How Do You Enter the Vaping Industry? See How This Farming Couple Did It

Sanford and Alisa Strunk have established a non-traditional agricultural haven at Willow Bay Farm in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, and have entered the ever-growing vaping market in their own unique way.

Since moving to Dinwiddie in 2008, they have been at Willow Bay. Since then, they have built a diversified business that includes heirloom fruits and vegetables, flowers, herbs, and essential oils.

Through their own experiences or witnessing others, they have found many health benefits from using Alisa's blended essential oils. Their joint relief blend is the star of their product lineup, receiving enthusiastic recommendations and unusual loyalty from customers.

Alisa is the sole proprietor of Willow Bay Enterprises, passionate about natural therapies and providing alternative treatments to traditional pharmaceutical companies.

Sanford, on the other hand, is a trained chemist who worked in the pharmaceutical industry until last February. He brings a scientific perspective to his wife's business, focusing more on clinical trials and the scientific validation behind anecdotal experiences.

“I’m not a doctor,” Alisa firmly states, “It’s important to distinguish this; I don’t cure anything. However, I research natural therapies and recommend them to clients.”

Willow Bay Enterprises focuses on health, which initially seemed “incompatible” with vaping, but one day when her daughter was vaping in the house and the vapor smelled like banana bread, she began to consider the possibility.

Alisa mentions that essential oils are best applied topically or inhaled. Many people vape to ease the pain of quitting smoking or to find healthier alternatives to traditional tobacco products.

Before long, the couple discussed and combined their knowledge to produce a line of e-liquids. These e-liquids use vegetable glycerin and add small amounts of propylene glycol as a carrier. Their research also expanded to how to package the products appropriately to ensure the quality of the e-liquids is not compromised, as well as how to add varying amounts of nicotine to the mixtures to suit individual customers.

Ultimately, they believe the products they produce are a healthier alternative. Not only to cigarettes but also to e-cigarettes produced by big tobacco companies, which seek flavor from their food-grade additives.

Nevertheless, Sanford cautions, “We really can’t make any health claims about our products.”

In some ways, they are not alone: e-cigarettes are still relatively new, and research on their health impacts remains limited, although new regulations may change that.