“We are losing a lot of traffic in Rhode Island, as our previous customers have recently started to go to Massachusetts instead,” says Spencer Blier, Founder and CEO of Mammoth Inc. The company cultivates medical cannabis and operates a solventless extraction facility in Rhode Island. While their brand has been one of the top selling ones in the state, they have recently been noticing a significant change in demand. “As accessibility is really important for cannabis customers, many have been opting for our neighboring state instead.”
Spencer Blier with Mammoth's cultivation in the background
Faster growth and bigger yields
Mammoth has been growing medical cannabis in Rhode Island for five years now. “We grow hydroponically, as that results in many benefits for our production. Every plant’s roots are in water, which is recirculating through the buckets like a stream. As a result, the water is moving constantly. Underneath each root ball are air stones that add oxygen, and we also add fertilizer to the water. The fact that the plants are sitting in constantly circulating, fertilized, and oxygenated water, means that we can achieve much faster growth. Normally vegetation would take 3-4 weeks, we can achieve this in 1-2 weeks. We also get much bigger yields and improved quality flowers.”
To ensure optimal production, the company has been using Hanna GroLine sensors to measure the water. “We can easily see the pH of the water, as well as the temperature and the amount of fertilizer. This gives us important information that we could go back to if we have a bad run.” They are also currently switching over to using the Nuravine’s automated nutrient doser. “These are great ways to optimize our processes and ensure that we achieve the quality we aim for.”
Losing customers
While the company has been doing very well these past years, there has been a recent change in the market. “The Rhode Island cannabis market is purely medicinal, adult-use cannabis is not legalized yet. In our neighboring state Massachusetts, however, cannabis has been fully legalized for a couple of years now. At first, this did not affect us. But now, a lot of companies have been established on the border. While the Massachusetts products are more highly taxed, and thus expensive, accessibility is very important for cannabis customers. In our state, we only have three dispensaries, and a lot of preparation is required to purchase anything. As a result, most of the Rhode Island customers have been going to Massachusetts because of the convenience.”
With Rhode Island dispensaries seeing less traffic, cultivators are noticing a strong decrease in demand. “Last year, we were still doing well. However, we had a recent month where sales were suddenly down to basically zero. To this day, the majority of cultivators in the state are still not making any sales. While the quality and price of Rhode Island cannabis were keeping customers here before, accessibility proves to be an important aspect over a long period of time. If the market doesn’t change quickly, there is a possibility that we are going to lose cultivators here, as this is not a sustainable situation.”
While adult-use legalization is in the works, Blier explains that this would still take too long for cultivators to profit from. “We are trying to get the word out there and show that we are in need of immediately effective regulations.” Mammoth itself is currently looking into expanding into the Massachusetts market. “We are working on finding good partners to work with, because we would love to enter the great market there. In the meantime, we are also preparing ourselves for the hopefully imminent legalization of adult-use cannabis.”
For more information:
Mammoth Inc.
www.mammothinc.com