One of the big issues dogging the cannabis industry is that in most states, growers select the samples that are tested. Washington State has been at the center of a big controversy. Steep Hill, following the analysis of Jim McRae, called it out earlier this year, threatening to exit the state. CEO Jmîchaeĺe Keller, who issued an open letter to Washington on the subject three months ago, spoke at the recent NCIA Cannabis Business Summit on a panel addressing lab testing, which also included Sean McAllister of McAllister Law Office and Robert Martin of CW Analytical Laboratories. Keller informed (horrified) those in the audience with the shenanigans that take place in Washington, and the other panelists and moderator Gen Murray, formerly of CannLabs, confirmed these issues, which include manipulating test results, selling high THC numbers, sterilizing samples before testing for mold, drying samples to boost THC results and even running pre-tests so that fails can be avoided.
One solution to growers being able to select their own sample material or to somehow cheat the system may be to have an intermediary in the process. California is discussing a mandatory distribution role, but intermediaries like Tradiv, which is active in Colorado but planning to expand shortly to California and Oregon, are beginning to develop. Ganjapreneur interviewed Aeron Sullivan, the founder of Tradiv, and it is clear that this is a major pain point his platform addresses. The company will launch quality assurance testing in Colorado. One area that has gained attention from their customers is pesticides, where it has had a beta program to test trim.
We have dozens of manufacturers that now even in a short two weeks after launching that beta, will not buy trim that is not certified by us.
Aeron Sullivan, Founder of Tradiv
They want safety, they want risk mitigation, they want a third party making sure that these things are being done the right way which de-risks their business and they don’t frankly have to do it themselves.
Sullivan also explained how the Tradiv platform has allowed for substantial segmentation within flower trading. Tradiv has significant variance in quality levels and allows for specification of parameters like indoor, greenhouse or outdoor, for instance. He shared his strong views on greenhouse production offering superior returns on investment in some markets, suggesting that “15% of the cultivation businesses in Colorado right now will not be in business this time next year.” Finally, Sullivan predicted that the industry is headed towards a more pharmaceutical, manufacturing-based system that will wipe out most small growers. He suggested that companies like Ebbu or LucidMood could be acquisitions as the market develops.
Read the transcript or listen to “Aeron Sullivan: Creating a Wholesale Cannabis Marketplace”: https://www.ganjapreneur.com/aeron-sullivan-wholesale-cannabis-marketplace/
