Tag Archives: packaging

What Medical Cannabis Packaging Can Learn from Pharma

By Julie Kuepers
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Medical cannabis companies developing a new product or redesigning packaging for an existing one may want to look beyond today’s cannabis packaging requirements and consider what could be required in the years ahead.

Pharmaceutical packaging has spent decades addressing many of the same issues medical cannabis companies face, including child resistance, tamper evidence, and product traceability. As medical cannabis markets develop and regulatory requirements become more sophisticated, some pharmaceutical standards offer a useful reference point for packaging R&D.

Germany’s medical cannabis market operates under pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution requirements, while Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration regulates medicinal cannabis within its therapeutic-goods framework. In the U.S., cannabis packaging requirements remain largely state-based, but companies developing products today are making packaging decisions that could remain in place for years.

Changing a package later can mean new tooling, stability testing, supplier qualification, artwork and labeling changes, along with additional cost. Looking at established pharmaceutical requirements during development can help companies decide which safeguards make sense to incorporate before a package reaches production.

Three areas are particularly relevant.

 

Child-Resistant Packaging Has Decades of Testing Behind It

Child-resistant packaging in the U.S. is governed by a federal law that predates the modern cannabis industry by half a century.

The Poison Prevention Packaging Act gave the Consumer Product Safety Commission authority to require special packaging for hazardous household substances. The testing protocol, codified at 16 CFR 1700.20, sets specific performance requirements. Packaging must resist opening by at least 80 to 85% of children tested and must be opened successfully by at least 90% of adults.

The standard relies on a pass/fail laboratory test using children and adults, with statistical thresholds the packaging must meet before it can legally hold a regulated substance.

Pharmaceutical child-resistant requirements developed over several decades. Aspirin was the first drug required to ship in child-resistant packaging in 1972. Iron-containing products followed in 1978, acetaminophen in 1980, diphenhydramine in 1984, and ibuprofen in 1992. Regulators added substances as poisoning risks were identified.

Cannabis packaging requirements have developed along a similar path. Industry reporting has documented a shift away from bulky exit bags secured at the register toward child-resistant mechanisms built into primary packaging, including push-and-turn caps, slide-lock tins, and heat-sealed pouches.

Medical cannabis companies designing packaging can use the pharmaceutical standard as a benchmark rather than focusing only on whether a package satisfies today’s state requirement. During development, teams can consider closure selection, ease of use for adult patients, repeatability, and validated child-resistant testing.

Accessibility is particularly important for medical products. A package must prevent children from opening it while remaining usable by adults, including patients with limited dexterity. Pharmaceutical packaging testing already accounts for both sides of the equation.

 

Tamper Evidence Became a Baseline Safety Requirement

Modern tamper-evident drug packaging emerged from the 1982 Tylenol poisonings.

Someone placed cyanide in Tylenol capsules after the products had left the manufacturer and reached retail shelves in the Chicago area. Seven people died. The FDA subsequently established tamper-evident packaging requirements for over-the-counter drugs, now codified at 21 CFR 211.132.

The regulation requires one or more indicators or barriers that provide visible evidence to consumers when tampering may have occurred.

Congress followed in 1983 with the Federal Anti-Tampering Act, making product tampering a federal crime. Pharmaceutical packaging requirements were designed both to make interference visible to consumers and to establish consequences for tampering.

Some medical cannabis markets have incorporated comparable safeguards. Australia’s TGA applies therapeutic-goods packaging requirements to medicinal cannabis products, including requirements intended to protect products from contamination and degradation.

Tamper evidence is worth considering during package development because it can affect the package itself as well as the manufacturing process. Seals, closures, films, and other indicators may need to work with filling equipment, package materials, and production speeds.

Adding those features after a product has entered commercial production can require changes to packaging components or equipment. Evaluating them during R&D gives companies more flexibility to determine how tamper evidence fits into the package and production process.

 

Packaging ID for Track-and-Trace

Track-and-trace provides another useful comparison between pharmaceutical and marijuana packaging.

Passed in 2013 with a phased implementation schedule, the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) established package-level identification and electronic tracing requirements for prescription drugs. Product identifiers include the National Drug Code, serial number, lot number, and expiration date, typically encoded in a two-dimensional data matrix barcode.

Manufacturers, wholesale distributors, and dispensers use this information to identify and trace prescription drugs as they move through the supply chain.

The law followed years of concerns about counterfeit and diverted pharmaceuticals entering legitimate distribution channels. In 2012, for example, counterfeit versions of the cancer drug Avastin reached U.S. medical practices. Serialization gave trading partners a way to identify individual packages and investigate suspect or illegitimate products.

Legal cannabis markets also use track-and-trace systems, generally requiring cultivators, processors and retailers to report inventory movements through seed-to-sale software. Cannabis tracking, however, has often centered on plants, batches, packages and transactions rather than the pharmaceutical model of serializing individual saleable units.

Some international medical cannabis markets are adding more detailed product identification and traceability requirements. QR codes and other machine-readable identifiers are also appearing on cannabis packaging, giving manufacturers and regulators additional ways to connect an individual package with product and production information.

Companies considering package-level identification need to think beyond where a QR code or data matrix will appear. Serialization can affect packaging equipment, printing capabilities, data management, and the connection between a physical package and its manufacturing records.

A company developing packaging now should plan for enough printable space for variable data, confirm production equipment can accommodate it, and ensure identifiers can connect to existing quality and inventory systems. Retrofitting those capabilities after commercialization can be considerably more complicated.

 

Pharma Offers a Packaging R&D Roadmap

Medical cannabis companies do not need to adopt every pharmaceutical packaging requirement before regulators require it. Pharmaceutical standards are a useful reference when a company is developing a new product, selecting packaging, or updating an existing package.

Child-resistant performance can influence the closure and container. Tamper evidence can affect materials and filling equipment. Serialization can require different printing technology, data systems, and package layouts. Understanding and weighing the packaging options early in development can reveal how difficult and expensive those capabilities are to add later.

The regulatory path for medical cannabis will continue to vary by country and, in the U.S., by state. Companies working on products today can still review packaging standards already tested in another highly regulated medical market.

A package developed today may remain in production for years. Looking at pharmaceutical standards during R&D gives medical cannabis companies a chance to account for child resistance, tamper evidence, and traceability while they are already making decisions about materials, equipment, and package design, rather than revisiting each one after the product reaches the market.

Preservation is the Buzzword for 2026

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As the cannabis industry readies for the growth surge rescheduling could trigger, it’s getting dangerously close to losing its grip on the craft sector.

We are entering the era of the connoisseur, where consumer palates are becoming increasingly sophisticated and demand products that provide a full-spectrum craft experience. They understand the nuances of cannabis and what defines quality.

Quality means a well-preserved flower, free of contaminants, that delivers all the plant’s compounds, creating an entourage effect of benefits. It’s that kind of experience that keeps consumers coming back to a brand again and again, and what patients depend on for reliable therapeutic effects.

Cannabis, like produce, must be kept within a controlled temperature range or it rapidly deteriorates. Leave a bag of weed in your car on a hot day, and you will find it colorless, flavorless, and weak. Degradation accelerates quickly once cannabis is exposed to temperatures above 70°F. It is also highly sensitive to light and humidity. Continuous cold chain conditions are needed to prevent degradation and preserve the plant’s full value from the field to the shelf.

If the industry doesn’t up its game on preservation practices across the supply chain, it risks losing its craft flower altogether and becoming a commodity category with only biomass to offer.

While the industry has made progress in preservation protocols across cultivation, post-harvest handling, curing, and extraction, the final stretch from warehouse and distribution to retail remains riddled with gaps. It’s the “last mile” where product freshness is getting lost.

 

Stop Putting Lipstick on a Pig

It is well documented and scientifically proven that terpenes have physiological effects and are used to treat sleep disorders, anxiety, pain, and inflammation. It is also known that terpenes and other low-concentration metabolites are extremely volatile under certain conditions, such as exposure to light, heat, and time, which causes cannabis to deteriorate.

According to Alec Dixon, cofounder of SC Labs, “Once the terps are gone, it no longer is craft, and it’s now biomass, and everyone and their mother has biomass.”

