Vapes are the second most popular form of cannabis in America according to BDSA research. Vapes accounted for 26% of all sales across BDSDA’s tracked markets in 2022. Ease of use is the most cited reason consumers love them, particularly disposable vapes which are favored for their portability, convenience, and discreetness.
As demand grows, manufacturers have to scale their processes to keep up.
To shine a light on the technology supporting the vape sector, Cannabis & Tech Today spoke with Chief Operating Officer for Advanced Vapor Devices (AVD), Michael Brosgart. The company creates forward-thinking solutions for scaling vape production.
In this interview, Brosgart shares how AVD’s “No-Burn Technology” and “EZ Click Cartridges” are helping oil brands offer safe, reliable, flavorful, and affordable products to their customers, one innovation at a time.
Cannabis & Tech Today: What are some of the sector-wide problems AVD set out to solve?
MB: We want a product that is, number one and most importantly, safe for the consumer. Number two, reliable. A device that works every time. It doesn’t clog and doesn’t leak. Number three is flavor. It has to express the true essence of the strain.
When we started out, so many vape products just didn’t accomplish that. Once we truly understood the plant and its intricacies, we were perfectly positioned to develop products actually designed for cannabis. So we set out to solve those three problems. Then number four is price. We asked ourselves, “What can we do to deliver these three things at a competitive price so people can run a successful business?” We worked with our engineers, designers, and manufacturers — and that’s really how AVD was born.
C&T Today: How was your “No-Burn Technology” created?
MB: No-Burn Technology has always been at the core of what we do. Don’t burn the oil, and make sure it vaporizes at the right temperatures for the right type of extract. It’s our umbrella technology that preserves the authentic flavor of the extracts and ensures our customers’ products deliver a consistent and enjoyable flavor experience.
We’ve custom-designed our ceramic core, the heating elements, and something we call PowerWave modulation in our battery devices — so when it comes all together, you get an enjoyable vape experience.
One of the main qualms in this industry is you can have a great cartridge, the most incredible extract, sell it to a consumer, and the consumer puts it on a low-quality battery that doesn’t have PowerWave modulation and the battery ends up burning at really high temperatures, destroying the oil and the flavor.
It’s important to know if you are using a distillate, rosin, resin, or D8 cartridge, you should use a battery with the correct temperature output. We’re seeing a trend towards all-in-ones, where oil brands are able to control the optimal end-user experience. A lot of this is education and making sure the conversation is happening and being passed down along the chain from the manufacturer to the brand, to the dispensary, to the end user.
C&T Today: During 2023’s Emerald Cup, your client partners won a lot of awards. Do you feel your tech played a role in helping those products be their best?
MB: We’re in the background. The shine and accolades are 100% with the extractors and the people who are growing. We like to think our hardware is superior and does a better job at expressing flavor.
We know how hard our clients are fighting and innovating and doing what they can do to deliver these awesome products to people in the market. So when they win, we feel very proud. Proud of them, and proud that we could be a small part of the solution for them.
C&T Today: What’s unique about AVD’s EZ Click cartridges?
MB: Our EZ Click system has been a breakthrough in the 510 space. We’ve introduced automation into the manufacturing and production process of a cartridge. When 510 carts first came out, everything was a plastic cartridge and you needed a ton of pressure to cap a cartridge.
Everything had to be done one by one, which was inefficient and required a lot of human power. Because we come from this space and we’ve been in the manufacturing facility doing this day in and day out, we know how to engineer a cartridge so it’s packaged efficiently and ready to fill right out of the box.
We looked at the entire process and asked ourselves, “How can we make this more efficient for our customers?” The low-pressure, EZ Click system was a winner. Now there’s a lot of people copying that. The cartridge caps with a clamping mechanism so that when you push down, it clamps so you can’t reopen it. It’s also great because people can’t reopen the cartridge to tamper with it. It’s hyper-efficient and the EZ Click system is compatible with the leading automation-filling companies.
C&T Today: How do you see the vape sector evolving in the coming years?
MB: It’s starting to accelerate. There are incredible formulations out there that we’re really excited about. Vape is here to stay. It’s the largest segment of the market behind flower. I think we all have to come together as an industry and look at the product, look at all the inputs, and make sure that we’re advocating for a safer vaping industry.
We’re going to see more regulation, not less, but we welcome that and want to have a seat at the table so we can give an educated view on what the standards should be and what regulations should be enacted.
From a product standpoint, you’re seeing a trend towards higher volume products, two and three-milliliter devices. Again, flavor is very important. From an IP perspective, we’re looking at what can we do to further enhance that experience and offer products that express what the cultivators are trying to do with their strains. And finally, we’re continuing to look at how we can make our client’s, extractor’s, and processor’s lives easier and more efficient.
This article first appeared in Volume 5 Issue 3 of Cannabis & Tech Today. Read the full issue here. Images courtesy of AVD.
