At ACT LAB, we’re proud to work alongside innovators who are raising the bar for quality, consistency, and science-driven progress in the cannabis and hemp industries. In this installment of our Vendor Voices series, we’re spotlighting Azuca, a pioneer in advanced cannabinoid infusion technology.
Headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with deep roots in New York City, Azuca has redefined what’s possible in edibles and beverages through its patented TiME INFUSION® process and ACTiVATOR® product line. Azuca’s blend of culinary artistry and scientific precision is transforming the infused product landscape, delivering the speed, stability, and consistency that modern consumers and regulators demand. These values align directly with ACT LAB’s mission of integrity, innovation, and accuracy across the cannabis supply chain.
Understanding Infusion Technology
Infusion technology is the science behind how cannabinoids, like THC and CBD, are incorporated into consumer products. High-quality infusions ensure accurate dosing, consistent effects, and reliable stability. Because cannabinoids are naturally oil-based and not water-soluble, they don’t easily blend into most edible or beverage formulations on their own.
To solve this, cannabis innovators use specialized infusion methods such as nano emulsions, encapsulation, and hybrid delivery systems to make cannabinoids water-compatible, enabling them to mix seamlessly into a variety of product formats. The goal is to create infusions that maintain potency, deliver predictable onset times, and remain shelf-stable over the life of the product.
From Beverages to Edibles: Infused Products Define the Industry
Today, infusion technology powers some of the most popular product categories in the cannabis and hemp markets, including:
- Beverages: THC- and CBD-infused seltzers, tonics, and ready-to-drink formulations that rely on stable, water-soluble infusions for clarity, flavor, and fast onset.
- Edibles: Gummies, chocolates, baked goods, and pressed tablets that use encapsulated cannabinoids for consistent dosing and great taste.
- Tinctures and Sublinguals: Oil-based or water-compatible drops designed for rapid absorption and accurate delivery.
- Powders and Drink Mixes: Dissolvable formats that depend on precision infusion to ensure full dispersion and potency.
Effective infusion technology bridges the gap between science and consumer experience, turning raw agricultural materials into products that are safe, compliant, and enjoyable.
How ACT LAB Elevates Product Testing with Infusion Partners
How can your brand overcome the challenges of developing infused products? It starts with choosing the right long-term testing partner.
When considering what lab to work with, you want to make sure they are experienced with infusion technology. ACT LAB is a nationwide leader in finished product testing, committed to verifying products are safe, high-quality, and compliant at every stage of production, and that they meet strict state and federal regulations.
We’re proud to work with vendor partners like Azuca who lead the way with advanced systems which deliver rapid onset, stability, and scalability for manufacturers of all sizes.
Meet Azuca: An ACT LAB Cannabinoid Infusion Vendor Partner
Azuca provides edibles and beverage manufacturers with best-in-class delivery systems and advanced formulations. The chef-created, science-forward company is known for their patented TiME INFUSION® process and ACTiVATOR® product line.
ACT LAB spoke with Charlie Villanueva, Azuca’s Senior Vice President of Commercialization, who brought over a decade of experience working in technology development to Azuca, and has been instrumental in the development of the company’s core technologies, managing the intellectual portfolio, and validating and releasing new products.
Q&A: Azuca x ACT LAB
About Azuca
Q: Where is Azuca based, and what markets do you serve?
A: Azuca is proudly headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with deep roots in New York City. We serve cannabis and hemp markets across 24+ U.S. states and are expanding globally, including active initiatives in Latin America, Australia, and Europe. Our business model allows us to support manufacturers of all sizes, from single-state operators to multi-national brands.
Q: Describe the benefits of Azuca’s culinary roots with chef-created products?
A: At Azuca, our culinary roots aren’t just part of our story, they’re central to how we innovate. Our Co-Founder, Chef Ron Silver, developed TiME INFUSION® to solve the edibles problem from a chef’s perspective: how do you make cannabis products that taste great, act fast, and don’t compromise the recipe?
The result is a process that’s flavor-neutral, fast-acting, and easy to integrate. This chef-driven approach means our partners can craft edibles that deliver a premium sensory experience, with the predictability and consistency today’s consumers expect.
It’s not just about cannabinoids, it’s about culinary quality, consumer trust, and making cannabis enjoyable for everyone.
Just as important, our DIY production model makes that culinary excellence scalable. We teach partners to produce their own fast-acting ingredients in-house, on their own schedule, with no expensive equipment or third-party processing. This approach empowers brands of all sizes to craft best-in-class edibles efficiently and consistently, while maintaining full control over their recipes and production timelines.
About the Tech: TiME INFUSION® Process and ACTiVATOR® Product Line
Q: What makes Azuca’s TiME INFUSION® process different, and how does it help brands overcome common challenges in edibles and beverages?
A: Many infused products can create headaches for manufacturers and unpredictable experiences for consumers—issues like potency drift, flavor instability, inconsistent dosing, and up to 65% active ingredient loss during production. Cannabis extracts are sticky, hydrophobic, and notoriously hard to work with; it’s why so many edibles taste bitter, act slowly, or separate on the shelf.