Dixon, whose lab has long served as the official testing partner and judging panel for the Emerald Cup, says the data is clear: terpene levels distinguish great cannabis from mediocre product. “If the average cup entry is about 1.4% terpene content, the winners are all 3% to 5%—that’s when you find the most stinky and sticky bud that could stick to a window,” he says. Yet by the time flower reaches the retail shelf, it often measures 1% or less, and pre-rolls average 0.5% or less.

The culprit, Dixon says, is the industry’s lack of cold chain handling. Grinding and packaging flower at room temperature causes terpenes to evaporate. As a result, many producers resort to adding artificial or non-botanical flavors to “juice” the aroma and mask quality loss. “It’s like putting lipstick on a pig,” he says. “You’re taking something that once might’ve been great and covering up the fact that it’s lost its character.”

Dixon explains that terpenes don’t just define flavor, they influence the overall effect and quality of the high. Two strains with identical THC levels can deliver completely different experiences depending on their terpene content. Once those terpenes dissipate, the product becomes indistinguishable from distillate, stripped of its unique entourage effect.

When cannabis is harvested, dried, cured, and stored in cold conditions—below 65°F—and maintained through a refrigerated supply chain, terpene preservation can reach up to 5%. Improper temperature control can also cause weed to mold if the water content and temperature are not controlled during the post-harvest process.

 

Vertically Integrated Companies Have the Advantage

Dixon says vertically integrated operators—those who manage cultivation, processing, and retail under one roof—have a distinct advantage when it comes to terpene preservation. “They can control all the variables,” he explains. These companies often partner with SC Labs to conduct terpene-preservation trials that measure how well their processes protect volatile compounds throughout the supply chain.

The testing involves taking chemical “fingerprints” of a single harvest at multiple points—from post-cure storage to trimming, packaging, transport, and eventually retail. By comparing terpene and cannabinoid content at each stage, operators can pinpoint precisely where degradation occurs.

Dixon says this data-driven approach helps companies refine their standard operating procedures to minimize terpene loss at every step. “You might start with 4% terpenes and end up with 1.5% by the time it hits the shelf,” he says. “Now, we can identify where that drop happened and fix it.”

 

Setting The Standards

Darwin Millard, Technical Director at CSQ Quality and Standards, says the cannabis industry needs to do a better job of using a cold chain infrastructure to prevent contamination and product degradation. “Our new standards guidelines explicitly cover temperature and atmospheric-controlled storage within the cannabis and cannabinoid product environment,” he explains.

He points out that cannabis products, though generally safe, can become compromised when exposed to temperature and moisture fluctuations common in refrigerators and freezers. “If containers aren’t properly sealed, condensation and humidity changes can alter the environment inside and impact the quality of the extract,” he says.

Proper thawing procedures are also imperative, especially as many manufacturers freeze extracts for long-term storage. Millard suggests borrowing best practices from the food safety industry to establish foundational cold chain protocols. CSQ’s standards now include explicit requirements for both temperature and atmospheric monitoring and control to maintain ideal conditions during drying, curing, and storage—such as maintaining a stable humidity or vapor pressure to prevent mold growth.

He also warns about the additional risks in the transportation side of the supply chain. A frozen shipment that thaws and refreezes due to a power failure or improper temperature control can ruin high-value material. To manage this, Millard recommends adopting food-industry concepts such as mean kinetic temperature, which measures cumulative thermal exposure rather than one-time fluctuations. “Instead of automatically failing a batch that briefly rises a few degrees, mean kinetic temperature gives you a more realistic buffer and helps determine whether the product actually experienced a damaging thaw,” he explains.

Millard says there are existing tools that have already proven effective in food and pharmaceutical logistics. “There are inexpensive kinetic temperature sensors that can be placed directly on a product to show if it went outside its safety range during shipping,” he notes. “They’re the same kind of indicators used for fragile or temperature-sensitive items in other industries, and we should be using them in cannabis, too.”

Millard says the challenge in getting operators on either side of the cannabis industry to certify to standards is that they feel it’s not required and don’t see the need to incur extra expenses, given the financial strains and burdens they’re already facing.

 

Whose Fault Is It?

Liability and product recalls due to degradation are appearing in headlines more often. Whether caused by mold or oxidation, quality failures are becoming a serious operational and financial risk across the supply chain. With each recall, evidence increasingly points to improper storage and temperature fluctuations during distribution or at retail, rather than cultivation practices.

This raises a thorny legal question: If a brand can prove its product left the facility in the condition stated on the COA, but it ends up in retail degraded, who is liable?

Is it the retailer who failed to maintain proper vault conditions, the distributor who transported the product outside its safe range, or the brand whose packaging didn’t adequately protect the flower? In at least one recent case, a packaging manufacturer has been blamed for ruined cannabis. The industry’s lack of cold chain SOPs will only lead to increased exposure to lawsuits, insurance claims, and costly recalls.

 

Packaging Preservation Innovations

A critical element of cold chain success is preservation packaging. Many products on shelves today are not properly sealed, and you can often smell valuable terpenes escaping before the jar is even opened.

To combat this, some cannabis manufacturers are adopting nitrogen-flush technology, long used in the food and pharmaceutical industries as a preservation method. In this system, a small drop of liquid nitrogen is released into each jar just before sealing. As the nitrogen rapidly evaporates into gas, it displaces the oxygen inside the container. With oxygen removed, oxidation slows dramatically, minimizing terpene loss and helping preserve aroma, flavor, and potency until the jar is opened.

Samuel Morris, a former designer and manufacturer in the medical market, brought his expertise into cannabis. He developed and patented the PopVac, a super-sealing jar, and built an automated manufacturing line that fills the jars using a nitrogen-flush process. This technology is still evolving as it relates to cannabis preservation, but it represents a promising advancement in protecting high-quality flower.

“The bottom line is that you have to be very serious about your packaging and seal, because it’s everything,” Morris says. “Your weed dries, your cannabinoid profile changes, and your buzz changes.”

 

Grove Bags takes a similar technology-driven approach with its modified-atmosphere packaging (MAP), designed to maintain quality and consistency from post-harvest to the consumer. “A lot of companies just make bags or jars,” says Lance Lambert, CMO of Grove Bags. “We’re really technology first. Our packaging just happens to be the best format to deliver that technology.”

Developed by growers, the company’s multilayer film creates a self-regulating microclimate that uses the plant’s own off-gassing to stabilize its environment. “When you put the flower in, it’s already off-gassing CO₂,” Lambert explains. “Our technology allows CO₂ to displace oxygen, making it a non-oxygen-rich environment that prevents oxidation and degradation.” The MAP system also maintains an ideal relative humidity of 58 to 62 percent, balancing excess moisture while preserving the integrity of cannabinoids and terpenes. “It’s essentially auto-curing,” Lambert says. “No more burping jars or babysitting your cure. You just put the flower in the bag and let it do its job.”

Grove Bag’s packaging allows growers to continue curing cannabis during transport. “You can literally cure in transit,” Lambert says. “No longer are you wasting space in your operation for two, three, or four weeks to cure.” The innovation has already gained traction among licensed producers in Europe. “They realized that while their product is in transit or waiting to hit the shelf, it’s still curing,” Lambert explains. “So instead of losing time, they’re actually improving potency, consistency, and overall product quality.”

 

The Last Mile

As one of the few cannabis-specific warehousing and transportation companies operating across multiple states, California, Nevada, and New York, Nabis has had to custom-design its own cold chain system to maintain product quality across diverse climates and long transit routes. COO Will Brophy explained that while most brands understand the need to keep edibles like gummies and chocolates cool to prevent melting, few realize that flower and pre-rolls also require climate control to protect terpenes, which begin to degrade around 70°F.

To prevent this, Nabis keeps all warehouses between 62 and 67 degrees and closely monitors humidity levels. “We’re pretty uptight about keeping our warehouses the right temperature, and making sure the humidity is correct,” Brophy said. “We don’t want humidity too low and drying out the flower, but we also don’t want it too high and causing degradation in other forms.” Maintaining those conditions is particularly challenging in California, where most industrial warehouse spaces are not built with insulation or HVAC systems, which adds high costs.

