mg Magazine | October 2025

For The Cannabis PROFESSIONAL

HOW AI IS KILLING YOUR CLICKS UNDERSTANDING ZERO-CLICK SEARCH

BORN TO ROCK HISTORIC RECORD STORE BECOMES HIP OHIO DISPENSARY

THE FUTURE IS LIT GEN Z GROWERS BRING BOLD IDEAS TO THE FIELD

MAN BEHIND

XYLEM ROBOTICS' JEFF WU ON STANDARDS, SCALING, AND THE FUTURE OF MANUFACTURING

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OCTOBER 2025

10 18

NEWSROOM

News, data, trends, and other tidbits for the well-informed professional.

MARKETING

THE NEW VISIBILITY CHALLENGE

AI overviews disrupt traditional search. Dispensaries must embrace new strategies to avoid disappearing.

RETAILING

BORN TO ROCK

Klutch transformed Cleveland’s historic Record Rendezvous into a rock-inspired dispensary.

MANUFACTURING THE FUTURE

Xylem Robotics founder Jeff Wu breaks down standards, flow systems, and why operators who prepare for federal oversight today will lead the the industry into tomorrow.

HUMAN RESOURCES

FROM BUDTENDER TO BOSS

Creating career ladders helps businesses foster loyalty, equity, and long-term success.

CULTIVATION

CULTIVATING CHANGE

Gen Z growers blend tech, wellness, and authenticity to rewrite the rules of growing.

SCIENCE

NUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES

Identify, diagnose, and correct nutrient issues before they damage yield and quality.

MANUFACTURING

THE END OF THE LINE

Automation streamlines labeling and packaging, reducing burnout while boosting efficiency.

STRATEGY

SIGNAL VS. NOISE

PR without strategy is decoration, not infrastructure. Here’s how to course-correct.

AROMA THERAPY

UNLOCKING THE INVISIBLE

From elusive aroma compounds to cold-chain care, science and preservation are unlocking the plant’s next frontier and pushing cultivation and storage into a new era of sophistication.

Editor’s Letter

“

DISCIPLINE IS THE BRIDGE BETWEEN GOALS AND ACCOMPLISHMENT.

“

—JIM ROHN

IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THIS INDUSTRY, progress often appeared to be an act of improvisation. Operators jerry-rigged equipment, hustled product across patchwork markets, and hoped regulators wouldn’t notice the gaps. Ingenuity kept the plant alive, but resilience required more than quick fixes.

Today, the cannabis sector is maturing into a marketplace where discipline—not improvisation— defines success. The articles and columns in this issue all circle back to the same truth: Credibility is built through proof, systems, and intention.

Consider Jeff Wu’s call for manufacturers to embrace standards and flow-based operations before federal oversight makes those things mandatory. Or the sobering reality of AI-assisted search, where zero-click queries and YMYL filters threaten to erase entire verticals from visibility. Success today means proving your authority through verifiable data and transparent documentation rather than relying on slogans.

Retail, too, is evolving. In Cleveland, Klutch Cannabis turned a crumbling landmark into a dispensary that pays homage to both cannabis culture and rock-and-roll history, reminding us that authenticity and respect are as vital as architecture. In the human resources sphere, businesses are learning that real growth comes from within; consequently, they’re elevating budtenders to leadership and building career paths that last longer than a single hiring cycle.

In cultivation, Gen Z growers are rewriting the rules with tech fluency, digital storytelling, and fearless experimentation—all grounded in wellness and purpose. Free from the scars of prohibition that dogged their predecessors, Gen Z cultivators are unafraid to reveal their identities as they build virtual and real-world communities that honor the past while forging entirely new paths forward.

Together, these stories underscore a simple lesson: Cannabis no longer has the luxury of winging it. The industry is being asked—by regulators, investors, consumers, and its own future leaders—to show its work. Discipline is no longer optional; it is the proof that progress has staying power.

As you turn these pages, consider how your business might benefit from stronger systems, more transparent practices, and the discipline to scale sustainably. Because in this new era, success—and survival—depend on integrity, intention, and intelligent execution.

