FORT COLLINS, Colorado, April 16, 2025 – Headspace Sensory founder Avery N. Gilbert, Ph.D. is featured in a new episode of The Mary Jane Society Podcast, hosted by Pam Chmiel. An audio version of the podcast is available here, and the video version here.
Their conversation covers a range of topics, including the design and merchandising of cannabis and cannabis-adjacent consumer products. Especially important is the emerging role of sensory evaluation in characterizing the aroma and taste of cannabis. Sensory assessment goes beyond QC—it reveals how consumers perceive and respond to the aesthetics of product, and is essential to successful product development and marketing.
Chmiel and Gilbert also discuss whether cannabis has a future as a luxury consumer product, like wine and perfume. While new cultivation and extraction technologies are improving product quality, branding and distinctiveness lag. Gilbert notes that blending of strains—analogous to blending grape varieties or tobacco stains—could unleash a torrent of creativity and innovation in the industry.
Both sensory awareness and luxury status require a knowledgeable consumer base and a well-trained retail sales force. This leads Chmiel and Gilbert to talk about the need for an authoritative descriptive vocabulary, or lexicon, to help guide consumers and let them converse with cannabis experts.
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