Azuca’s TiME INFUSION® process solves these challenges by precisely encapsulating cannabinoids. The result is a family of ACTiVATOR® ingredients that convert oil-based actives into water-friendly, shelf-stable, fast-acting ingredients with predictable onset in 5–15 minutes—without requiring specialized equipment.
For edibles, CX ACTiVATOR® uses only molecular encapsulation—no surfactants, no emulsifiers—to deliver a clean-label, great-tasting, fast-acting experience.
CX ACTiVATOR® Key Highlights:
• Surfactant-free encapsulation
• High capacity: up to 300 mg cannabinoids per gram
• Works with solventless extracts and minor cannabinoids THC, CBD, CBN, CBG, CBC, THCV
• Integrates seamlessly into existing kitchen workflows
For beverages, RTD ACTiVATOR® stands apart from typical nano emulsions with its hybrid system that combines plant-based surfactants with encapsulation to stabilize cannabinoids in aqueous bases while maintaining fast onset and great taste. No synthetic surfactants. No bitter finish.
RTD ACTiVATOR® Key Highlights:
• Hybrid system: emulsion + encapsulation
• Validated stability across aluminum, PET, and glass containers
• pH-stable from 3 to 7 with 90%+ potency retention up to 6 months
• Taste-neutral, clean-label, and scalable for production
• Compatible with solventless extracts and cannabinoids THC, CBD, CBN, CBG, CBC, THCV
Beyond ingredients, Azuca offers partners real formulation expertise through its Beverage Pilot Program and complimentary compatibility testing—helping brands de-risk development, scale efficiently, and deliver fast-acting, reliable, and great-tasting ingestibles that perform across SKUs and markets.
Q: What are the benefits of Azuca’s TiME INFUSION® process and ACTiVATOR® product line?
A: Azuca’s TiME INFUSION® process is the foundation of everything we do. It delivers a fast-acting experience in just 5–15 minutes, without the unpredictable effects or bitter taste common in traditional edibles.
Our ACTiVATOR® product line takes that core process and adapts it to specific manufacturing needs—whether it’s beverages (RTD ACTiVATOR®), chocolate (CHOCOLATE ACTiVATOR®), high-capacity edibles (CX ACTiVATOR®), or solventless, full-spectrum edibles made with whole flower (WHOLE-PLANT ACTiVATOR®). Every format is taste-neutral, shelf-stable, and designed to integrate seamlessly into existing workflows.
What truly differentiates Azuca is our ability to scale state-by-state in both regulated cannabis and hemp markets. Our DIY, on-site production model allows brands to produce identical products in every jurisdiction without moving infused goods across state lines—an advantage no one else has matched. It’s why our partners have already delivered more than 670 million servings to market using TiME INFUSION®.
Together, the TiME INFUSION® process and ACTiVATOR® line help partners reduce waste, streamline production, and launch better products faster—all while giving consumers a consistently great experience, no matter the category or market.
How Azuca’s Advanced Infusion Technology Supports Cannabis Brands
Q: How does Azuca’s infusion technology contribute to improved cannabinoid delivery and stability in finished products?
A: Azuca’s TiME INFUSION® process solves these challenges through our patented encapsulation method. By wrapping cannabinoids in a hydrophilic coating, we make them water-friendly. The result:
- Rapid, predictable onset (5–15 minutes)
- Shelf stability validated across pH, temperature, and packaging types
- Up to 65% reduction in active ingredient waste during manufacturing
Our ACTiVATOR® product line applies this science to every category: gummies, beverages, pressed tablets, chocolates, and even whole-flower strain-specific edibles ensuring brands deliver products that are not only fast-acting but also accurate, consistent, and stable over time.
Q: What role do you see your technology playing in the future of finished product development and testing?
A: We believe Azuca’s TiME INFUSION® process is setting the standard for the future of infused products. As the market matures, brands will no longer accept products that are slow, unpredictable, or off-label. Instead, they’ll demand fast-acting, shelf-stable, and precisely dosed ingestibles across every format, from beverages, gummies, pressed tablets, chocolates, to whole-plant infusions.
Our role is to provide the platform technology that makes this possible. By transforming cannabinoids into accurately dosed, hydrophilic inputs, we’re enabling manufacturers to build products that are consistent at scale, across states, and across product categories.
On the testing side, we see growing emphasis on potency validation, shelf-life studies, and packaging compatibility. Our partnership with ACT LAB is critical here. Their independent testing helps confirm that the accuracy engineered into our TiME INFUSION® emulsions translates all the way through to the finished product, giving consumers and regulators confidence in what’s on the label.
Looking forward, we expect TiME INFUSION® to serve as the gold standard for infused product development, a foundation that combines culinary creativity with scientific precision, backed by rigorous third-party validation.
Q: What makes emulsion testing so critical for infused finished products?
A: Accurate emulsion testing is the foundation of reliable infused products. If potency and homogeneity aren’t validated at the emulsion stage, those errors cascade downstream into the final beverage or edible, resulting in units that are off-label, inconsistent, or unstable.