Infrastructure is both the foundation and the biggest hurdle for companies like Nabis. “One of the hardest parts is the lack of access to traditional infrastructure solutions. Good luck getting a construction loan in cannabis or finding developers willing to work with you,” says Brophy. “Major property holders often cannot engage with you if their mortgages are bank-backed.” Finding partners with experience in cannabis cold-chain logistics is like finding a needle in a haystack, he added.

Most of their deliveries are made in Sprinter vans outfitted with refrigeration units and additional insulation. “A standard short-distance delivery may do well in some temperatures,” Brophy noted, “but try driving a Sprinter in a Las Vegas summer and see what your flower looks like on the other side, unless you’ve got the right vehicle for it.”

Nabis also uses thermal bags and electric coolers for long-haul deliveries to ensure concentrates and extracts remain stable, some of which require temperatures between 0 and 30 degrees. For particularly sensitive products such as blonde hash, which oxidizes and turns brown within 45 minutes at room temperature, the company uses walk-in freezers for storage and transfers the product directly into cold bags for delivery.

Brophy believes the next challenge will be getting everybody across the supply chain to cooperate and obtain the necessary equipment for the baseline. He thinks Nabis is more the exception than the norm for distributors. “We’re a ways off from there, because there’s a lot of folks that are still not storing in insulated warehouses,” he adds.

 

An Outsider’s Advice

Marty Khait, cofounder of Yukon, a national cold chain logistics company, says the cannabis industry can learn a lot from other perishable goods sectors. For smaller operators, he recommends using self-storage-style cold warehouses that rent individual refrigeration units at a lower cost. These units can be divided into temperature zones for flower, concentrates, beverages, or edibles.

He also advises adopting widely used monitoring technologies that track temperature and alert operators when products exceed safe thresholds. “There are simple, inexpensive solutions like temperature-triggered labels and data loggers that provide transparency throughout transport,” Khait noted.

To manage varying product requirements, Khait suggests building or partnering with specialized facilities—one dedicated to beverages, another to baked goods, and so on—or designing a single facility with separate zones for each product category. Until the industry consolidates around a more efficient system, he said, “the reality is that companies will need to solve cold chain challenges one piece at a time.”

 

Retail Is The Biggest Stumbling Block

The weakest link in the cannabis cold chain is retail. While many states require cold vault storage systems designed for preservation, few retailers fully understand the consequences of ignoring proper temperature SOPs, or what that neglect could mean for the future of craft-quality cannabis.

Steve Garner, VP of Cultivation at vertically integrated MSO Ethos Cannabis, is concerned. “Quality loss can happen at any step of the process between propagation and consumption. At Ethos, we have several controls in place to protect product quality in our stores. Having a separate HVAC zone for vault controls seems like an exorbitant luxury, but it’s crucial for cool storage.” With a dedicated HVAC system, the team can set vault temperatures independently from the rest of the store. “Our vaults have temperature and humidity sensors so the inventory team can be alerted to anything out of order. Typically, they control to 65°F, which is a decent compromise between product quality and employee comfort. Concentrate products, particularly solventless, should always be stored in a fridge,” he explained.

Vireo Health, an MSO with 48 retail dispensaries across seven states, recognizes the importance of maintaining terpene integrity and has developed TerpSafe, a patent-pending packaging technology used for its premium house brands. The system incorporates a sealed compartment at the bottom of the container that stores terpenes, slowly releasing them over time to replace those that volatilize each time the jar is opened. By maintaining a consistent terpene-rich atmosphere inside the package, TerpSafe helps stabilize aroma, flavor, and overall freshness throughout the product’s shelf life.

 

The Economics Of Not Having A Cold Chain

As consumers become more educated and demand premium cannabis experiences, the industry must recognize the consumer and economic value of standardizing cold chain SOPS: terpene loss equates to financial loss. A batch that arrives at retail with diminished aroma, flavor, or potency often loses its premium status, sells more slowly, and may require discounting or fails to create repeat purchases. Consumers simply won’t return to a brand or strain if they aren’t satisfied with the experience. Over time, widespread terpene degradation threatens to collapse the craft market entirely, pushing cannabis into a commodity landscape where unique genetics, cultivation expertise, and small-batch artistry are lost.

 

In the end, it’s the increasingly educated consumer who will force the industry to respond by demanding clean, quality cannabis and pressure operators to treat cannabis like produce. In addition, as federal rescheduling draws near, pathways for cannabis-based medicines will open, making the need for consistent, high-quality, properly preserved flower even more urgent, as expectations and regulations will most likely tighten. Cold chain infrastructure doesn’t add cost; it protects the future of both craft cannabis and cannabis medicine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pre-Roll Packaging in 2026

By Julie Kuepers
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Pre-rolls generated $4 billion in sales in 2025 and are projected to grow faster than any other top cannabis category, at a 10% compound annual growth rate, according to BDSA retail tracking data. Infused formats now account for 43% of the segment, and the category has grown by 271% since 2020.

That kind of volume puts a lot of pressure on operators to get the details right. And one detail that gets underestimated more than almost any other is the tube.

The tube you choose for your pre-rolls isn’t just a container. It’s a compliance asset, a brand signal, and a margin lever all at once. In a category this competitive, getting it wrong costs you more than you might expect.

 

The compliance picture has gotten more complicated

Child-resistant packaging has always been a baseline requirement for cannabis pre-rolls, but the specific standards those containers need to meet have shifted significantly in 2026.

Several states — including Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, and Missouri — have tightened child-resistant packaging requirements, moving toward stricter standards and full CPSC senior-friendly testing beyond the baseline 16 CFR 1700.20 poison prevention standard. Ohio banned slide-lock tubes for pre-roll compliance after March 1, 2026, requiring permanent child-resistant caps on all pre-roll tubes. Exit bags in New York, Minnesota, and New Jersey now need full child-resistant certification — printed warnings and resealable closures no longer satisfy the requirement.

This means that packaging that passed compliance audits a year ago may not pass today. Operators who haven’t audited their tube selection against current state-specific requirements are carrying an unknown risk.

Packaging failures can trigger product recalls estimated at $25,000 to $250,000 per SKU and put licenses at risk. The regulatory landscape for pre-roll tubes isn’t a one-time box to check. It’s an ongoing operational responsibility.

Multi-state operators face the steepest challenge here. What’s compliant in Colorado may not satisfy requirements in New York or Minnesota. Working with a packaging supplier that tracks state-by-state regulatory changes and can document compliance certifications for each SKU is an efficient way to run your business. It’s also how you protect it.

 The tube is doing more selling than operators realize

Beyond compliance, the tube directly drives purchase decisions at the dispensary counter. Research published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that cannabis consumers make rapid quality judgments based on packaging presentation, and that packaging cues directly influence intent to purchase. In a dispensary case, where products are often at eye level, and customers compare options side by side, tube presentation matters.

The specific signals your tube sends depend on the format and material. A matte black rigid tube reads as premium. A clear tube lets the product speak for itself, which works well for infused products with visual appeal. A glossy white finish signals clean and clinical. A kraft-style paper tube communicates sustainability and craft. None of these is universally right. All of them communicate something, and that something either reinforces or undermines the price point you’re trying to hold.

Multi-packs have become a dominant format in the pre-roll category, with bundled SKUs now making up a substantial share of what’s on dispensary shelves and creating packaging implications. A five-pack in a flimsy or mismatched outer container undercuts the bundle’s perceived value. The tube configuration, whether individual tubes in a box, a doob tube multi-pack, or a rigid canister format, needs to match the positioning of the product inside it.

Cone-style pre-fills are one format worth evaluating here. They’ve grown alongside the infused segment, and pre-roll cones now come in tube configurations that support both premium single-unit presentation and efficient multi-pack formats.

Where tube choice hits your margin

Pre-rolls are one of the most margin-sensitive products in cannabis. Tube cost per unit compounds quickly at scale. An operator moving 50,000 units a month sees the difference between a $0.08 and a $0.15 tube as a $42,000 annual delta. That’s before accounting for the cost of compliance failures, returns, or rework from tubes that don’t meet current state standards.

