Ohio grower shifts from speed to execution as capacity catches up

When Klutch Cannabis first built its Ohio cultivation footprint, speed was the priority. Today, their approach has completely shifted. The newest facility is no longer about racing to market but about execution, consistency, and scale catching up with demand. "We are beyond happy with production," says Mike Lentz from Klutch. "We started demo April 2024 and became fully operational by March 2025, that was a huge milestone for us."

From the first plants in the building to now, the cultivation team has already completed Sixteen harvests this year, and projected to pull 25+ per year. "A big shout out to the construction teams and to partners like Pipp and the design team," Mike adds.

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More canopy, more consistency
The latest expansion more than doubled Klutch's canopy, giving the company room to support multiple brands under one roof, including Klutch, Josh D, and Cookies. For Pete Nischt from Klutch, that added footprint was essential. "This gives us the ability to fulfill demand." he says. "We have been extremely happy with how it is performing."

The facility runs Pipp double-tier racking paired with the second generation of the Vertical Air system. For Mike, the new Vertical Air system was immediately noticeable. "Vertical Air system allowed us to build large rooms and maintain consistent air distribution." There is a lot of consistency in the room, and as a grower, that is one of the biggest wins," he says. Consistent airflow, adequately sized HVAC, irrigation, and environmental control allow the team to hit tight parameters across all rooms. That translates into predictable results and a product the team can stand behind. "It helps with yield, consistency, and quality," Mike says. "And that is what ultimately matters."

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Pete notes that even in Klutch's oldest rooms, vertical racking changed the game. "The Pipp racking gave us more than double the canopy in less space," he says. "That is huge in a square footage-limited market like Ohio."

Engineering for growers, not spreadsheets
The new facility was built with redundancy and airflow headroom in mind. The rooms run dual HVAC systems supporting around three hundred lights, with airflow capacity that exceeds what the HVAC blowers themselves can deliver. "There is no bottlenecking air flow. We are always pushing air through the canopy, and that is critical." He points out that plants themselves play a role in conditioning the room through transpiration, something that only works when airflow is sufficient. "When plants are working, they cool the space, essentially creating a natural swamp cooler. If airflow is undersized, you will get less of a swamp cooling effect and this can result in inconsistencies or hot spots in your grow space." he says. "Sufficient air disturbance actually helps with energy demand as well."
Operationally, Klutch is not chasing dramatic yield jumps between facilities. The gains are coming from efficiency. "The design is similar, but the way we operate is tighter," Mike says. "We are running more efficiently across the board."

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Quality over trends
Despite price pressure and shifting consumer behavior, Pete says Klutch's philosophy has not changed. "There will always be a market for quality cannabis," he says. "You have to understand the consumer and how they shop."

That mindset dates back to the company's earliest days in Ohio's medical market. "Our first year, we had no marketing, no Instagram, nothing," Pete recalls. "It was all word of mouth. People told their friends we had the best cannabis."

That approach still guides decisions today, from cultivation to retail. Budtender training focuses on meeting customers where they are, whether they are longtime consumers or first timers who feel intimidated at the counter. "That connection from seed to sale is everything for us," Pete says.

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Not chasing THC
Product development follows the same logic. Klutch listens to the market, but does not chase potency for its own sake. "We just had a THC potency increase, but that's far from the entire picture for us," Pete says. "We focus on flavor, terpenes, the right hardware for consumption, and quality inputs that represent true-to-plant experiences." He points out that our Live Concentrates are made from whole plant fresh frozen, not trim. Pre-rolls are made from whole flower as well. "A 90% THC product does not always taste good," Pete adds. "That is not what we are after."

Mike agrees, noting that some of the team's favorite strains sit at lower potency. "We have dozens of lower THC strains we do not want to get rid of because they are amazing," he says. "There is demand for that too."

In extracts, terpene content often tells the real story. Klutch's live resin carts regularly hit 15% terpenes or more. Even when THC levels are lower, "the effects are phenomenal," Mike says. "We cannot keep them in stock."

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Pete adds that recent regulatory changes removing THC caps allowed the company to simplify formulations. "We are not adding CBD just to dilute potency anymore," he says. "For us, that's a matter of product purity." Klutch-branded product do not include external terpenes either, with Klutch relying entirely on the flavor of its own plants. "We stabilize clean, purified terpenes from our own material," Mike says. "They are smooth, expressive, and true to the plant."

A genetics engine spinning up
One of the biggest quiet upgrades is a significantly expanded mother room. Klutch has more than doubled its size, building a deep genetic library that supports both flower and solventless production. "We are working with around 130 different genetics," Mike says. "At any time, we might be running 25 to 50, then rotating."

The focus lately has been on strains that wash well for solventless extraction, an area where only a small percentage of genetics truly shine. "That flavor expression you get from solventless is hard to compare," Mike says. "It's literally like tasting the garden."

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Around 35 new strains are already in development for 2026, spanning flower and solventless releases. Pete says the solventless program is already pushing limits. "We cannot keep it in stock," he says. "People are driving from store to store trying to collect them all. We are limiting jars per customer for our small batch line."

For Klutch, that demand confirms the strategy. "That mother room is the engine," Pete says. "It is enabling things we have talked about for years, and we are truly excited to show the market what we are cooking up."