Many attendees at the recent New West Summit recognized that the cannabis industry is transitioning from small boutique firms to larger production operations. To do so, they will need to make a technological shift from a simpler gardening perspective to a more complex approach. Fortunately, a variety of companies now exist to help cannabis producers scale up operations whether growing cannabis or turning it into unique products. Here is a cross-section of such companies some of which attended the recent New West Summit dedicated to cannabis technology.
New West Summit and innovative cannabis tech
The New West Summit is a unique cannabis tech conference that took place in Oakland, California in October. Attendees were on hand to learn more from speakers and exhibitors about the technology now available to improve operations. It brought together a cross-section of producers and tech suppliers dedicated to the growing cannabis industry. It also revealed some tension between those who want to maintain a simpler, hands-on approach and those who want to take advantage of more industrial options inspired by large agritech companies.
Swami Chaitanya, dubbed the “West Coast Cannabis Holy Man,” is firmly in the camp of those seeking to maintain boutique standards. In fact, he’s pushing for special regional certification much like France does for wine. Requirements to be designated unique to a region would require that plants be grown in local soil in direct sunlight. However, this vision can coexist with larger industrial operations as we already see in the California wine industry.
High Times Magazine’s Ed Rosenthal was also in attendance and pushing for a move towards automation and industrialization. Apparently, he’s gung-ho on a robotic greenhouse future in which “every part of what you can do will be industrialized.” Rosenthal maintains that “the reason why humans have always gone to machines is because [they] provide better service than we can do ourselves.”
Of course, a variety of levels of farming currently coexist in today’s world and there’s no reason marijuana cannot take a similar trajectory from home cultivation to small-scale boutique operations to larger industrial agritech. At all levels, one is likely to see the involvement of some of the following firms.
PathogenDx: On testing
An example of a company providing services to all levels of the cannabis industry is PathogenDx. This company provides DNA-based pathogen testing whether one needs to “test an individual plant, a small grow house, an entire orchard, or large agricultural fields.”
PathogenDx offers faster and improved testing to reveal contamination of plants by fungi, mildew, molds or viruses. Their testing kits provide the ability to test over 100 samples a day for more than 20 different microbials. Testing takes less than 6 hours and all state-regulated organisms can be tested at once.
Smart Cannabis: On growing
Through its Next Generation Farming subsidiary, Smart Cannabis Corp. (OTCMKTS:SCNA) provides greenhouse construction, software, and hardware for the cannabis industry. Their SMART by Design systems make efficient operations possible and allow automated management that can be monitored remotely using their own SMART App.
Cannabis businesses can now be managed by an app. (Source)
SMART Greenhouses maximize use of space and provide the structure for such hardware as the SMART Filtered-Air Recirculation System and the SMART Multi-Spectrum Grow Light. The SMART App allows for remote monitoring and control of these systems whether one is managing one or many greenhouses. Smart Cannabis and New Generation Farming provide the tools to scale from small to large operations and, if more support is needed to grow, SAP Investments provides consulting, business development and management as required.
MJIC: On distribution
The cannabis supply chain from grower to consumer is as legal as it is logistical. MJIC is using current technology to take a lot of the pain out of getting one’s cannabis crop to market and into the hands of customers. MJIC, which is heading towards a possible IPO, provides a “fully-licensed logistics infrastructure” throughout California with plans to expand nationwide if and when broader legalization occurs.
MJIC provides services that include physical distribution, legal compliance, and sales through branded storefronts. MJIC is also developing local delivery services and intrastate e-commerce operations. MJIC ties the whole system together with technology to cover as much of the supply chain as possible and ease the complexity of compliance.
Tech to the rescue
Given the many roadblocks to scaling the cannabis industry from small, local boutique firms to larger statewide and even intrastate operations, appropriate technology is sorely needed. From increasing crop yields to tracking cannabis from seed to table, tech ties everything together to increase efficiency and maximize profits. In the end, satisfied cannabis consumers will be the sign that tech is doing its job.