There are a few places where operators consistently leave money on the table or take on unnecessary cost:

  • Over-specifying for the price point. A premium rigid tube on a $6 pre-roll creates a mismatch that doesn’t actually move the needle on purchase intent. Match the packaging investment to the product tier.
  • Under-specifying for the multi-pack. The inverse problem. A budget tube on a $28 five-pack signals that the outer packaging doesn’t match the product quality inside, and that gap registers with buyers.
  • Ordering without compliance documentation. A lower unit cost doesn’t account for the cost of a recall or a compliance failure. If your supplier can’t produce ASTM or CPSC certification documentation on request, the savings aren’t real.
  • Not negotiating at volume. Pre-roll is a volume category. Operators who haven’t renegotiated tube pricing based on current run sizes are likely overpaying. Minimum order quantities and per-unit pricing should be revisited as your volume grows.

What to look for in a pre-roll tube partner

Given everything above, the evaluation criteria for a pre-roll tube supplier should go beyond unit cost and lead time. A few things worth pressure-testing:

  • Compliance currency. Does your supplier actively track state-by-state regulatory changes? Can they confirm which of their products meet current state-specific CR standards, and in which states? Can they provide documentation on request?
  • Format breadth. As the pre-roll category continues to evolve, with infused products, multi-packs, and cone formats all growing, you want a supplier who can grow with your SKU mix, not one who locks you into a single format.
  • Sample availability. Tube selection is a tactile decision. The fit, the cap engagement, the weight in hand, how the child-resistant closure performs with real hands — these things matter and they can’t be evaluated from a spec sheet. A supplier who makes sampling easy is a supplier who’s confident in their product.
  • Minimum order flexibility. Newer SKUs and limited runs need packaging flexibility. A supplier who requires high minimums on every order creates friction that works against innovation.

The tube you put around your pre-roll signals quality to buyers, helps you navigate a compliance environment that has gotten meaningfully stricter in 2026, and contributes to margin outcomes at scale.

How to Evaluate Cannabis Packaging Suppliers Before You Commit

By Julie Kuepers
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Cannabis packaging decisions have downstream consequences for compliance, operations, customer perception, and margins. This article offers a practical framework for evaluating packaging suppliers across five dimensions: compliance, product quality, operational fit, customization, and partnership reliability. It closes with a pre-commitment checklist that operators can use before signing any supplier agreement.

Cannabis packaging is no longer a purchasing decision. It’s a strategic one. The wrong supplier can compromise compliance, disrupt operations, damage brand perception, and erode margins in ways that far exceed any line-item savings on the invoice. And once a brand is locked in, switching suppliers mid-stride tends to be both expensive and operationally painful.

The cannabis packaging market is also crowded and uneven. Quality varies widely, regulatory requirements are shifting state by state, and the pace of change has accelerated. The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) rolled out sweeping new packaging rules for consumable hemp products on March 31, 2026, giving businesses roughly 20 days of notice before the requirements took effect. For operators, that kind of timeline is a reminder that supplier selection isn’t just about today’s products. It’s about whether a supplier can keep up with what’s coming.

The framework below covers five evaluation criteria and a pre-commitment checklist. Together, they’re designed to help operators separate suppliers who can sustain a long-term relationship from those who will create friction at every turn.

Start with compliance, not price

Compliance has to be the first filter, not an afterthought. A supplier who can’t speak fluently to state-specific rules or can’t point to how their products meet current requirements is a supplier who will cost more than they save.

Before evaluating anything else, verify:

  • Child-resistant performance, including whether it holds up for the specific product format. Single-use and multi-use closures carry different requirements, and a closure that works for one isn’t automatically compliant for the other.
  • State-specific requirements such as opaque packaging, warning label placement, tamper-evidence, and resealability.
  • Federal-level considerations for hemp-derived products crossing state lines.

Texas HB 28 is a useful example of how quickly the landscape can shift. Under the new DSHS rules, multi-serve consumable hemp products must be sold in packaging that’s tamper-evident, child-resistant, and resealable in a way that keeps the child-resistant mechanism intact after first opening. That’s not a minor spec change. It effectively eliminates many standard closures that pass child-resistance testing at the point of sale but don’t maintain it after the cap is first removed.

Suppliers who track regulatory shifts proactively, who know what’s coming before it hits the register, protect operators from getting caught flat-footed. That’s a qualitative signal worth weighing heavily during evaluation.

Evaluate product quality beyond the spec sheet

There’s always a gap between what’s on a supplier’s spec sheet and what actually arrives at the facility. Closing that gap is what separates a good evaluation from a rushed one.

Key areas to assess:

  • Material quality and sourcing, including food-safe and UV-resistant construction, and PCR content, if sustainability is a brand priority.
  • Closure performance, particularly for multi-use products where the child-resistant mechanism has to function through repeated opening and reclosing.
  • Durability through shipping, retail handling, and consumer use.

Samples aren’t optional. Request them, handle them, put product in them, and ship them to see how they perform in realistic conditions. A closure that feels solid on a showroom table can behave differently after a 48-hour freight trip through temperature swings.

Red flag: suppliers who resist sending samples or charge fees that feel disproportionate to the evaluation stage.

Assess operational fit

Packaging that looks great on paper can still break an operation. The wrong MOQ or a lead time that doesn’t align with production cycles can create shortages, tie up capital, or force emergency sourcing at inflated costs.

Key operational questions worth getting answered in writing:

  • Lead times. Domestic decoration typically takes weeks, overseas takes months. Do those timelines align with production schedules and inventory buffers?
  • MOQs at each decoration level, and whether they scale with growth rather than force overbuying in the early stages.
  • Shipping terms. FOB origin vs. delivered pricing can significantly change the total landed cost, especially at scale.
  • Inventory policies. Does the supplier hold stock, or is everything produced to order?

Red flag: vague timelines, shifting MOQs during the quote process, or pressure to commit to volumes that don’t fit current operations.

Test customization capabilities

Customization is where cannabis brands build shelf recognition. In a market that Grand View Research projects will reach nearly $8 billion in the U.S. alone by 2030, driven in part by brand differentiation and premiumization, packaging is often what closes the sale at retail.

What to evaluate:

  • Decoration options, including direct print (CMYK), label application, emboss, deboss, spot UV, and Pantone matching.
  • MOQ and lead time differences between domestic and overseas decoration, and where the break-even points fall.
  • Quality of past work. Ask to see decorated samples or portfolio work from comparable brands.

Red flag: limited decoration options, inconsistent print quality across runs, or no portfolio of past work to show.

Assess the partnership, not just the transaction

The strongest supplier relationships function as partnerships. That’s harder to spot on a spec sheet, but it shows up in how a supplier handles the evaluation phase itself.

Qualities to evaluate:

  • Responsiveness during the evaluation phase, which is a preview of how problems will be handled later.
  • Transparency about capabilities, limitations, and realistic timelines.
  • Willingness to educate rather than just sell.
  • Cannabis industry references and a client roster that reflect the kind of brand the supplier is equipped to serve.

Questions worth asking directly:

  • How do you handle a quality issue or shortage?
  • What’s the escalation process when something goes wrong?
  • Can you connect me with current cannabis clients as references?

Industry reporting on Texas’ recent regulatory rollout highlights just how quickly supplier responsiveness becomes operationally critical. When DSHS issued notice of new rules roughly 20 days before they took effect, operators with responsive, informed supplier partners had a meaningful advantage over those working with vendors who treated them as transactions.

Red flag: no references, dodged process questions, or overselling.

The pre-commitment checklist

Before signing any supplier agreement, operators should be able to check every item on this list:

  • Compliance verified for each relevant state and product format
  • Samples requested, received, and tested in real conditions
  • Lead times and MOQs confirmed in writing
  • Shipping terms and total landed cost calculated
  • Customization capabilities and portfolio reviewed
  • Client references checked
  • Quality issues and the escalation process are clearly understood

This checklist is the difference between a supplier who supports growth and one who creates friction at every turn.

