Greg Kerber’s Upstate New York company is charting its own winning course.

Greg Kerber is an interesting guy.

As generic as that statement may sound, it may also be the biggest understatement ever made. Greg Kerber, Founder and CEO of Johnsonville, NY-based hemp oil company Gnome Serum, is interesting in the same way, say, Tiger Woods is pretty good at golf. Yeah, exactly.

Though the details of his fascinating life are certainly worthy of a Hollywood script, for the purposes of this particular story, we’ll focus on his latest, and maybe, greatest venture, Gnome Serum. Kerber says he’s always had a passion for life-enhancing natural products and possessed legit experience creating pathways to growth for companies of all sizes. In 2009, he co-founded RAD Soap, a company that grew to be an internationally recognized wellness brand distributed by Whole Foods and hundreds of retailers in the US, Canada and South Korea. He launched Gnome Serum in 2017 in response to customer demand for premium products containing full spectrum hemp extract. And here’s the cool part: He did it right. For example, Gnome Serum uses other ingredients such as essential oils that enhance the impact for the specific condition they allude to. It’s a smart, consumer-enriching strategy.

Greg Kerber himself is a great raconteur, a throwback to the days when people actually had time to sit around and tell fantastical stories. I should know—not only has Kerber become a close friend, I’m also, if I’m allowed to say, of the storytelling persuasion as well. A dinner with Greg Kerber is a laugh-a-minute, at once intellectual, silly and memorable—all aspects that reflect perfectly in his chosen name for the company he’s convinced he was born to lead.

So, what is it about this man and this company that has so many intrigued and taking notice? I think it’s time we find out.

BY RICHARD PÉREZ-FERIA

Hi Greg. There are so many companies making exorbitant claims, please briefly explain what makes Gnome Serum different or better than most of your competitors in the hemp oil/CBD space?

First of all, Gnome Serum is a full spectrum hemp extraction and our belief is, that it is the only extraction that gives consumers the full potential of the power of the hemp plant. Once you understand how the endocannabinoid receptor system works, there isn’t any other choice except full spectrum hemp extractions. 

You have to be careful with claims because of the FDA and while hemp extractions have incredible importance in the human condition today, it’s like all things in the holistic world, it has undeniable benefits for consumers. 

There were two things we knew four years ago when developing the product: 1) we had to find or create an advanced technology enabling a much more potent extraction; and 2) what could we do to the finished hemp extract that in combination created a better consumer experience. With those two things in mind we created an extraction that only utilizes hot air and a vapor process without any solvents and the complete extraction is done in just 45 seconds. The second part was creating the addition of a high level plant based omega 3 oil that’s added to the hemp extract giving it high potency in its effect. 

Once we understood the dynamics of cannabis extractions, and the plant’s potential I felt as though I was looking at the beginning of the internet in the 1990s all over again. 

Greg, you’ve had a very colorful, interesting life and have spearheaded a number of successful companies, what made you think about launching a hemp oil/CBD enterprise?

Having been involved from everything from finance—creating the first peer network in the entertainment industry—and reinventing the manufacturing of the bar of soap, which traditionally took five to seven weeks to make and creating a proprietary process that cut that time down to 30 seconds, I was in the market for a new challenge with unlimited potential. I was looking for a cutting edge opportunity that created a wide open availability of options in both the supplement and cosmetic industries. Once we understood the dynamics of cannabis extractions, and the plant’s potential I felt as though I was looking at the beginning of the internet in the 1990s all over again. 

Tell us the story behind the name Gnome Serum. 

We conducted a survey of people using CBDs and found that no one could remember the name of their CBD company. We looked into the category of a magical nature that people would remember. Originally, we were going to name the company ELF but in our research we found that gnomes were thought to be protected by the elves and in return the gnomes provided a safe haven for the elves’ plants and minerals. They’re still used today to watch over crops. Almost everyone has had a gnome in their grandmother’s garden. 

Your best-selling products are… Why do you think that is? 

Our best-selling products are our hemp extractions. The reason for that is that our customers get results from our product. In addition to getting results, our extracts have two flavors natural and citrus along with four mg choices ranging from 500 to1800 mg which offers the consumer a large variety of choice. 

What’s the most important thing a prospective hemp oil/CBD consumer should know ​before purchasing a product? 

First of all, there’s so much gimmickry in the industry, misinformation and ridiculous claims that the consumer would want to stay away from any of those brands. Next, the extraction process should be closely looked at. There haven’t been any advances in the extraction process with CO2, critical CO2 and ethanol. That’s why we spent time looking at a different way of doing the extraction that maximizes the CBD, flavonoids, terpenes and maintaining the THC levels at 0.3% and below. The Certificate of Authenticity (COA) proves the quality of the hemp extraction to any potential buyer or consumer. 

What are some of your current and future plans to keep Gnome Serum ahead of the game? 

Coming out of 2019 we developed a lubricant and massage oil that has been met with rave reviews. Currently, we’re expanding the topical line with a full face regiment and the expansion of other organic plant extractions with synergistic value. 

Fill in this statement: Gnome Serum is the (blank) of hemp oil/CBD.

Gnome Serum is the gold standard of hemp oil/CBD.