Soft Power Sweets is borne of the idea, gleaned from Noam Chomsky, of soft power. In discussions about our name when forming the business we decided that the world cleaves into two: those who believe in hard power (using force, literal or metaphorical, to succeed) and those who choose to take a gentler approach to their goals. We have strong beliefs: it’s woven into our mission to always look out for the interests of the earth, animals, our team. We will always be a vegan brand, we will always seek to minimize our ecological footprint, we will always support causes we believe in. We seek to spread influence of these ideals through the best quality, best tasting edibles, using the best techniques we know how to use. Soft power or: the best way to a person’s heart is through their stomach.

As feminists we’ve been trained to see the world according to power dynamics. But what do we do with power, how do we use it / repudiate it / remake it? How can we reweave the world according to values of tolerance, equality, respect for the earth and its inhabitants?

Soft power to us is about keeping these ideas at the forefront of our consciousness. We are committed to never losing sight of the fact that our key ingredient is a plant, cannabis, whose misunderstood powers have led to destruction, massive inequality, and the loss of so much. Chocolate, our other main ingredient, has been a epicenter of oppression, racism, environmental degradation and colonialist mentalities for hundreds of years. By using Republica del Cacao chocolate, we’re proud to be buying Latin American chocolate with the highest ethical and quality standards (it tastes really good, too). Just like over at Lagusta’s Luscious, we’re real concerned with sourcing and packaging as well. We want to buy fair, high-quality ingredients, use eco packaging and everything will always be vegan.It’s been a challenge to stick to our ethics in this new sphere — there’s a lot of talk about “green” in the cannabis world but an awful lot of crappy plastic packaging, non-mission-driven businesses, and low-quality ingredients. I get it! It’s really expensive to do things the way we want to do things, and we’re trying to avoid being priced into the “luxury market” while building a supply chain that’s ethical up and down.

We’re always learning, growing, making mistakes, as well as listening, and trying to always stretch ourselves.

As social equity cannabis license holders, all three of our founders come from families where they were, to varying degrees, negatively impacted or traumatized by the illegal drug economy and view our work at SPS as helping to heal this trauma. Read more on Lagusta’s thoughts about this here.

This is our work. Follow us on social media to hear more about how we’re juggling it all, and to learn more about our ingredients and our processes.

The story begins with Shana, and a love of plants, candy, the earth.

Shana was a chocolatier for a few years at our mother-business, Lagusta’s Luscious, and she was just such a joy. Smart and big-hearted and hard working and FUNNY. In time a wanderlust and love of a special plant led her to Denver. We had a goodbye party at the trampoline gym. Shana found a job in the confectionery realm related to this special plant, deepening her skills in both arenas. I missed working with her. Good people are why we exist and when one leaves a big part of my heart always goes with them, too.

When I started hearing about this plant becoming legal here in New York I thought about Shana. Everyone told me we should branch out into the chocolate-special plant business but I wasn’t that interested. But my boyfriend (now husband), Mike, was. Good people are why we exist. And I love plants, and the earth, and candy. Why not? I texted Shana. The three of us started writing business plans. We brought along Ericka, our marketing director at Lagusta’s Luscious as our opening team. Now it’s a few years later and Ericka and Shana have moved and begun other adventures, and Mike and I run the business along with an incredible small team of 4 at our New Paltz production facility. Along with a small crew of sales and marketing representatives, we’re one of New York State’s smallest (and most passionate) cannabis small businesses.