Conclusion

Evaluating a cannabis packaging supplier is a strategic decision, not a purchasing task. The cheapest quote rarely reflects the true cost of the relationship once compliance risk, operational disruption, and switching costs are factored in.

Brands that evaluate thoroughly on the front end avoid the downstream costs of a bad fit. The right supplier protects compliance, supports operational scale, and helps brands show up on the shelf the way they deserve to. In a market where regulations are tightening and competition is intensifying, that’s not a nice-to-have. It’s the foundation of a durable brand.

Sustainability in Cannabis Packaging: Balancing Preservation and Environmental Impact

By Jack Grover
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Even a cursory review of cannabis reveals that the market has been notoriously wasteful, polluting the environment with chemical fertilizers, misused pesticides, contaminated plants, and—perhaps most problematically—thoughtlessly excessive packaging.

The industry is in dire need of sustainable practices, and the easiest way to start an impactful new trend is from the outside in: a.k.a., adjusting how you’re parceling your products.

Honing in on sustainable packaging isn’t just a good move for the environment. It’s also more cost-effective, less labor-intensive and allows you to provide consumers with the best possible version of your flower—no matter how far through the supply chain it’s had to travel before hitting retail shelves.

Cannabis has progressed: It’s time for its packaging to do the same

By the time legalization began sweeping the nation, the industry already had several decades of experience operating underground. With that discretion came a lot of built-in habits around not attracting attention, and for packaging, the focus was solely on not looking like a cannabis product.

An overabundance of plastic isn’t cutting it anymore—not only when it comes to environmental friendliness, but for the integrity of the product itself.

Today, increased legalization grants operators the freedom to expand without the fear of being seen, and as a result, there’s no longer any excuse for wasteful packaging to be the industry’s norm. Glass jars, Ziplocks and an overabundance of plastic isn’t cutting it anymore—not only when it comes to environmental friendliness, but for the integrity of the product itself.

“I’ve been designing packaging in the cannabis industry since 2013, and a lot of trends have come and gone. We used to put flower in plastic Rx jars and paper envelopes. In general, there was a lot of waste: excess boxes and jars that all get thrown away,” says Legacy’s Chief Cannabis Officer Ryan Hedrick. “And when consumers pull the products out of those containers, your marketing doesn’t remain intact. The box gets thrown away, and now they’re just carrying around a labelless jar. Not only is it bad for the environment, but it isn’t helping you promote your brand at all.”

How sustainable storage optimizes curing and shelf life of flower

As for the curing process, Hedrick used to use airtight buckets, which both took up a lot of room and wasn’t at all effective for maintaining cannabis’s ideal humidity levels. He’s since switched to passive atmospheric packaging, which utilizes increasingly popular technology to keep humidity—and sustainability—in mind. “The buckets weren’t letting any moisture out. On top of that, you can imagine how much room 165 five-gallon buckets takes up in a grow space,” Hedrick says.

The same goes for long-term storage. With humidity-controlled bags, operators can rest assured that their product will maintain its efficacy, because as soon as that pack is sealed, the humidity level is guaranteed to stay the same.

Cannabis brand Lava Leaf Organics relies on passive atmospheric packaging for efficient storage—mainly because of the reduction in carbon footprint and increase in terpene preservation.

“When we think about the energy involved in packaging and shipping large amounts of heavy glass jars compared to TerpLoc bags, it was an easy decision for us,” said Lava Leaf Organics CEO Tony Martinez.

“The bags are recyclable, and compared to glass jars with child-resistant lids, they’re much better at preserving terpenes. Using sustainable packaging allows us to put our best foot forward and to better control our customer’s brand experience.”

Tips for making sustainable storage work for you

Sustainable storage is an environmentally-responsible move for the cannabis industry to make, but when weighing the pros and cons of a big switch like this, operators should also keep in mind how positively it will impact their end product, consumer’s experience, and, subsequently, their industry-wide reputation.

Some product packaging examples in the market today

Placing your products in eco-friendly bags is just the start. There are definitely more tips and tricks operators can take advantage of to prolong the use of sustainable materials and ensure they’re leaving as small a footprint as possible. For example, Hedrick’s team reuses their passive atmospheric packaging for maximum efficiency—especially when it comes to bulk storage or curing.

“We mark all of our storage bags with the original strain, so we can reuse that bag for the same strain as long as it passes testing along the way. When I do so, I take a mixture of SaniDate and water to make sure everything is sanitized and clean,” Hedrick said. “That allows me to reuse them for about 3-4 months’ worth of curing and storage. You can reuse a bucket in that same way, but when it’s time to replace it, you’re still spending another $15-$17.”

Sustainable, humidity-controlled packaging is also ideal for testing consistency. If you send in five buckets of the same strain to be tested, you run the risk of them all sitting at wildly different humidity levels, which means some might pass, and others might be rendered trash.

All of the environmental benefits aside, using sustainable packaging just makes cents—literally. “Essentially, I’m saving a minimum of half a million in packaging every year. That’s my entire staff’s salary for two months. That’s incredible, impactful, significant savings that can make a huge difference for a business trying to expand.”

Beyond Compliance: Leveraging Packaging to Build Brand Identity & Loyalty

By Jack Grover
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Ten years ago, “cannabis packaging” didn’t extend very far beyond throwing buds into a plastic baggie – in fact, the term wasn’t even really a recognizable category. The lack of product packaging attention-to-detail was understandable at the time; the industry was still predominantly underground, and brands were much more focused on staying afloat amidst global prohibition and crackdowns.

Fast forward to today’s cannabis landscape, and it’s practically unrecognizable. Brands have figured out that, not only is proper cannabis packaging essential for providing consumers with a safe, reliable product, but it offers businesses an inimitable opportunity for marketing to their audience and establishing brand identity.

Because of this, the legal industry has gotten increasingly creative and playful with their packaging, using the space to connect with their audience, leave a lasting mark and obtain that covetable consumer loyalty the retail world is always hungry for.

The beginnings of cannabis packaging: Preserving integrity in a growing market

I entered the cannabis world as a home grower – exclusively for my brother, who has pretty intense cerebral palsy and gets tremendous medicinal relief from the plant. I’ve been growing for him for years, and in my earlier days I found myself losing a lot of cannabis to the elements as time passed: mold, pests, etc. I figured there had to be a better way to preserve what I was cultivating for long-term storage.

After visiting a dispensary in Colorado to get some ideas, I realized all of their packaging was overkill. It didn’t do anything to actually nurture the plant, or give it what it needs for successful lasting preservation. So, I got even more interested.

I started looking into what chemically happens to cannabis after you dry it and I discovered there was no real information on the topic yet. So, my team and I started looking into how we could contribute to this arena – sort of creating this whole new category and awareness around curating, storage, long-term plant viability, shelf life and conditions for quality cannabis.

We looked at a variety of elements for proper packaging – like UV protection, humidity and moisture control, odor control and oxygen control – and worked hard to develop some materials that would factor in all of these considerations for an end-goal that I believe should be universal.

When it comes to cannabis packaging, the most important thing you should be thinking about is integrity throughout the supply chain: delivering products to patients in the way that it was intended to be delivered from the grower for optimal medical results.

Proper packaging is critical for the industry. It contributes to operational efficiency, eliminates waste, maintains full moisture and humidity rates and helps businesses protect their bottom line.

It allows operators to deliver better, more viable and more potent medicine to patients – and that is absolutely what’s most important. Giving patients the full efficacy of the plant, unadulterated and unmolested by the supply chain.

Utilizing cannabis packaging as a powerful marketing tool

That’s how cannabis packaging was first developed – to protect products and keep them safe and effective for consumers. Since then, the sector has totally evolved to encompass even more elements. There’s a lot more education about drying and curing, and how to preserve the integrity of cannabis as it moves from seed to sale.

Brands have also started recognizing a dual opportunity alongside safe cannabis packaging: an effective means for marketing and advertising. In a space where we’re so restricted on how we market our brands, having great packaging is beautiful, convenient and reminds the patient of the brand behind the product they’re currently enjoying.