Kathee Brewer Editorial Director

Contributors

MICHAEL MEJER

With an extensive background spanning more than a decade in publicity, marketing, and sales, Green Lane Communication founder and CEO Michael Mejer is a seasoned professional adept at forging connections between leaders in the cannabis sector and the media. greenlanecommunication.com

SUSAN PARENT

As a horticulture specialist with more than thirty-five years’ tenure at Premier Tech, Susan Parent specializes in plant health solutions, microbiology, and grower support. For the past fifteen years, she has helped growers improve crop quality and yield with innovative approaches to enhance plant growth and productivity. pthorticulture.com

ALAIN VO

As chief executive officer at automation machinery supplier LeafyPack, Alain Vo has spearheaded advancements in packaging technologies for the past five years. He focuses on enhancing output speeds and integrating innovative features while upholding world-class service standards. Previously, he contributed to the development of LED grow lights. leafypack.com

BRENDAN MCKEE

An avid consumer and advocate for more than twenty years, Brendan McKee is cofounder, chief financial officer, and chief operating officer at Silver Therapeutics, which operates dispensaries in Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont. He entered the legal market with a vertical medical license in 2017 and transitioned into adultuse sales in 2019. silver-therapeutics.com

DAN SERARD

A six-year veteran of the cannabis industry, Dan Serard is vice president of sales and marketing for Cannabis Creative Group, an award-winning marketing agency serving the industry. He is a member of professional organizations including the Cannabis Marketing Association, Rolling Stone Culture Council, and the National Association of Cannabis Businesses. cannabiscreative.com

Editorial Director Kathee Brewer

Creative Director Angela Derasmo

Digital Strategist Dexter Nelson

Contributing Writers Alain Vo, Alice Moon, Anthony Coniglio, Brendan McKee, Chris Karazin, Corey Keller, Danny Reed, Darren Gleeman, Ellen Holland, Evan Senn, Jeff Adams, Justin M. Brandt Esq., Kim Prince, Laura A. Bianchi Esq., Leah Eisenberg Esq., Marc Beginin Esq., Michael Mejer, Pam Chmiel, Rachel Gillette Esq., Rachel Permut, Richard Proud, Robert T. Hoban Esq., Ruth Rauls Esq., Shane Johnson MD, Shawna Seldon McGregor, Sue Dehnam, Susan Parent, Taylor Engle, Tyler Jacobson, Will Read

Artists/Photographers Andrew Strother Mike Rosati, Christine Bishop, Unsplash

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BRANDI MESTA Senior Account Executive Brandi@inc-media.com (424) 703-3198

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Vol.11, No.10 | October 2025 Printed in U.S.A.

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The Newsroom

FEDERAL TUG OF WAR INTENSIFIES

WASHINGTON – Federal cannabis policy is being pulled in opposite directions. On one side, President Donald Trump said his administration is considering whether to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. The shift would provide licensed businesses with a significant financial benefit by reducing the impact of Internal Revenue Code Section 280E, which currently prevents them from deducting ordinary business expenses. Rescheduling also could improve access to institutional investment and commercial banking.

On the other side, Congress is working to block the process. The fiscal year 2026 Commerce, Justice, and Science budget bill prohibits the Department of Justice from spending funds to reschedule or deschedule cannabis. The measure directly challenges the rulemaking process underway at the Drug Enforcement Administration, which began under the previous administration. DEA falls under the Justice Department’s umbrella.

A rider on the House’s Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill continues to block Washington, D.C., from establishing a legal framework for adultuse sales despite overwhelming local support for a regulated market.

For operators, the financial consequences are substantial. Rescheduling would reduce effective tax rates, potentially improving profitability. If the budget riders prevail, the industry will continue facing high compliance costs, cash-based transactions, and uneven enforcement. The tug of war reflects broader uncertainty in U.S. cannabis regulation, where state-level expansion collides with federal gridlock. Until Congress and the administration align, uncertainty will remain the defining feature of the market.

HOUSE GOP WANTS EXPUNGEMENTS EXPUNGED

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted to repeal a Washington, D.C., law mandating expungement of non-violent cannabis-related crimes committed prior to legalization. The Second Chance Amendment Act, passed by the District in 2022, “created an environment where convicted criminals . . . are not held fully accountable for their crimes,” according to Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.).

