Christine founded Grön in 2015 to help chronic pain sufferers enjoy extraordinarily delicious chocolate. The name is the Swedish word for green, and it invokes Christine’s studies in Denmark and her love for all things sustainable and Scandinavian. While working full time with builders and developers on behalf of a Portland architecture firm, Christine also immersed herself in the nuanced and elusive art of chocolate making and infusing her recipes with cannabis oil extract. Without outside capital—and with only responsibly-sourced ingredients—the Grön team navigated Oregon’s evolving regulatory requirements to emerge as the state’s first fully compliant edible processor, certified by the Oregon Dept. of Agriculture and the Oregon Health Authority.
By 2016, Grön chocolates were made available to medical-marijuana card carriers a full year before Oregon legalized recreational cannabis. Today, several cacao varieties and flavors are available in more than 400 dispensaries across Oregon. Each Grön chocolate cannabis product reaches the consumer in biodegradable, child-resistant packaging. Encouraged by the company’s success and with a continued commitment to providing natural alternatives for pain, Christine focused on finding an opportunity to provide CBD and its therapeutic qualities available to everyone by leveraging a breakthrough in which CBD is derived from the bark of an Asian pine tree. Grön CBD is completely marijuana-free, and anyone can enjoy its benefits.