This is a critical opportunity for brands to cement their reputation and form a relationship between themselves and their clients. “Consumer loyalty” is a magic term that a lot of brands are chasing today, and the biggest way to achieve that is with consistent, high-quality packaging that allows operators to maintain integrity within a supply chain they just can’t control.

Cannabis packaging is the consumer’s first reaction to your product. It’s the plating. And the way it’s presented has a major effect on how customers view your brand. Think of your packaging as a type of billboard: every consumer carrying around a branded bag of your pre-rolls is a walking advertisement and ultimately an ambassador.

The 12-inch vinyl LP cover art of our generation is the one-eighth flower pack. Just like those records are all music, these packages are all cannabis, but these brilliant creatives all over the world are getting to attack an identical canvas with radically-different approaches and aesthetics.

It’s a ubiquitous thing – like designing a watch. From Timex to Rolex, all of these brands have been creating iterations from the same basic layout to do the same basic thing: tell time. That is constraining, but it also pushes people to get really innovative and imaginative.

In the cannabis realm this is just the beginning of utilizing packaging for brand identity and loyalty. Innovating your cannabis packaging provides an incredible framework for seeing different ideas and inspirations come to life. It’s a cannabis collaboration with artists in its most newborn infancy and there’s a lot of exciting potential there. Beyond a billboard and a brand voice, packaging is a keeper of the quality, consistency and potency your customer deserves.

Rise of the Machines: The Case for Automation in the Cannabis Industry

By Kyle Loucks
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The Case for Automation in the Cannabis Industry

History has shown that if companies fail to innovate when new technology emerges, even household name brands with enormous market share can squander their success if they are blind to anything that could ever unseat them from the top.

Kodak developed digital camera technology in the 1970s but didn’t envision a world where the film market wasn’t dominant. Toys R’ Us failed to adapt to the changing retail landscape, and Amazon became the chief source of online toy sales. Blockbuster famously laughed Netflix out of the room when the now-$149 billion behemoth sought to sell for a measly $50 million.

A “knockbox”-style unit for producing prerolls

Brands in the cannabis landscape can also fall victim to this same misstep. New technologies are driving the industry forward, yet many brands are still standing by sub-par processes. Whether due to misplaced beliefs around automation or an unwillingness to invest, cannabis brands could suffer the same fate as many of these bygone-era brands.

The Financial Argument: Automation Reduces Overhead 

The financial argument for automation is at the top of the list of motivators for most cannabis businesses. A great example of this is with pre-roll production. For cannabis brands still employing a “dexterous approach” to their pre-roll manufacturing, staying afloat to keep up with demand is a constant battle. Rebel Spirit, currently the number one pre-roll brand in Oregon, was burning through eye-welling amounts of money in labor costs to produce 300,000 pre-rolls per month. With a crew of 22 full-time pre-roll manufacturers, the team at Rebel Spirit quickly realized their process was unsustainable, and they were headed for an economic crisis if they didn’t cut costs.

The Blackbird atuomated system

They were using a knockbox-style unit which they had modified themselves in an attempt to force it to fit their needs. But this “semi-automated” solution simply wasn’t working. Rebel Spirit then turned to our team at RollPros to clean up and fully automate their production process, helping them to create quality pre-roll at scale with a fraction of the labor costs. (We are the Vancouver, WA-based designer and manufacturer of the Blackbird automated joint rolling system.) For them, it wasn’t a matter of greed, as some opponents of automation sometimes claim; it was simply a choice of going out of business or not. In competitive markets like the Beaver State, where every dollar counts, the case for automation was a no-brainer.

The Remote Argument: Automation Reduces Risk Of Human Error 

It’s a basic concept: the more human interaction in your processes, the more risk for error. We, as flawed humans, are simply not capable of being as precise or consistent in our work as a machine can be. Consider the cultivation process. Most experienced cultivators will tell you that growing cannabis is easy, but growing quality cannabis is very difficult, with a lot that can go wrong.

Enter one of the most valuable automation tools for cannabis cultivators – automated irrigation systems. With your irrigation systems and nutrients on autopilot, cultivators can ensure plants get the ideal mix of nutrients regardless of whether you are on-site, remote or facing a staffing crunch. Sensors can provide real-time data so that water, nutrients or even light can be adjusted as needed. In many cases, even these adjustments can be automated. (Think AI hasn’t entered the cannabis space yet? Think again!) Sure, there is always a potential for issues no matter how advanced a system you use. But when you compare this to a farmer using a manual watering and nutrient system, there are far fewer opportunities for mistakes. Does a human feel the difference between .94 gallons of water and 1 gallon of water? No. But a well-calibrated irrigation system can tell the difference and even alert you if it goes outside of whatever tolerance limits you set.

When the cost of flower is high, human errors that lead to damaged or inferior product are often overlooked. But when flower prices drop as markets mature, success versus failure can be balanced on a knife-edge, and cultivators can’t afford to make mistakes.

The Skynet Argument: Automation Increases Productivity Without Taking Your Job 

Whether AI is coming for our jobs or will destroy human creativity as we know it has been argued ad nauseum since the release of AI tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney. The good news? Automating your business doesn’t mean enlisting the T-1000 from Terminator 2 to terminate your 9-to-5. Think of automation as Arnold Schwarzenegger telling you to come with him if you want to live.

The Green Vault automated packaging system

The truth is that any task that needs to be completed frequently or on a set schedule is ripe for automation. Automation eliminates tethering your most talented employees to cog-in-the-machine work that wastes their time and abilities. Freeing them up to focus on more high-value tasks like customer service, marketing, or new product development will likely make your business more profitable long term, and make your employees happier with their work.

No industry has been spared from the impacts of industrial automation, says Amar Olgeirsson, CEO and founder of Green Vault Systems, but, “labor is typically not reduced as a result of automation.” Instead, “production is increased, and workers’ value increases because of higher production in terms of units produced per labor time. By increasing worker efficiency, companies and corporations are able to pay their workers a higher salary,” says Olgeirsson.

The Performance Argument: Automation Guarantees Consistent Quality Every Time 

Expansion across state lines means consumers know they can buy the same quality product whether they buy it on the East Coast or West Coast. You know that you can buy your favorite Red Blend wine whether you’re in Denver or Atlanta and expect to enjoy the same tasting glass (barring any unintended oxidization). If a customer purchases that same glass of wine, and it doesn’t meet their expectations of what it should be (it’s inconsistent with the last time they had it), a brand is essentially breaking a promise to that customer. When a customer doesn’t get what they want and expect out of a product, they’ll quickly move on to a competitor. Consistency builds loyalty… inconsistency destroys it.

A preroll infusion automated system

The cannabis industry is notorious for producing inconsistent products. It’s not surprising, considering the near-total ban on state-to-state commerce, (thanks federal government!) And, of course, the variation that can occur from crop to crop, batch to batch or facility to facility. There are so many variables to just the cultivation process; the amount of light a crop gets, the type and dosage of nutrients, the growing medium that’s used, the amount of air flow in the facility… The list goes on, and that’s just the first of many processes needed before a product ends up on shelves! It’s nearly impossible for humans to manually manage and ensure consistency of all these variables without the help of some level of automation.

Nohtal Partansky, ex-NASA-JPL engineer and CEO of Los Angeles-based Sorting Robotics, teamed up with fellow NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory colleagues Cassio Santos and Sean Lawlor to found their firm that creates next-generation hardware and software for cannabis industry producers.

“Automation in the cannabis industry plays a crucial role in maintaining product consistency by reducing human error and standardizing processes across cultivation, extraction, and packaging,” says Partansky. “If brands are going to expand across states, consistency is a requirement if customer loyalty is ever going to be a market driver for sales.”

The Contamination Argument: Automation Limits Human Error & Contamination Risk and Improves Product Safety

Our industry demands very strict safety standards. Our customers deserve safe products, but beyond that, the testing requirements mandated by regulations in most markets are very, very strict. Each and every human touchpoint in your processes carries with it additional contamination risk. Even with stringent protocols, mold, mildew and other unwanted crits can more easily venture their way into final products as the human variable increases.