In beverages, for example, cannabinoids may separate, adsorb into packaging, or degrade over time. If the emulsion itself hasn’t been rigorously tested, entire production runs can yield cans that are under or overdosed. In edibles, a non-uniform emulsion creates batch variability, leading to products that fail potency testing or compromise consumer trust.
By thoroughly testing emulsions for potency accuracy, homogeneity, and stability, manufacturers can ensure every downstream application, from a seltzer to a gummy, delivers the labeled dose throughout its shelf life. This step is not just about compliance it’s about building a reliable supply chain that consumers and regulators can trust.
This is where partners like ACT LAB are essential. Their independent testing provides the scientific rigor to validate our TiME INFUSION® formulations before they scale, ensuring that the accuracy built into our encapsulation process carries through to every finished product on the shelf.
About Partnering with ACT LAB
Q: What role has lab testing played in your product development?
A: Lab testing has been central to Azuca’s innovation from day one. Developing fast-acting, stable, and accurately dosed infused products requires more than culinary know-how, it demands rigorous analytical validation at every stage.
In our R&D, lab testing informs everything from particle size and homogeneity studies to potency accuracy, pH stability, and shelf-life validation. We rely on these data points to optimize formulations, ensure scalability, and reduce waste in production. For example, our testing has shown that TiME INFUSION® products maintain potency with less than 3% degradation over 18 months, a result we could only achieve through systematic testing and iteration.
Beyond internal testing, third-party validation is critical. Partners like ACT LAB provide independent verification that confirms our formulations perform as promised; accurately dosed, stable, and compliant. Their testing ensures that what we design in the lab translates into finished products that brands can trust, and consumers can rely on.
Q: Why did you choose to work with ACT LAB?
A: We chose to work with ACT LAB because they share our commitment to accuracy, reliability, and scientific rigor. In a rapidly evolving industry, independent validation is essential not only for regulatory compliance but also for building consumer trust.
ACT LAB has consistently demonstrated the technical expertise and integrity we look for in a partner. Their ability to test with precision and provide actionable insights makes them a natural fit for Azuca, where everything we do is rooted in scientific know-how and operational excellence.
Q: How has working with ACT LAB supported Azuca’s mission or growth?
A: ACT LAB has been an important partner in helping Azuca scale responsibly. Our mission is to deliver fast-acting, great-tasting, and predictable ingestibles, and that requires not just innovation, but verification. By validating our formulations for potency, stability, and consistency, ACT LAB has given our partners, and their consumers, confidence that what’s on the label is exactly what’s in the product.
Looking Ahead: The Future of Azuca
Q: How do you plan to continue innovating in this space?
A: Innovation is at the core of Azuca’s DNA. We’re continually expanding our TiME INFUSION® platform to address the most pressing challenges in infused product development: accuracy, scalability, and consumer experience.
In the near term, we’re doubling down on beverage innovation with our RTD ACTiVATOR®, which solves the shelf-stability issues that have held the category back. At the same time, we’re pushing boundaries with Whole-Plant ACTiVATOR®, allowing manufacturers to create strain-specific, full-spectrum edibles that preserve cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids, delivering the entourage effect in ingestible form.
Longer term, our focus is on new delivery formats, expanded cannabinoid applications, and global scalability. By combining our culinary roots with scientific precision, we’ll continue to offer our partners tools that lower costs, reduce waste, and deliver products consumers can trust.
Q: Are there any upcoming products or services from Azuca that customers should be excited about?
A: Yes, we’re especially excited about our recently launched Beverage Pilot Program. This initiative gives partners direct access to Azuca’s formulation expertise, stability validation, and small-batch prototyping tools before they scale to full production.
The program is designed to help brands de-risk development, validate cannabinoid stability across packaging and pH ranges, and fine-tune flavor and mouthfeel; all while leveraging our RTD ACTiVATOR® platform. With this program, we’re creating a bridge between innovation and commercialization, ensuring beverage launches are not only fast-acting and great-tasting, but also accurate, compliant, and shelf-stable.
Q: How does Azuca balance its culture of creativity and fun with the precision required in testing and validation?
A: At Azuca, we take testing and precision extremely seriously, but we don’t lose sight of our spirited, creative culture in the process. Our team thrives on innovation, curiosity, and yes, a little fun, which makes even highly technical work feel energizing.
That balance is intentional. Testing isn’t treated as a box to check; it’s part of our culture of problem-solving and collaboration. We encourage our team to approach challenges with creativity, which often leads to breakthroughs. And by bringing that same spirit to our partnerships with ACT LAB, we’ve created a testing process that is not only rigorous, but also collaborative and forward-looking.
Elevate Your Testing Knowledge with ACT LAB
At ACT LAB, we’re proud to partner with companies like Azuca who share our commitment to accuracy, reliability, and innovation backed by science. Through collaborative testing, validation, and shared expertise, we’re working together to ensure that every infused product on the shelf meets the highest benchmarks for safety, consistency, and consumer trust.
Stay tuned to our blog for more partner spotlights, industry trend alerts, and other valuable insights. If you’re wondering if we can work with your emulsion vendor or are ready to partner with us, request testing today to start the conversation.
