For generations, the Vlasic name has stood for consistency and quality. First through a Detroit dairy, then as America’s most famous pickle jar with its iconic smiling stork. Entrepreneur Willy Vlasic is carrying that entrepreneurial legacy forward in his own way for a new generation with a potent combination of business acumen and ethical ethos he inherited from his forefathers.
As the head of Vlasic Bioscience, Willy applies the same family values that built one of the country’s most enduring food brands to his hemp and CBD company, which is proudly rooted in innovation and social impact.
Growing up in Michigan, Vlasic says he didn’t think much about his surname until classmates connected him to the pickle brand. “We were the pickle people,” he says. “When people asked if we were ‘that Vlasic,’ half the time I’d say yes, and the other half I’d say ‘no, I wish.’”
His great-grandfather, Joseph Vlasic, famously turned a family dairy into one of the country’s most recognizable food companies. “He was such a smart, generous businessman,” Vlasic says. “He took amazing care of his people, donated millions to charity and built a strong family reputation—especially in Detroit. We always felt like we had to hold ourselves to a higher standard.”
Those expectations—integrity, professionalism, respect—shaped Vlasic’s approach to business. “If we embarrassed the family, my grandfather heard about it,” he says. “Those values carry over into everything I do now.”
Vlasic says his entry into cannabis was anything but corporate. In his late teens, he earned his Michigan medical card and struck a deal with his skeptical parents: If he passed a 90-day drug test, he could start a legal grow in their basement. He did, and this pivotal moment set him on course to a lifelong career in cannabis.
A friend soon invited him to Mama J’s, a 4,000-plant facility in Washington state, where he learned cultivation from the ground up. “They put me through the ringer,” Vlasic says. “I scrubbed floors, trimmed, packaged—every job you can imagine.”
At 21, while still in college, he became Michigan’s youngest licensed cultivator, authorized to grow 6,000 plants under the state’s medical program. “That experience was everything,” he says. “You can’t fake knowledge in this business. It’s the difference between surviving and scaling.”
After several years of balancing cultivation and business development in Michigan, Vlasic began exploring how hemp and CBD could open a legal path for expansion and a new opportunity to build something lasting.
About five years ago, a conversation with business partner Adam Rosenberg changed everything. “You’ve got this incredible family name with a history of trust and quality—why not bring that same credibility into cannabis?” Adam asked Vlasic. Together, they pitched Vlasic’s father, Rick, on the vision for a transparent, high-integrity cannabis and wellness company that could live up to the family name. “Adam was the one who sold him,” Vlasic admits. “He showed how we could take that legacy of quality and apply it to something new and meaningful.”
At first, Rick wasn’t convinced. “My dad thought it was both the best and worst idea ever. He said, ‘We’re never calling it Vlasic—over my dead body!’ and went back and forth on the concept, eventually agreeing that this was an opportunity worth exploring.”
Together, they founded Vlasic Labs before the pandemic, starting as a CBD extraction lab, then expanding into CBN conversion and eventually a full consumer wellness brand under Vlasic Bioscience, the family’s parent company.
“We’ve had exits in Michigan and Missouri, and now we’re selling Vlasic flower in multiple states,” Vlasic says. “The CBD line ships nationwide. It’s surreal.” Today, Vlasic Labs CBD operates alongside Vlasic Flower, Vlasic Extracts and Schedule One, all under the Vlasic Bioscience umbrella.
“Doing good business and building the brand the right way matters more than making a quick buck,” Vlasic says. “The Vlasic name means something; it’s a seal of integrity.”
For Willy Vlasic, creating a company with his family name also meant creating one with a conscience. “If we’re going to profit from cannabis, we have to give back to the people still suffering because of it,” he says.
That belief led to the making of The Vlasic Classic in 2023, a charity golf tournament that’s grown into one of the most talked-about events in cannabis. “The first one was small—maybe ten teams,” he says. “We donated to a local food pantry, but I knew I wanted to support something more connected to the industry.”
That connection came when he met Donte West, a formerly incarcerated cannabis prisoner from Kansas and advocate with the Last Prisoner Project.
“I heard his story and learned what he went through,” Vlasic says. “I asked if we could make Last Prisoner Project the official charity of the event. He was all in.”
Each year, the tournament has grown—bringing in more players, sponsors and freed cannabis prisoners. Through West, Willy connected with Bill and Jeff Levers, a.k.a. the “Beard Bros,” behind Freedom Grow, a nonprofit providing commissary and re-entry support for inmates. In 2024, Freedom Grow joined the Classic as an official partner, followed by The Weldon Project, founded by Weldon Angelos, who served 55 years for cannabis before being pardoned. “Now we’ve got all three—Last Prisoner Project, Freedom Grow and The Weldon Project,” Vlasic says. “To date, we’ve raised more than $150,000 for these causes and we’re not slowing down. We’ll keep doing it until every cannabis prisoner is free.”
Carrying a family name that once stood for pickles into a space still burdened by stigma comes with pressure. “We have way more to lose than most people do,” Vlasic says, who sees clear parallels between his grandfather’s early business and the modern cannabis landscape: risk, hard work and a relentless focus on quality. “They built their brand through consistency,” he says. “That’s what we’re doing—holding ourselves to that same standard, just in a different industry.”
After a decade in cannabis, Vlasic’s philosophy remains grounded. “Even if your first investment doesn’t work out, if you walk away with new skills, it’s worth it,” he says. “We’re not here to make a quick dollar. We’re here to build something that lasts—something that helps people and honors where we came from.”
The post From Pickles To Plants: Vlasic is an American Success Story appeared first on Cannabis Now.
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