Automation minimizes these risks and improves the safety of the product for consumers, and reduces the risk of recalls or other regulatory issues. Consider that for many cannabis businesses in hyper-saturated, competitive markets, a significant product recall can be the end of the road. Automating production processes provides a reliable and consistent solution in an industry that demands the highest safety and quality standards.

“The new and burgeoning Cannabis industry and its consumers are no exception and possibly benefit it more than other industries.  The medicinal qualities of Cannabis products make consistency, quality, safety, and traceability paramount to the consumer.  Cannabis products are most often consumed by ingestion into the lungs which means product cleanliness and quality are essential to safety.  Chemically derived oils and extracts would not be possible without automation equipment. Again, industrial automation is a huge benefit to the Cannabis space, to the producers, their employees, and maybe most importantly to the consumer”.

Amar Olgeirsson, CEO & Founder, Green Vault Systems

Olgeirsson’s take on products created on specialized automation equipment? “Products produced on purpose-built machinery are more consistent and of a higher quality which lends itself to better oversight, enhanced traceability, and improved product safety.”

The Physical Argument: Automation Eliminates Tedious & Overhead-Heavy Tasks

In an increasingly competitive marketplace like cannabis, streamlining processes and reducing the liabilities that come with human labor – like being sidelined from Carpal Tunnel – is key. Let’s consider the trimming component of the post-harvest process. Manual trimming is monotonous, low-paying for workers, and an unrealistic way to harvest cannabis at scale. Also, it’s hard to be successful when team-wide prescriptions for night-time wrist splints are a threat.

The Mobius M108S Trimmer

Leaning into “hand-trimmed” as a differentiator for your brand? Many connoisseurs will argue that hand-trimmed bud is superior because buds stay aesthetic and trichomes aren’t lost. That may have been true in the early days of automated trimming machines, but with today’s crop of super-sophisticated trimming technology, it is now nothing more than a myth. (Yes, myths and misled traditions can be difficult to overcome in our industry, but I digress…)

The Mobius M108S Trimmer, for example, allows operators to reduce the staff required to process thousands of pounds of product every year without compromising quality. It’s next-gen tech not found on traditional trimmers can produce hand-trim quality buds with minimal trichome loss.

When flower prices are high, especially in the case of newly-legalized markets, it can be easy for operators to overlook the cost of trimming, and pay their employees higher wages to offset the physical risks to their bodies. But what about when product prices inevitably fall once the post-legalization honeymoon period wears off? It’s unrealistic (and unethical, I believe), to pay employees minimum wage while putting their health and safety at a significant risk. In the above example, at some point, your operations will grow to a point where hand-trimming will dig you further into a fiscal hole every time you harvest.

The Future Argument: Automation Isn’t Going Away (and Your Competitors Know It)

Automation could cause you to lose people, just not in the way you might think. Ultimately, competitors in any space will invest in new technology to streamline people, processes and tools to establish a competitive advantage. This investment puts them in a better position to attract talented employees that stick around for the long term.

Automation is like a boat motor in the 21st century, and companies that don’t use it are paddling against the current. Sure, you can use a wooden oar, but your competitors know paddling is too much work and will strap a motor to theirs. The truth is that companies that drag their feet out of stubbornness or inability to see how the current situation could ever change will often find their employees jumping ship to go elsewhere.

An automated vape cart filling system

“I strongly believe that automation not only propels our industry forward but also sets the stage for a more profitable future in cannabis production for those that embrace technology rather than fight it,” says Ryan Hoitt, CEO, developer & founder of Vape Jet in Portland. “I can confidently say that it enables businesses to fine-tune operations, improve product quality, and achieve unmatched consistency.”

Saying that you will eventually be forced to automate sounds harsh, but it’s largely true. As soon as your competitors deploy automated processes, they gain an advantage. If you don’t do the same, it will become more difficult to compete, stay profitable and stay in business.

The Consumer Argument: Automation Provides Consumers More Options

Automation isn’t going away, and it’s certainly not a fad like pogs or planking. Automation drives lower production costs, which means lower-priced products for consumers. This process has been behind the dramatic increases in global living standards and population growth since the birth of the Industrial Revolution and is not likely to change anytime soon.

Automation allows producers to manufacture a broader range of products and focus on providing the consumer with more options. Consumers want to be in control of their purchasing decisions, and companies that deliver variety will be the ones to reap the rewards.

Embrace the Future with Automation

History has shown us time and again that failure to innovate can lead even the most prominent brands to fall victim to their inability, or unbelief, in the necessity to evolve. Automation is a no-brainer in crowded and competitive markets.

No doubt, the future of the cannabis industry will trend toward automation. Businesses embracing it will have a significant advantage over those that do not. Companies that drag their feet in the face of disruptive automation risk resigning to the same fate as those brands that underestimated technology at the expense of their own existence. No industry is immune from disruption, and there will be dynamic entrepreneurs who will come along and see to it. Embrace the change, embrace automation and technology, and you’ll increase your chances of winning in the cannabis industry!

Bad Actors in CBD: How to Distinguish Quality Products From the Rest

By Joseph Dowling
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The success of reputable cannabis and CBD brands has inspired an influx of inexperienced and disreputable competitors in the market. These so-called “bad actors” in CBD advertise products that are not manufactured under current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP), which help to ensure that all products are consistently produced and controlled according to specified quality standards. cGMP helps guard against risks of adulteration, cross-contamination and mislabeling to guarantee product quality, safety and efficacy.

Joseph Dowling, Author & CEO of CV Sciences

CBD products without cGMP regulations are often inaccurately labeled and deceiving to consumers. In fact, in a test of over 100 CBD products available online and at retail locations, Johns Hopkins Medicine found significant evidence of inaccurate, misleading labeling of CBD content. The prevalence of such brands not only reduces consumer confidence in CBD but also limits the growth of the sector as a whole. Fortunately, CBD consumers and retailers can easily discriminate between a well-tested, reputable brand and inferior bad actors with a few straightforward, minimum requirements to look out for when selecting a product.

Why are “bad actors” a problem for consumers and the industry?

Bad actors in CBD sell products that are not produced under cGMP conditions and are typically not tested by third-party laboratories to ensure identity, purity, quality, strength and composition. This means they are not verified for contaminants, impurities, label claims and product specifications. This frequently results in misleading advertising with inaccurate levels of cannabinoids or traces of compounds not found on the label, like THC. To combat this, the FDA issues warning letters to actors that market products allegedly containing CBD—many of which are found not to contain the claimed levels of CBD and are not approved for the treatment of any medical condition. Still, bad actors manage to slip through the cracks and deceive consumers.

The structure of cannabidiol (CBD), one of 400 active compounds found in cannabis.

Bad actors that put anything in a bottle and make unsubstantiated medical claims hurt the reputable operators that strive to create safe and high-quality products. It is easy for consumers to be drawn to CBD products with big medical claims and lower prices, only to be disappointed when the product does not produce the advertised results. Inaccurately labeled products may contain unexpected levels of cannabinoids, including ingredients that consumers may not intend to ingest, like Delta-9 or Delta-8 THC. Along with unexpected levels of THC, many CBD products available now are not as pure as advertised, with one in four products going untested for contaminants like microbial content, pesticides, or heavy metals.

Further, inaccurate labeling of products and their compounds also prevents consumers from establishing a baseline impact of CBD on their bodies, leaving them vulnerable to inconsistent future experiences. Such a poor experience can turn consumers off to the category as a whole, drawing their trust away from not only the bad actors but also the reliable, reputable brands on the market. The saturation of the market with these disreputable brands delegitimizes a category that has only just begun to break down the stigmas, creating stagnation rather than growth as consumers remain wary of low-quality products.

How can consumers identify bad actors in CBD?

There are several simple ways to identify a bad actor among CBD products and make certain that both consumers and retailers purchase quality, reliable and safe brands in legitimate sales channels. To start, consumers should avoid all CBD products that are marketed with unsubstantiated medical claims. This is a significant area of abuse, as brands that relate any form of CBD product to a disease state, like cancer, should not be trusted. The science to support such medical claims has not been completed, yet, product marketing is years ahead of the evidence to support such claims. Unsupported medical claims could also mislead consumers that may need more serious medical intervention.

