KindBio launches in Missouri with three-brand portfolio

Nearly seven years after receiving a Missouri cannabis manufacturing license, KindBio has begun bringing products to dispensary shelves across the state.

The independent manufacturer, led by co-founders Kurt and Beth Heidrich, received approval to operate at the end of December 2025.

After commissioning its facility, scaling recipes, and refining production processes, KindBio began releasing products in late March of this year. The company’s sales efforts began in earnest in late April.

“We’re super excited now,” gushed Beth Heidrich, KindBio co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer. “Now that we’ve got our whole building operational and we’ve got products going out the door, it’s just a very exciting time for us.”

At the time of the interview, KindBio was in the early stages of soft launch, with product available in approximately five Missouri dispensaries. Kurt Heidrich, the company’s co-founder and CEO, said the manufacturer had already received its first reorder and was working to expand its retail presence.

“We’re entering a crowded market space,” he explained. “We are basically hitting the pavement, visiting the retailers individually, and working with them.”

The launch represents the realization of plans first outlined following Missouri’s initial medical cannabis licensing process. In Greenway’s January 2020 introduction to KindBio, the company described plans to produce edibles, vape products, and oils with an emphasis on patients and product quality.

Missouri’s market has changed substantially since then, including the transition to adult-use sales, but the company’s underlying philosophy remains intact.

“We still very much believe in the medical aspects of cannabis,” Kurt Heidrich noted. “When we look at the adult market, you can almost look at it as going from a prescribed medicine to an over-the-counter medicine.”

He acknowledged that adult-use sales account for the majority of Missouri’s market, but KindBio continues to emphasize natural ingredients and products intended to support consumers’ needs.

Different brands for different consumers

KindBio enters Missouri’s market with three brands: KindBio, Basic, and Gateway. Each is designed to address a different segment of the market while allowing the manufacturer to maintain a focused product portfolio.

The flagship KindBio brand centers on products made with natural ingredients and fewer artificial flavors and colors. Its initial portfolio includes a layered pâté de fruit made with real fruit puree. The Pâte de Fruit edible is a sophisticated take on the traditional gummy. Crafted in two layers and in a variety of colorful flavors (sour apple, peach & cherry, and piña colada) this product stands out as the only two-tone edible on the market. Made with real fruit purée combined with a vegan pectin formulation, these edibles deliver a striking hand-crafted alternative aimed at the wellness focused consumer. It also allows each 10-milligram piece to be separated into two 5-milligram portions for micro-dosing.

“Each layer is fruit,” Beth Heidrich emphasized. “It is fruit puree, and I don’t think a lot of gummies out there are real fruit puree.”

The company currently offers a sour-apple, peach-cherry variety and is pursuing approval for a piña colada version.

KindBio also plans to develop additional edibles and infused pre-rolls under its flagship brand.

Kurt Heidrich explained that the company intends to continue emphasizing natural ingredients while avoiding artificial flavors and colorings whenever possible.

Basic was created as a value-focused line offering straightforward products without sacrificing quality. Kurt Heidrich described it as an “anti-brand,” drawing inspiration from the simple black-and-white generic packaging that became familiar to consumers during the 1980s.

“The Basic brand is basically, how can we provide you a value option while not sacrificing on quality?” he said.

Basic is launching with distillate vape cartridges and gummies. The cartridges contain a limited amount of added terpenes for flavor, while the gummies use natural flavors and colors. Because the gummies require fewer production steps than KindBio’s pâté de fruit, the company can offer them at a lower price.

   

“It’s not only simple, but it’s also about a value price,” he added.

Gateway, the company’s third brand, is launching with a 300-milligram infused beverage. The resealable, shelf-stable product uses a nanoemulsion and contains 30 milligrams of THC per ounce.

The beverage can be consumed by the ounce, poured in smaller portions, or used as an ingredient in another drink. Beth Heidrich has also developed mocktail recipes to demonstrate different ways consumers can use the product.

Future KindBio offerings are expected to focus on higher-dose edibles, beverages, and infused pre-rolls.

Building an independent manufacturer

KindBio is operating exclusively as a manufacturer. Although the company’s original plans included cultivation, Kurt and Beth Heidrich ultimately sold the cultivation license and concentrated their resources on completing the manufacturing operation.

“We decided that we would pivot to just going forward with the manufacturing group and sell off the cultivation license,” Kurt Heidrich recalled. “That allowed us to basically do a fresh start on the manufacturing, really focus on the brands themselves, which was honestly what our eventual goal was always going to be.”

That change required KindBio to regroup, secure a new location, and complete another buildout. The company is now operating with a small team in which employees take on multiple responsibilities as production demands change.

Kurt Heidrich estimated that the current team could produce approximately 50,000 to 60,000 units per month, with part-time assistance added during larger production runs if needed. The company intends to remain lean as it adds retail accounts and works toward profitability.

“We don’t have to conquer the whole world,” he remarked. “We just have to get enough retailers interested that we can cover everything.”

For KindBio, the immediate priority is introducing Missouri retailers, patients, and consumers to the company’s products. The longer journey from licensing to launch included disrupted financing, major changes to the original business plan, and years of persistence. That story warrants a deeper examination of its own.

For now, Kurt and Beth Heidrich are focused on what comes next: securing dispensary placements, earning reorders, and establishing three new brands in one of the country’s most competitive cannabis markets.

“We’re just very excited that we can finally get to this point and start to launch unique products into the marketplace,” Kurt Heidrich concluded.

to read more about KindBio or stay up to date, check out kindbio.com.

Featured photo from left to right: Dan Harkness, Beth Heidrich, Kurt Heidrich, Annie Stein and George Guthier.