MARYLAND COURT RESTRICTS INTOXICATING HEMP

The Appellate Court of Maryland ruled hemp-derived intoxicants, including delta-8 and delta-10 THC, always have been illegal unless sold by licensed dispensaries in the adult-use state. Post-ruling, the state’s Alcohol, Tobacco, and Cannabis Commission warned businesses enforcement action would begin immediately. Nonintoxicating cannabinoids like CBD may remain on unlicensed store shelves.

In October 2024, U.S. cannabis sales hit a whopping $2.8 billion, a 6.2% YOY increase, proving that seasonal drops create real momentum.

With nearly 44% of consumers purchasing fall- avored items, dispensaries can maximize this demand by leaning into fall-themed merchandising— curated in-store displays of pumpkin-spice edibles, bundled “Cozy Night In” o ers, and scarcity messaging like “Available is Fall Only” to capture attention and drive urgency.

Bring the same energy online with e-commerce hero banners, custom seasonal categories, and limited-time promotions. Together, these strategies turn fall excitement into higher basket sizes and stronger customer loyalty.

Fall Into Higher Sales with Seasonal Products

$2.8 Billion U.S. cannabis sales October 2024

of consumers purchased fall-flavored items 44%

Recommendations: Utilize push noti cations, seasonal e-commerce displays, and app-exclusive loyalty perks for new product drops to capitalize on fall buying trends and boost basket sizes.

House Seeks Review of State Regulations

A House spending bill directs federal agencies to study the adequacy of state cannabis regulatory systems and deliver findings to Congress within a year. The same budget package continues to block Washington, D.C., from regulating adult-use sales, leaving the District’s market in limbo.

INCREDIBLES COMETS

incredibles’ newest treat leans into the crunchy-meets-chewy candy trend. Comets are bite-sized gummies individually coated in rainbow-colored candy and designed to deliver a cosmic crunch with every bite. The multi-sensory experience debuted in Strawberry Supernova flavor at 10mg THC per piece. Packs contain ten pieces.

California Cuts Excise Tax Green

California reduced the state cannabis excise tax from 19 percent to 15 percent, effective October 1. Supporters expect the cut to ease pressure on licensed operators competing with the illicit market. Critics warned the move could reduce state revenue earmarked for education and social programs through 2028.

Thumbs

VIVI CURE

Vivi Cure streamlines curing, reducing the traditional two- to four-week process to just ten days. Designed primarily for home growers and powered by Boveda’s patented two-way humidity-control technology, a packet placed inside an airtight container gradually draws out excess moisture while automatically maintaining ideal humidity levels. No burping jars required.

Among consumers who grow at home. . . frequently experiment to optimize growth and yield 59% 51% 46% prefer growing cannabis in a garden or greenhouse pursue organic and regenerative practices

25% agree regulations have reduced home-growing stigma

Illustration: Pawel / Unsplash

The New Visibility Challenge

AI overviews and zero-click searches are rewriting the rules of visibility.

Here’s how to avoid disappearing.

BY DAN SERARD

In mid-June 2025, Meta finally lifted its long-standing restriction on the search terms “cannabis” and “marijuana” across Facebook and Instagram, a change advocates have been pushing for since 2019. At the same time, Google rolled out AI overviews to most users in the United States, a shift that quietly may be limiting traffic in ways many businesses haven’t yet realized.

New data from a Pew Research usage panel indicates when artificial-intelligence (AI) summaries appear on search engine results pages, users are half as likely to click a traditional link—just 8 percent of the time, compared to 15 percent when no summary is shown. Even more telling: Users are significantly more likely to end their search right there on Google without visiting any other sites.

So, although it might look like platforms are becoming more cannabis-friendly, the underlying algorithms are making it harder than ever to attract traffic to your site, especially in regulated industries.

Traditional search engine optimization (SEO) focused on ranking links. Generative engine optimization (GEO), by contrast, is about earning a citation inside the AIgenerated answer box. The catch is that when Google’s AI engine answers a query fully, people often don’t click through at all. And why would they? Their question has been answered.

