BEAR Labs is a California concentrate and vape brand produced through Big Oil Co., a licensed Los Angeles-area manufacturer. The brand began in California's pre-adult-use concentrate scene and moved into regulated production through a 2019 partnership that gave it an extraction facility of its own.
Where it operates
Kyle Alcazar and John Lafata started Big Oil Co. in 2017 as a white-label manufacturing and consulting business. Alcazar is co-founder and chief financial officer. In 2019 they partnered with Andrey Baranchik and Julian Yepremian of BEAR Labs, opened a facility and brought extraction in house; Alcazar has described distribution reaching more than 150 California retail stores, with a retail delivery license added later for direct-to-consumer sales.
BEAR Labs sells through licensed California retail channels and offers a wholesale contact for stores and collaborators. Concentrate menus rotate with harvests and production runs, so a product card may remain visible after a batch has sold out. Adults looking for a particular tier, texture or cultivar should confirm the live retailer menu and read the label before purchase.
Production
The BEAR Labs site identifies Big Oil Co. as operator and publishes California manufacturing license CDPH-10003553, a Type 7 volatile solvent extraction permit. That classification covers hydrocarbon processing, which is the technical basis for the brand's cured-resin and live-resin lines. The company markets eco-friendly packaging and a freshness guarantee on its concentrates.
Partner names tell buyers where the input flower or shared process came from. The producer still has to identify the licensed manufacturer and batch on the package. A medal for one collaboration does not transfer to a different cultivar, farm or production run, even when both products use the BEAR Labs logo.
Culture and collaborations
The catalog covers live-rosin budders including GMO, Sour Bears, Hawaiian Slider, Niche and Tropic Heat; all-in-one vapes including Feria and Grape Gas; and cured resin, live resin and diamonds in retail menus. Collaboration releases include Honey Papayas with Real Deal Resin.
How the model works
BEAR Labs depends on named cultivation partners for input material: the farm supplies the cultivar and the processor shapes the extract, so a collaboration credit carries real information about what is in the jar. Inventory rotates by harvest and by retailer.
The current catalog spans both solventless and hydrocarbon products. Live rosin is made without hydrocarbon solvent, while live resin, cured resin and diamonds are produced through the Type 7 manufacturing operation named on the site.
Recognition
BEAR Labs appeared in three medal-winning entries at the 2026 California Cannabis Awards. Papaya Punch Tier 1 Live Resin, made with Sierra Botanicals, won gold in solvent live resin. Lemon Pie Hoe Tier 1 Live Resin Budder, made with Tychee Farms, won bronze in the same category. A collaboration with Blue River Terps, Canyon Creek Family Farms and Tychee Farms won silver in solventless live rosin for Banana Split x Orange Ztrawburst Pioca.
Brand focus
From Los Angeles, CA, BEAR Labs builds its operating identity around cannabis concentrates, live rosin and cured resin. cannabis concentrates anchors that model, while live rosin and cured resin connects the production work to the products and licensed markets carrying the name.