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For generations, the Vlasic name has stood for consistency and quality. First through a Detroit dairy, then as America\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
As the head of Vlasic Bioscience<\/a>, Willy applies the same family values that built one of the country\u2019s most enduring food brands to his hemp and CBD company, which is proudly rooted in innovation and social impact.<\/p>\n Growing up in Michigan, Vlasic says he didn\u2019t think much about his surname until classmates connected him to the pickle brand. \u201cWe were the pickle people,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen people asked if we were \u2018that<\/em> Vlasic,\u2019 half the time I\u2019d say yes, and the other half I\u2019d say \u2018no, I wish.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n His great-grandfather, Joseph Vlasic<\/a>, famously turned a family dairy into one of the country\u2019s most recognizable food companies. \u201cHe was such a smart, generous businessman,\u201d Vlasic says. \u201cHe took amazing care of his people, donated millions to charity and built a strong family reputation\u2014especially in Detroit. We always felt like we had to hold ourselves to a higher standard.\u201d<\/p>\n Those expectations\u2014integrity, professionalism, respect\u2014shaped Vlasic\u2019s approach to business. \u201cIf we embarrassed the family, my grandfather heard about it,\u201d he says. \u201cThose values carry over into everything I do now.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n A friend soon invited him to Mama J\u2019s, a 4,000-plant facility in Washington state, where he learned cultivation from the ground up. \u201cThey put me through the ringer,\u201d Vlasic says. \u201cI scrubbed floors, trimmed, packaged\u2014every job you can imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n At 21, while still in college, he became Michigan\u2019s youngest licensed cultivator, authorized to grow 6,000 plants under the state\u2019s medical program. \u201cThat experience was everything,\u201d he says. \u201cYou can\u2019t fake knowledge in this business. It\u2019s the difference between surviving and scaling.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n About five years ago, a conversation with business partner Adam Rosenberg changed everything. \u201cYou\u2019ve got this incredible family name with a history of trust and quality\u2014why not bring that same credibility into cannabis?\u201d Adam asked Vlasic. Together, they pitched Vlasic\u2019s father, Rick, on the vision for a transparent, high-integrity cannabis and wellness company that could live up to the family name. \u201cAdam was the one who sold him,\u201d Vlasic admits. \u201cHe showed how we could take that legacy of quality and apply it to something new and meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n At first, Rick wasn\u2019t convinced. \u201cMy dad thought it was both the best and worst idea ever. He said, \u2018We\u2019re never calling it Vlasic\u2014over my dead body!\u2019 and went back and forth on the concept, eventually agreeing that this was an opportunity worth exploring.\u201d<\/p>\n Together, they founded Vlasic Labs<\/a> 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\u2019s parent company.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had exits in Michigan and Missouri, and now we\u2019re selling Vlasic flower in multiple states,\u201d Vlasic says. \u201cThe CBD line ships nationwide. It\u2019s surreal.\u201d Today, Vlasic Labs CBD operates alongside Vlasic Flower, Vlasic Extracts and Schedule One, all under the Vlasic Bioscience umbrella.<\/p>\n \u201cDoing good business and building the brand the right way matters more than making a quick buck,\u201d Vlasic says. \u201cThe Vlasic name means something; it\u2019s a seal of integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n For Willy Vlasic, creating a company with his family name also meant creating one with a conscience. \u201cIf we\u2019re going to profit from cannabis, we have to give back to the people still suffering because of it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n That belief led to the making of The Vlasic Classic<\/a> in 2023, a charity golf tournament that\u2019s grown into one of the most talked-about events in cannabis. \u201cThe first one was small\u2014maybe ten teams,\u201d he says. \u201cWe donated to a local food pantry, but I knew I wanted to support something more connected to the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n That connection came when he met Donte West, a formerly incarcerated cannabis prisoner from Kansas and advocate with the Last Prisoner Project.<\/p>\n \u201cI heard his story and learned what he went through,\u201d Vlasic says. \u201cI asked if we could make Last Prisoner Project the official charity of the event. He was all in.\u201d<\/p>\n Each year, the tournament has grown\u2014bringing in more players, sponsors and freed cannabis prisoners. Through West, Willy connected with Bill and Jeff Levers, a.k.a. the \u201cBeard Bros<\/a>,\u201d behind Freedom Grow<\/a>, 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. \u201cNow we\u2019ve got all three\u2014Last Prisoner Project, Freedom Grow and The Weldon Project,\u201d Vlasic says. \u201cTo date, we\u2019ve raised more than $150,000 for these causes and we\u2019re not slowing down. We\u2019ll keep doing it until every cannabis prisoner is free.\u201d<\/p>\n Carrying a family name that once stood for pickles into a space still burdened by stigma comes with pressure. \u201cWe have way more to lose than most people do,\u201d Vlasic says, who sees clear parallels between his grandfather\u2019s early business and the modern cannabis landscape: risk, hard work and a relentless focus on quality. \u201cThey built their brand through consistency,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re doing\u2014holding ourselves to that same standard, just in a different industry.\u201d<\/p>\n After a decade in cannabis, Vlasic\u2019s philosophy remains grounded. \u201cEven if your first investment doesn\u2019t work out, if you walk away with new skills, it\u2019s worth it,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re not here to make a quick dollar. We\u2019re here to build something that lasts\u2014something that helps people and honors where we came from.\u201d<\/p>\n The post From Pickles To Plants: Vlasic is an American Success Story<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
For generations, the Vlasic name has stood for consistency and quality. First through a Detroit dairy, then as America\u2019s 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 ofContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":234,"featured_media":85475,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[50,85,19241,19242,19243,19570],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85474"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/234"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85474"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85474\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85476,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85474\/revisions\/85476"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/WillyVlasic.jpg\")
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\nRead More: From Pickles To Plants: Vlasic is an American Success Story<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"