This pattern has earned the name “zero-click search,” and it means your site gets zero traffic even if your content helped power the answer. Global research and advisory firm Gartner predicted that by 2026, website traffic generated by search engines will drop 25 percent as users increasingly turn to chatbots and AI agents.

Large language model (LLM) safety systems add a your-money-or-your-life (YMYL) gate that filters content about health, finance, and controlled substances. For cannabis brands, this means Google’s AI is using safety filters that exclude our content, resulting in a more dramatic drop in search volume.

In other words, even when a dispensary’s site ranks on the first page of traditional search results, it may not appear at all in the AI-generated summary. That’s a big visibility problem, especially with zero-click searches now happening nearly 80 percent of the time for AItriggered queries.

Worst of all, Google isn’t being transparent about what’s happening. While major publishers report steep traffic losses, execs at Google have denied any significant change, suggesting any dip is “just redistribution.” In July, a senior product vice president at Google told Mashable, “We don’t really look at specific publishers in that way. . . We have not observed significant drops in aggregate web traffic.” Cannabis marketers know this playbook well: shadowbans, sudden takedowns, and algorithmic invisibility. Only now, it’s happening in search instead of social media.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy captured the human cost of this impact in an open letter to Meta, citing harm-reduction pages and licensed businesses hidden or suspended without notice on social media. Search is repeating the pattern, but now the censorship is algorithmic, silent, and automated. Brands cannot appeal a flag or ban they cannot see.

How brands can win at GEO

From structured data to branded queries, here’s how to position your content to be cited in AI-generated overview answers.

First, boost AI visibility with cannabis-authority credentials. Include license numbers, disclaimers, and age-gating via schema markup. Demonstrate E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness) with real contributors, especially those with cannabis-sector credentials. Content that is attributed to businesses with genuine sector experience and supported by credible citations is far more likely to be quoted inside an AI answer box for topics about regulated goods and services.

Go deep to win AI citations. AI rewards in-depth, expert-backed content. A 900-word FAQ about how THCV compares to THCA stands a better chance of citation than a surface-level listicle of top products.

Strengthen your brand signals beyond search. Use newsletters and RSS feeds; build a strong brand identity that algorithms and customers recognize. The more branded queries you can get in front of, the better your click-through rate and citation odds will be. Studies show queries containing a well-known brand name garner higher click-through rates, and LLMs are more likely to cite sources they already “understand” as credible. In short, the stronger the brand signal, the better your odds of visibility in both SEO and GEO contexts.

Use local SEO to outsmart AI overviews. Optimize your Google Business Profile. Add location-based schema. Include license info and local awards to hold ground in “near me” searches, an area where AI overviews lag.

Finally, track your presence in AI summaries like you track backlinks. Monitor what triggers AI panels. If you’re missing from the summary, treat it like a lost backlink. Refine your content and markup to improve your chances of appearing.

While digital platforms are softening their policies for regulated industries, regulators in the U.S. and United Kingdom are pushing for greater transparency; ranking algorithms soon may prioritize content authenticity and watermarking. For cannabis and hemp brands, this means moving beyond generic

marketing claims. Success now hinges on creating verifiable, first-party content, like lab-backed studies, supply chain transparency, and original documentation.

For example, instead of saying “CBD reduces anxiety,” brands should prove the assertion with clinical research. Publish lab reports, sourcing data, or facility walkthroughs. This builds trust with both algorithms and customers.

A new approach could involve:

Original research: Fund studies on your own products’ effects rather than citing generic industry research.

Supply-chain transparency: Publish detailed information about your farms, extraction methods, and manufacturing processes with verifiable documentation.

Independent verification: Work with third-party labs and universities to validate your claims, and then make the world aware of the partnerships and ensure results are publicly available.

Document processes: Create content that shows rather than tells. Video tours of facilities, interviews with growers, or step-by-step documentation of quality-control measures all represent ways of demonstrating expertise.

The key shift is from making unsupported marketing claims to building a documented trail of evidence that search algorithms—and, more importantly, consumers—can verify and trust.

Marketers and advocacy groups must also push for industry-wide standards (like metadata tags for licensing and age-gating) to ensure compliant operators aren’t excluded by default.

