bought us out. It just kept trickling out from there. As we got bigger, we got more licenses in other states. Then we got acquired by another company, which is how it works.
What would be some advice you have for the next generation of cannabis entrepreneurs?
If you're not passionate about it, you don't want to get into it. A lot of people are getting into it because it's an investment. Certain people have thought it was a get-rich-quick scheme, and it's not. It's a business, and you must run it to be profitable. And you have to run a good business. Do your research, do your due diligence, you know?
Be creative; you know how this market is. You have to be able to pivot at any time. You have to follow market trends and see what the consumers want, and that really transcends to products. What are we making? How are we trying to produce it? All these things go into your business model if you start as an entrepreneur. If you're trying to get into the industry and you have no experience, that may be a first good start. Then you could build onto that or build up from there. As you gain experience and knowledge and educate yourself and get work experience.
Conclusion
This has been another NUWU Sessions blog post, where we update you on all that's happening with NUWU Sessions. Don't forget to follow M.P.X. on Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube. Check out some of their other unique brands, such as Anthologie and Black Label. Of course, if you want to try any of the M.P.X. product lines featured in Las Vegas, check out our menu here at NUWU Cannabis Marketplace.