Cannabis craft growers advised to follow model

Like craft brewers, craft cannabis growers can’t compete in size or price with established businesses in their industry, so they’d better stand out with unique products and strong partnerships. That was the advice that established dispensary pros dished out at a recent gathering of newly licensed entrepreneurs. With startup businesses aiming to create higher-quality specialty products, the resulting industry should be more diverse, both in ownership and in the variety of products for consumers.

“You make a niche product that has a brand that tells a story that people can get behind,” said Gabriel Mendoza, executive vice president of operations for Mission Dispensaries. “Because you’re not going to be able to compete at cost ... it has to be something that people will buy irrespective of the price, to a certain extent.” Examples of niche products include those marketed for specific desires such as relaxation, mood elevation and pain relief, or fast-acting edibles.

In an era of instant gratification, speakers said, customers are always looking for joints or vapes they can use immediately. Some are looking for a flight of pre-rolled joints, with differing strains.

Speakers also urged newcomers to consider forming partnerships with cannabis retail stores to ensure distribution of their products.

Cannabis attorney Cole Eastman, investor with Herban Garden craft growers, who attended the meeting, said new cultivators must make the most of special aspects of marijuana plants, such as terpenes and more obscure cannabinoids beyond the popular CBD (cannabidiol), like CBG (cannabigerol) or CBN (cannabinol), which are purported to have anti-anxiety and cell-protecting antioxidant properties. “We craft growers really have to differentiate ourselves,” he said. “Being higher quality is the important part of it. It’s really going to force creativity on our part.”

The Illinois Independent Craft Growers Association held the meeting in October at a bar in Wicker Park for holders of craft grower business licenses that have been awarded since this summer by the state Department of Agriculture.

Unlike dispensary applicants, whose licenses are held up in court, state officials have declared 40 businesses eligible for craft grower licenses, plus additional licenses for infusers and transporters, following a competitive scoring process for lengthy and complicated applications.