In the evolving galaxy of search, brands can’t afford to drift. The AI era demands not just adaptation but also leadership—proving credibility through transparent data, verifiable expertise, and a strong, consistent brand signal. Those who embrace GEO now will chart their own course instead of being lost in the algorithm’s black hole.

The mission is clear: Build trust, show proof, and start implementing these strategies today—because in this new search universe, visibility belongs to the brands that revise their strategies first.

Key Takeaways for AI Search

EXPECT SEARCH TRAFFIC DECLINES. AI overviews are replacing clicks with instant answers. Be ready for reduced referral traffic.

RECOGNIZE THE DOUBLE FILTER. YMYL rules and regulated-content restrictions mean brands face steeper visibility challenges.

SHIFT FROM SEO TO GEO NOW. Generative engine optimization strategies can position your brand inside AI-generated answers.

PRIORITIZE TRUST AND PROOF. Use verifiable data, expert bylines, and transparent documentation to strengthen credibility.

PUSH FOR INDUSTRY STANDARDS. Advocate for metadata tags, licensing markers, and age-gating that help compliant operators stay visible.

BORN TO ROCK

Klutch Cannabis breathes new life into a historic Cleveland building that played roles in both desegregation and the birth of rock and roll.

BY TAYLOR ENGLE

In the heart of downtown Cleveland’s entertainment district, where neon signs and live music pulse through the city’s veins, Klutch Cannabis has opened what might be Ohio’s most culturally rich dispensary. The store sits inside the historic Record Rendezvous building, a landmark as deeply entwined with American rock and roll as the genre’s first guitar chord.

Cleveland knows how to hold history. It’s a city of grit, artistic genius, and deep creative soul. And now, at 300 Prospect Avenue East, that legacy finds new expression through Klutch’s flagship dispensary, a space that feels less like retail and more like reverence.

We are stewards of a historic asset.

—Pete Nischt, vice president

WHERE ROCK AND ROLL WAS BORN

To understand the dispensary’s design, one must understand the building’s historical context. Record Rendezvous was much more than just a music store. It was a cultural lightning rod. Under the vision of founder Leo Mintz, young Clevelanders came together across racial and class divides to indulge their common love of music in shared listening booths.

“Leo was an innovator, and his store was a place where Black and white people came together and stood shoulder to shoulder listening to music together,” said Pete Nischt, Klutch’s vice president of compliance and communications. “He noticed that a certain genre of music was causing patrons to literally ‘rock and roll’ as they listened.”

Mintz coined the now-iconic phrase, helped launch legendary disc jockey Alan Freed’s career, and planted the seed for the Moondog Coronation Ball—generally acknowledged as the world’s first rock-and-roll concert. Although the inaugural event at the Cleveland Arena in 1952 ended in chaos, rock and roll was unstoppable.

Mintz, Freed, and local concert promoter Lew Platt

“underestimated the cultural impact,” Nischt said. “They decided to plan the ball. They brought in some bands, printed tickets in the store, and sold them all the first night. Then they went back to schedule a second night but forgot to change the date when they printed the tickets.”

With twice as many attendees as the arena could hold, not everyone could get inside. Ticketholders “were banging down the door to get in,” Nischt said. (In fact, contemporary reports described the scene as a riot.) “The guys were caught off guard by how popular the music really was and what they’d done together.”

Mintz owned Record Rendezvous from its founding in 1938 until it closed in 1987. When the Klutch team stepped into the crumbling remains of yesteryear—long vacant and condemned more than once—they knew they wouldn’t be just renovating a building. They would be restoring a legend.

“Retail is going through a hard time right now, but the cannabis industry provides a unique opportunity where it’s still brick-and-mortar retail dominant,” Nischt said. “And that’s what made a dispensary the perfect thing for this building. We would have been excited about it even without

CLASSIC AND CONTEMPORARY RECORD JACKETS LINE THE WALLS.

ABOVE: FRAMED COLLECTOR'S ITEMS FROM RECORD RENDEZVOUS. RIGHT: FLOOR-TO-CEILING MURALS MIMIC THE VIEW LOOKING OUT FROM INSIDE A 1950s RECORD STORE.

the history, but when you’re working with that kind of story, it’s not like we were just going to sell marijuana. We’ve taken on something of greater importance to the community: We are stewards of a historic asset. That was the impetus for this entire project and its design process.”

