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FORT COLLINS, Colorado, November 30, 2021 – Science writer Ariana Remmel has published a story in Science News on the new chemistry behind the skunky scent of marijuana. In it she describes the work of researchers led by an R&D team at Abstrax Tech in California and quotes Headspace Sensory found Avery N. Gilbert, Ph.D. regarding the significance of the findings.
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FORT COLLINS, Colorado, October 17, 2021 – Headspace Sensory founder Avery N. Gilbert, Ph.D. has published a new paper in the Taylor & Francis business journal Luxury. Titled “Cannabis: The uncertain path from agricultural commodity to luxury consumable,” the paper compares cannabis to established luxury consumables such as perfume, wine, and whiskey.
“Current high-end cannabis production may not have the long history and established heritage of perfume, but California winemakers have shown how quickly determined producers can achieve luxury status,” says Gilbert in commenting on the new paper. He notes that the expanding industry is currently on a commodity trajectory despite attempts to create distinctive, artisanal, high-end products.
“I believe there are several ways for the industry to create luxury products, but they require us to discard traditional ways of thinking about cannabis, and adopt a more flexible and consumer-friendly attitude,” says Gilbert.
In particular, Gilbert believes that the fixation on named cultivars, what he calls “the fetishization of strains,” limits the product’s appeal to new consumers and inhibits a wider discussion of sensory aesthetics. “As we know from wine and perfume, connoisseurship enables a deeper relationship between creators and consumers, and this is absent in today’s cannabis space,” he says.
According to Gilbert, the insistence on single-strain designations inhibits another critical element of luxury consumables: blending. “Wine and perfume, like cannabis, are not far removed from their agricultural origins, yet the creativity of the vintner and perfumer lets them soar to levels of sensory delight that justify a luxury price tag,” he says. “Until blending of cultivars and even flavoring become acceptable, there is little room for creativity and the development of luxury brands.”
Gilbert’s paper can be found at this link.
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FORT COLLINS, Colorado, August 17, 2021 –Headspace Sensory found Avery N. Gilbert, Ph.D. is quoted in a Bloomberg Businessweek article by Zach Schonbrun on the future of digital noses.
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FORT COLLINS, Colorado, March 16, 2021 – Perfume on the Radio, a broadcast series by the Los Angeles-based Institute for Art and Olfaction, features Headspace Sensory found Avery N. Gilbert, Ph.D. in its latest installment. In Episode 5, titled “The Vice Show,” host Saskia Wilson-Brown talks with Gilbert about the aromas of cannabis. The episode can be heard here; Gilbert’s segment begins about 16 minutes in.
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FORT COLLINS, Colorado, March 12, 2021 –The Cannabis Chemistry Subdivision of the American Chemical Society will host Headspace Sensory found Avery N. Gilbert, Ph.D. in its monthly Journal Club live webinar on March 25.
The topic of Gilbert’s presentation is “Cannabis terpenes: Cultivar markers, aroma sources, or active ingredients?” The live webinar and the Q&A session following Gilbert’s presentation will be moderated by Nigam B. Arora, Ph.D.
The webinar is begins at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. It is free and open to the public who can register ahead of time at this link.
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