He started in aeronautics, then moved into the bar business, and now it’s on to cannabidiol. But Bob Estes’ ambition isn’t following the alphabet so much as his many interests and his instinctively entrepreneurial nature.
Now Estes, owner of Parlay Social who also runs a local real estate company, is circling his start-up spirit back to his family’s historical Bluegrass business roots in hemp production with his latest venture, Daddy Burt Hemp Co. The new company, which sells products made with hemp-derived cannabidiol, or CBD, currently offers various versions of CBD oil, gummies and topical creams, with gel capsules and a line of pet products planned for later in 2019.
Bob Estes
The company’s name is a nod to Estes’ great-grandfather Joe Burton, known in the family as Daddy Burt, who passed away before Estes was born. Burton was a Kentucky hemp farmer in the 1930s and ’40s, Estes said, and he increased his operation during the “Hemp for Victory” campaign of 1942 that encouraged farmers to grow hemp during World War II.
“He ran a barge on the Kentucky River from Madison County to Woodford County, moving his and other farmers’ harvested hemp to the processing facility near Versailles,” Estes said. “Several friends suggested I rekindle the family business with a contemporary twist and produce CBD products from Kentucky-grown hemp.”
In July 2018 Estes formed Daddy Burt Hemp Co. and put a team and a business plan together. “We developed sample products of CBD oil drops and CBD-infused cream,” Estes said. “In late 2018 an investing partner joined, and we were off to the races.”
To continue his great-grandfather’s work, Estes made the decision to base operations in the Bluegrass State, which is also Estes’ own birthplace. Born in Lexington, he grew up in Fayette and Jessamine counties and graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with a bachelor of science degree in industrial engineering and technology. He then joined Lockheed Martin in Sunnyvale, California, as a mission controller for satellites launched via the space shuttle. After the Challenger tragedy in 1986, Estes relocated to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, was back in Lexington by the 2000s, providing business development services to the aerospace and aeronautics industry through a consulting group.
In 2008, he purchased a century-old building to renovate on West Short Street and opened Parlay Social, a Prohibition-themed restaurant and lounge, four years later, further cementing his ties to the Bluegrass.
“All [Daddy Burt’s] products are derived from hemp grown in the sunshine of Kentucky,” Estes said. The company’s hemp processing partner is in Central Kentucky, as are bottling, packaging and fulfillment, and secondary services such as printing and website development. “Hemp is a good economic stimulator for Kentucky, with no negative impact.”
Estes is also committed to helping people overcome misconceptions about CBD. “At this point everyone in the industry is an educator in one way or another,” he said. “The healing and wellness realized by many from CBD is very rewarding to me personally.” He gives accolades to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture for its hemp program. “Other states are coming into Kentucky to see how to set it up.”
The website, www.daddyburt.com, went live in late March. On May 31, Elevon Merchant Services revoked credit card access for Daddy Burt Hemp Co. and companies producing hemp products, bringing online sales to a standstill. While Daddy Burt Hemp Co. has since resumed online sales, access to banking services continues to plague the nascent hemp industry.\
In June, Daddy Burt Hemp Co. became one of just 20 hemp companies worldwide to join the U.S. Hemp Authority’s Official Certification for hemp processors/manufacturers. The voluntary certification program demonstrates a commitment to working with Congress, regulatory agencies and law enforcement at a time when the Food and Drug Administration continues its evaluation of how to handle CBD supplement products.
Estes is excited to resurrect his great-grandfather’s legacy of hemp production in a new era, and to be on the front end of the growing hemp and CBD industry. “Lexington is the center of unprecedented growth in farming and manufacturing for this revived crop,” he said. “I am thrilled to see the innovation underway in every aspect of hemp production, from new seed strains and adapting equipment for planting and harvesting to improved processing equipment and techniques. I would like to think Daddy Burt would be pleased that we are producing such wonderful products from hemp.”