Milwaukee Company Launching CBD Seltzer

Launched early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Goodland Extracts has quietly grown its line of cannabidiol (CBD) products. Now it hopes to become a well-known name in the fast-growing seltzer market.

Starting Friday it will offer a CBD-infused seltzer. The product took more than a year of development for the Goodland team, which includes CEO William Boettcher, CFO Ryan Pattee, CTO John Crockett and, most importantly in this case, chemist and COO Eric Johnson.

“Everybody’s [CBD seltzer] was cloudy and didn’t look appealing,” said Pattee in an interview. He said taste was also an issue. “We wanted ours to be completely clear.”

Johnson spent eight months perfecting the chemistry of the drink. It also took four and a half months to get the flavor right. “You could literally make a 2% change in the flavoring and it would make a huge difference,” said Pattee, who handles new business development for the company in addition to his real estate career.

The result is a non-alcoholic drink with 20 milligrams of CBD. He said the taste will be similar to other seltzers, but with an “organic-natural” twist.

“We’re going for the younger Millenials and Gen-Xers that don’t want alcohol,” he said. “They still want to relax, but they want to relax differently.”

CBD, an extract of hemp, is frequently advertised for providing relief from anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Pattee said Goodland’s broad spectrum process results in a pure extract without any THC (a key component of marijuana). “It’s non-psychoactive. You don’t get high.”

The company is partnering with an undisclosed “very large craft brewer in the state” to package the seltzer, which will be sold in four packs for $12. Badger Liquor is distributing the product.

“You should be able to buy it at over 3,000 different locations throughout the state,” said Pattee. He encouraged bars, restaurants and stores interested in carrying it to contact Badger Liquor.

“They are kind of pioneering,” he said of Badger’s carrying the hemp-infused product.

Starting in 2019 Wisconsin fully legalized the cultivation, processing, sale and use of hemp-based products. Goodland began operation in May 2020 in a 10,000-square-foot leased space 427 E. Stewart St. and has already processed 600,000 pounds of hemp; 95% of which comes from Wisconsin.

Goodland offers a line of branded products, including gummies, lotions, rolls and tinctures (drops). But the bulk of the company’s business, Pattee said, is a contract manufacturing process of extracting CBD from the hemp for farmers and others.

But Goodland hopes to grow the seltzer product line dramatically. Pattee said the plan is to offer a variety of options, including different quantities of CBD. It is also preparing other products, including CBD-infused water and CBD vitamins.

In addition to the four partners the business has six full-time employees. “We are already outgrowing the space,” said Pattee of the firm’s facility in Bay View.

If you can’t wait to get your hands on the new product, you can buy it directly via the Goodland website.