Cheeba Chews is a Colorado edibles company that has been baking cannabis into taffy since 2009. James Howler, a licensed grower in the state's medical program, started it in Boulder with partners Dave and Eric. The chew still anchors a catalog made by licensed partners from New Jersey to New Mexico.
Headset ranked Cheeba Chews No. 17 among Colorado edible brands for August 2026, with 66 SKUs on shelves. The format hasn't moved much in 17 years. The recipe has.
From a Boulder kitchen to four dispensaries
Howler built the brand around consistent potency. Kitchen experiments showed him that taffy took cannabis oil more evenly than other formats, and the three founders launched the chew in four Colorado dispensaries. The Deca Dose, a small chew with a big number on the label, became the early calling card.
The founders wrote three promises into the business: consistent potency backed by lab testing, a discreet size that travels, and financial independence with no outside investment or debt. Eric Leslie, co-owner and chief marketing officer, told Packaging World in 2022 that three people sit at the ownership level.
High Times named Cheeba Chews Best Edible in 2011 and a finalist in 2012, according to the company's history. The magazine's "America's Favorite Edible" line still leads the brand's page on Weedmaps.
Licensing instead of franchising
Cheeba Chews grows by licensing. Each partner state receives the same base taffy formula, the company's proprietary machinery and full production training, which keeps every market on the Colorado standard.
Missouri shows how it works. In September 2022 the company entered the state's medical market with Stash House Distribution, which it called its second state-level collaboration built on small-market manufacturing partnerships. The launch covered 500 mg Mega Dose taffy, 500 mg Extra Strength Green Hornet gummies, a 100 mg cannabinoid-ratio line and 100 mg Originals.
At the time the company listed six states: California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada and Oklahoma. Leslie told Packaging World that the owners had run Colorado and California themselves, with New Jersey on the map and New York, Illinois and New Mexico planned.
By 2026 the brand's product pages covered Colorado, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Oklahoma. California no longer appears on the list.
Three tests, one blister pack
Every batch passes three checkpoints: the harvested flower, the extracted oil and the finished chew before it ships. The point is consistent potency, the first of the founders' three promises.
Packaging changed in 2014, when Colorado opened adult-use sales and Cheeba Chews moved its taffy into blister packs. Packaging World broke down the line in 2022: a FormTight thermoformer, Klöckner Pentaplast rollstock, Constantia paper-and-foil lidding and a modified Egan Food Tech chocolate depositor.
Humidity in partner facilities made the taffy stick, so in early 2020 the company co-developed a swabbing station with RLS Equipment Co. The station runs a motorized arm fitted with 12 sponges.
Chocolate taffy and Green Hornet gummies in Colorado
Colorado carries the deepest menu, with 13 taffy products and 18 Green Hornet gummies on the company's state page. Chocolate Sativa and Indica chews sit beside a caramel Hybrid, Mega Dose versions of each and an Extra Strength chocolate.
The ratio chews pair THC with minor cannabinoids: an orange taffy with CBG and THCV, a key lime with CBD, a caramel Trifecta with CBG and CBD, a salted caramel with CBC and CBD, a chocolate with CBN and a mocha chocolate built around THCV.
Green Hornet covers the gummy side, including a SOURS Mixed Pack, a One:One black cherry gummy and 500 mg packs of Sativa, Indica, Hybrid and Trifecta. Headset's top seller for August 2026 was the Indica OG Chocolate Taffy 10-pack at 100 mg, followed by the Sativa chocolate and Hybrid caramel sea salt 10-packs.
Rosin, RSO and a cleaner label in 2025
Three drops reshaped the line in 2025. On April 15 the company released Live Rosin Fresh Strawberry Chews, made with freeze-dried strawberries and pectin instead of gelatin, which makes them vegan-friendly.
On July 9, under the "Edible Adulthood" banner, Cheeba Chews said its entire taffy line was free of artificial colors and flavorings. On December 23 the Original Chews switched from distillate to RSO, the full-spectrum cannabis oil also known as Rick Simpson Oil. The company updated that announcement on January 5, 2026.
Hemp-derived Delta-9 chews by mail
Outside licensed dispensaries, Cheeba Chews sells a hemp-derived Delta-9 THC taffy line through Goldfish Distro, an online retailer. The brand's site advertises delivery to Texas, Tennessee, Georgia and 20 more states.
Goldfish lists 20-chew, 100 mg packs of Trifecta and THCV versions at $29.99, 10-chew Sativa and Indica packs at $27.99 and 50 mg 10-packs at $16.99. The shop notes that federal hemp rules are scheduled to change in November 2026.
Ten states and 595 stores in 2026
Headset tracked Cheeba Chews in 10 states and 595 licensed dispensaries in its September 6, 2026 snapshot, 115 of them in Colorado. For August 2026 it ranked the brand No. 17 in both Colorado and Nevada edibles, No. 39 in Missouri and No. 49 in New Jersey.
The Colorado rank peaked at No. 9 in August 2024 and sat at No. 14 a year later. Edibles make up all of the brand's tracked sales. In Nevada, The Source carries the chews at its Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas and Pahrump stores.
For adults 21 and over.