Just some of the many CBD products on the market today.

Additionally, consumers must review the packaging, which should include nutrition information in the form of a supplement fact label. The label should include the serving size, number of servings per container, a list of all dietary ingredients in the product and the amount per serving of each ingredient. All labels should include a net quantity of contents, lot number or batch ID, the name and address of the manufacturer, and an expiration or manufacturing date. These signs of a reputable brand are easy to look for and can save consumers from the trouble of selecting the wrong CBD product.

What to look for when selecting a CBD product

With this in mind, products from reputable, tested brands can be identified by a few key factors. Reputable CBD companies are already compliant with the FDA regulations on nutritional supplements, including a nutritional or supplement fact panel on the packaging—just like vitamins. The information in this panel should include all the active cannabinoids in the product, both per serving and package. Clear potency labeling allows consumers to confidently select products that suit their needs and understand the baseline impact of CBD concentration on their bodies, thus helping them to tailor their experience with thoughtful product selection.

Reputable brands also include a convenient QR code on the packaging, linking the product to a certificate of analysis that details the testing results to demonstrate compliance with product standards and label claims. In terms of specific ingredients, consumers should be skeptical of high concentration levels of “flavor of the month” minor cannabinoids, which are often associated with unsubstantiated medical claims. Current scientific research has set its focus on major cannabinoids like CBD and Delta-9 THC, leaving additional research necessary for understanding minor cannabinoids. Minor cannabinoids are typically included in full spectrum products at concentrations found naturally in the cannabis plant, which is a safer approach to consuming CBD until more research is completed.

Consumers should not let the existence of unreliable, untrustworthy brands curtail their confidence in the CBD sector—there are many high-quality, safe and trusted brands on the market. With a knowledgeable and discerning eye, consumers and retailers can easily select top-quality CBD products that millions of consumers have found to improve many aspects of their health and well-being. Looking ahead, clear federal regulations for CBD products that require mandatory product registration, compliance with product labeling, packaging and cGMP will be crucial in weeding out bad actors and will allow compliant companies to gain consumer trust and responsibly grow the CBD category.

Cannabis Beverage Distribution: A Q&A with Jason Vegotsky, CEO of Petalfast

By Aaron Green
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The cannabis beverage market is expected to reach $2 Billion by 2026 and is growing at a rapid pace. In Canada, the market share of infused beverages grew nearly 850% since 2020, according to a recent Headset report, the trend is expected to follow in the States. Some traditional beverage companies are hesitant to jump in due to the niche branding and supply chain models needed to capture significant market share. Other adult beverage companies such as Vita Coco and Pabst are dipping their toes into the cannabis beverage market to capture early market opportunities.

Sales and marketing agencies like Petalfast, with a core team stemming from the natural foods and beverage industries, have already started cracking the code for cannabis brands by implementing systems straight out of those industry’s playbooks. This includes disrupting the CA market by becoming the first to implement a traditional three-tier distribution model. 

We caught up with Jason Vegotsky, CEO of Petalfast to learn more about the cannabis beverage distribution market. Prior to Petalfast, Jason was Chief Revenue Officer at KushCo Holdings (now Greenlane Holdings), a role he took on after selling his butane supply company to KushCo.

Aaron Green: How did you get involved in the cannabis industry?

Jason Vegotsky, CEO of Petalfast

Jason Vegotsky: I began my career in wine and spirits distribution, but I always knew I wanted to work for myself. My first foray into launching a business, raising capital and brand building was through my beef jerky company, Lawless Jerky, which I built and sold after five years. Drawing on my food and beverage experience, I quickly entered and understood the cannabis market. I launched a company called Summit Innovations that sold butane to producers making oil. I eventually sold Summit to KushCo Holdings, Inc. (now known as Greenlane Holdings, Inc.) and became their President and Chief Revenue Officer. Through that experience, I began to notice gaps in the cannabis distribution model. Petalfast was built to fill that gap, providing clients with exceptional go-to-market strategies, leading to increased revenue and customer loyalty.

Green: How does experience in natural foods and traditional beverages translate to the cannabis industry?

Vegotsky: The route-to-market strategy is similar to that of cannabis, and the industry can benefit from the knowledge and experiences of those who work in natural foods and beverages. The extensive regulatory history and long-standing distribution models of these industries can provide a framework that those in the cannabis industry can capitalize on.

Green: What is the current distribution model for the majority of cannabis beverage companies today?

Vegotsky: Cannabis beverage companies face significant regulatory hurdles regarding distribution. Transportation restrictions, state-by-state differences in THC serving sizes and packaging requirements, retail display and storage limitations, and consumer adoption are just a few examples of what cannabis beverage brands run into when looking to enter, compete or scale in a given market.

At Petalfast, we offer a tiered distribution model, and our clients get phenomenal distribution through our logistics partner, Nabis. Products are circulated to all of California’s dispensaries and delivery services, allowing brands to focus on what matters most: creating the highest quality cannabis products on the market.

Green: What is a three-tier distribution model? Why do you think the cannabis beverage market is ripe for this model?

Vegotsky: The three-tier distribution model is commonly deployed by alcohol and other traditional food and beverage companies as it provides each tier to scale their operations and focus on their specific services. The three tiers include the brand, the wholesaler (sales + distribution), and the retailer in this distribution model. Because cash flow is such a significant challenge in the cannabis industry, adding an extra tier by separating your distribution and sales is advantageous to brands as it decreases overhead and allows brands to have the ability to scale.

Green: What are the opportunities for smaller brands looking to carve out a niche?

Vegotsky: One of the benefits of working in an emerging market is the opportunity to get in on the ground floor, learn as much as possible about the industry and find where gaps exist. Brand building in this space requires a deep understanding of the consumer and the overall culture — something that most brands are still trying to crack. If a smaller brand can effectively target a base within a distinct product category, it can be very effective in scaling within its niche.

Green: With big players from adult beverages dipping their toes in the cannabis beverage space, is consolidation inevitable? 

Vegotsky: At a certain level, yes. Well-established companies will seek out acquisitions of smaller, successful companies, especially ones that are capital constrained, but buyers need to be aware that capital alone will not be enough. The culture of cannabis is very different from alcohol or other adjacent beverage categories, so the success of these big players in adult beverages will be linked to their ability to locate and understand the consumer and implement branding strategies accordingly. Adult beverage companies entering the cannabis market must also realize that the flow of product to retailers is not the same as in alcohol, so they will need to adjust accordingly. The cannabis-infused beverage market is expected to reach $2 billion by 2026, so alcohol companies looking to join this movement should start exploring their options now.

Green: What trends are you following in cannabis beverages? What does the future of cannabis beverages look like?

Vegotsky: Canna-tourism has grown to a $17 billion industry. With the rise in cannabis-infused beverages, we’re seeing an increase in creative consumption offerings, from tastings and food and beverage pairings to dispensary tours and bud-and-breakfasts.

Cannabis beverages are attractive to newcomers as they allow for easier control of the effects. Businesses that provide an experience similar to that of a wine or brewery tour can capitalize on new consumers looking to explore the benefits of cannabis in a controlled environment.

The modern consumer is also more health conscious, and with the increased availability of legal cannabis, many are replacing alcoholic beverages with the plant. There has been a reported decrease in alcohol consumption since the 1980s, and many now believe cannabis is safer than alcohol. This belief is especially prevalent among younger generations, leading to more users incorporating cannabis-infused beverages into their daily lives. How we socialize or unwind at the end of the day will start to look different, and brands will become market leaders by speaking to the varied needs of consumers.

Green: How does the industry get there?

Vegotsky: For one, federal decriminalization and removing cannabis as a Schedule I drug on the controlled substances list would help. Cannabis companies don’t have access to the traditional marketing playbook to promote their brands due to TV advertising and social media restrictions. To build brand awareness, businesses should focus efforts on the retail level. Engaging with consumers in-store allows brands to grab their attention and drive faster sales until other avenues open up. At Petalfast, we decided to invest in field and trade marketing to bring brands to life at the retail level. We do this better than anybody else, and we do it at scale.