There are pairings and tastings for wine, beer and even coffee. Why not cannabis?

That was the question Nug Run founder Nick Ocampo asked himself, after getting a medical marijuana prescription four years ago to help with his insomnia. Ocampo, who has been in a beer club since college, dove deep into research about the terpenes in cannabis. Terpenes are the essential oils in plants that give different strains of cannabis and beer hops different aromas.

Ocampo started to experiment with pairing different types of cannabis with different foods, inviting friends with medical marijuana cards to small tasting parties. From there, the idea for Nug Run – a monthly box pairing foods and cannabis – was born.

“Cannabis can be approached like any other food product, and it can be consumed in a new exciting way,” Ocampo said. “It’s a great way to introduce new people to cannabis, because they can use food to introduce them to the cannabis scene.”

Of course, the only people who can be legally introduced to cannabis right now in California are those with doctor’s notes. But with recreational marijuana on the ballot in November, Ocampo is looking ahead to a much wider audience.

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“Everything’s coming down to scalability. Do you have processes in place in order to build up and be prepared? It’s about developing relationships with cultivators to make sure you have enough product to keep up with demand,” Ocampo said. Even now, Nug Run has been doubling its subscription numbers every month since its launch on April 20.

While the delivery subscription startup is similar in concept to companies like NatureBox, which delivers healthy snacks each month, Ocampo insists he’s not marketing Nug Run to consumers who don’t have medical marijuana cards.

“I would say it comes down to a fundamental belief in American culture which is, if we like something, it tends not to be good for you,” Ocampo said. There’s no reason why, he said, the experience of consuming medical marijuana couldn’t be made as pleasurable as possible.

As the November vote gets closer, Ocampo said he’s seeing more and more marijuana-related startups come on line. But being based in the farm-to-fork capital of Sacramento, Ocampo said Nug Run is positioned to take advantage of existing food and drink trends.

“All of our farmer partnerships are in northern California. We support small, family-owned, small-batch growers that use an all-natural process,” Ocampo said. “I’m going all the way down to the soil. We curate this for you ... Instead of farm to fork, ours is soil to soothe.”

Copyright 2016 KXTV