“Craft” means different things to people. There is no single accepted definition of the term. Likewise, there are no established guidelines for cannabis growing and marketing, unlike those set for beer by industry associations or the regulated standards created for “organic” agricultural products, a certification that is controlled by the federal government. Craft is more of an ethos than a standard in its current iteration in the cannabis space. This effectively makes cultivating cannabis in a way that most consumers would like to imagine as “craft” a labor of love, especially considering the more industrialized brands haven’t yet been pegged for their large-scale production.
Using the clichéd analogy of the Budweiser types versus the small craft brewers, a similar comparison can be made in the cannabis space.
The issue today is the Budweisers of cannabis are only starting to emerge and show signs of their mass-produced weed on dispensary shelves. However, no average consumer can recognize the differences between a small- to medium-sized local farm’s brands and those belonging to big players who dominate every shelf in the state. Those who favor small-batch, local produce cannot shop accordingly. If you were to visit all the licensed farmers in the United States and ask each whether they were growing craft cannabis, the answer likely would be a definitive yes. The distinction eventually will become clearer, and consumers will recognize brands they can get anywhere.
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