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Selling CCELLs: Arizona Firms Prosper With Popular THC Vape Cartridge From China | Phoenix New Times

Selling CCELLs: Arizona Firms Prosper With Popular THC Vape Cartridge From China | Phoenix New Times

We’re excited every time that we see the cannabis, CBD, and accessories market get coverage on major news publications. We’re beyond humbled to have been mentioned as one of CCELL’s main distributors alongside such a reputable brand such as Jupiter Research.

 

The fact that both 3WIN Corp and Jupiter Research are located in Arizona is a very unique factor. This is our home and we absolutely love disrupting such aggressive industries from the state of Arizona, which may be overlooked from time to time.


The cannabis industry is growing leaps and bounds and is projected to hit $66.3 billion by 2025. Also, the CBD industry is growing to all new heights as well. The CBD industry is expected to reach $22 billion by 2022.

With those types of numbers, there is more than enough to go around. Our goal at 3WIN Corp is to provide the highest quality products with phenomenal customer experience. We pride ourselves in being respectful to everyone in our space as we need to stick together as a whole versus trying to take the entire pie.

Read our full article by Phoenix New Times by Nick Meyers below.

“If you’ve ever wondered why all your vape cartridges look the same, the answer is less mysterious than some sort of marvel of industry standardization. The truth is that the ubiquitous black-tipped glass cylinders all pretty much come from the same place.

In 2016, Smoore Technology Limited, an e-cig company in Shenzhen, China, founded CCELL, which produces patented ceramic cartridges for vaporizers. Now, CCELL holds the vast majority of the market share.


Most of the vape cartridges you see are their popular TH2 line, which also comes with white or wooden tips, and in three different sizes. Even with only four distributors in the United States, CCELL supplies nearly the entire country with the vape cartridges used by cannabis dispensaries and their oil-producing ancillary companies.


Jupiter Research and 3WIN Corp, two of those CCELL distributors, are located in Phoenix and Tempe.

“I don’t think they realized we were so close to each other when they gave us the contract,” said Chris Sinacori, president of 3WIN Corp.

Chris Sinacori, 3WIN Corp President

The license to sell CCELL products, which also include vape batteries, contains a clause requiring companies to distribute only CCELL products. That doesn’t bother Sinacori.

 

“We didn’t want to have a line of really good products and another of inferior products,” he said. “We only wanted to sell one line of quality products.”

One thing is clear: The public has chosen CCELL’s design as its favorite. Before CCELL came on the scene, most cartridges heated oil (mostly for e-cigs back then) with a wick. CCELL’s innovation was using ceramic heating elements, which reduced the likelihood of burning the oil. From there, CCELL took over.


Jupiter Research sold $25 million worth of products in 2017. In 2018, that number shot up to $100 million, with no signs of slowing down.

The action caught the attention of Tilt Holdings Inc., a “vertically-integrated infrastructure and technology” company, according to a January 3 press release detailing Tilt’s $210-million acquisition of Jupiter Research.

“It’s been a wild couple years,” said Mark Scatterday, Jupiter Research’s president. “The mission stays the same, but we’re going to have a lot more resources.”


He said it still feels like “the first inning,” as the company branches out into new products.


Tilt paid for two-thirds of its acquisition in Tilt shares, so Scatterday said he’s still very focused on expanding the company, especially in research.


Jupiter Research is more than a CCELL distributor, Scatterday said. The company also works closely with CCELL to improve vaping technology across all industries as well as other forms of vaping, such as with dry flower. Five of the firm’s 35 employees work in China.

Jupiter Research holds the majority national market share, Scatterday said. The company imports about 5 million cartridges a month, and that’s a conservative estimate, he said.


Nationally, he said, CCELL distributors import about 12 to 15 million cartridges a month. Sinacori estimated 20 million.


Despite the proximity, 3WIN Corp and Jupiter Research have an excellent working relationship, Sinacori said. Even nationally, if sales representatives find that a potential client already has a CCELL distributor, they don’t try to poach them.


“We’re very friendly competitors,” Scatterday agreed. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for those guys.”


He even expressed interest integrating with 3WIN Corp for a closer and more profitable relationship.


The distribution companies don’t typically sell to dispensaries directly, but license with a few that produce concentrates who, in turn, sell their products in other dispensaries. Sinacori said 3WIN Corp sells CCELL cartridges to about 50 dispensaries in Arizona.


However, Scatterday said Jupiter Research accounts for about 80 percent of the cartridges in Arizona. He said that Jupiter’s clients might capture more of the overall patient market.


With CCELL’s patented technology, clients have few options for where to go for cartridges, but are always looking to differentiate themselves, Scatterday said. They can’t change the hardware, but they can make custom mouthpieces or print designs on the cartridges.


Still, no matter how you dress it up, it’s still a CCELL cartridge, and probably will be until the next best thing comes along.”