A SPACE THAT SINGS

The design journey wasn’t easy. The building was erected in 1905, and the structure was decrepit when Klutch came across it. But thanks to historic preservation tax credits and sheer determination, the team brought the venerable edifice back to life—not as an exact replica, but a charming remix.

Inside, the dispensary balances modern retail with midcentury nostalgia. Floor-to-ceiling murals mimic the view from inside a 1950s record store. Listening-room-style displays in the front windows feature curated Cleveland-linked vinyl from modern indie students at Case Western University to rare Iggy Pop and David Bowie recordings from the Agora in 1977.

“Instead of blacking out the windows, which would have violated historic preservation rules, we recreated the original record displays from back in the day, and we also tried to recreate a Mid-Century Modern listening room,” Nischt said. “All of the records we have on display, we submitted lengthy explanations of why we felt each one was important to include, and they were all selected due to their connections to Cleveland and/or northeast Ohio.”

Nothing about the design was left to chance. Even the empty product displays are intentional, designed to be compliant while staying on theme.

“The city wanted us to restore the building as close to its original aesthetic as possible, and that was on top of the [Division of] Cannabis Control restrictions we already had to keep in mind,” Nischt said. “But our North Star was paying homage to Record Rendezvous. Whenever we came across a hurdle, we relied on that to guide us, to stay true to the vision.”

The result is a dispensary where the curious and connoisseurs alike are greeted by guitars, original posters, Klutch-branded record sleeves, and a deep sense of place. The energy is welcoming, open, and effortlessly cool. Kiosks make the ordering experience seamless, while roaming budtenders help customers explore the menu and find what they seek.

“I think if you’re a tourist coming to Cleveland and spending some time downtown, this is a cool place to come and see just because of what happened here years ago,” Nischt said.

A DISPENSARY WORTH THE DETOUR

While the façade may draw in curious pedestrians, the thoughtful, lived-in vibe keeps them talking. This isn’t just a sleek showroom or trendy wellness space. It’s a love letter to Cleveland history.

On any given day, a mix of regulars and visitors stream in: fans headed to a concert, folks grabbing dinner on East 4th Street, sports fans fresh from a Guardians game. They might not even know what the building used to be until they step inside.

“When people walk in, they’re met with a full-floor mural that makes it feel like you’re standing inside a record store window looking out at 1950s Cleveland,” Nischt said. “There are artifacts hanging everywhere—Moondog Ball tickets, vintage posters, old guitars—and upstairs, even our offices have Klutch-branded record sleeves on the walls. Wherever we could lean into the theme, we did.”

So far, reactions from both customers and culture buffs have been overwhelmingly positive.

“We’ve had people from other cannabis companies stop in and tell us it’s one of the nicest stores they’ve seen,” Nischt said. “And we’re lucky. It’s a dense neighborhood, with more foot traffic than most folks expect. People come in before concerts or after grabbing dinner. It’s really special to be able to share the space with so many people.”

MORE THAN A STOREFRONT

The Cleveland location is just one note in Klutch’s expanding symphony. With Ohio’s cannabis program still in flux and operating under a patchwork of medical and partial adult-use rules, retail buildouts aren’t simple.

“Our state’s program is in a transition period, but Klutch always does best when we focus on ourselves,” Nischt said. “We are taking this time to build out infrastructure, launch new brands and products, and expand our fleet of retail licenses. This month we’ll be opening a new store near MGM Northfield Park, and more stores are on the way. We don’t like to rest on our laurels.”

Still, no matter how many dispensaries Klutch opens, the Cleveland flagship likely will remain the company’s soul. What started as a tribute to the city’s role in shaping American music is now playing a role in shaping cannabis culture. At a time when retail struggles to reinvent itself, Klutch proves brick-andmortar can still feel magical.

From Budtender to Boss

CREATING CLEAR CAREER GROWTH PATHS IN RETAIL ISN’T JUST GOOD FOR EMPLOYEES. IT’S ALSO ESSENTIAL FOR BUILDING RESILIENT, VALUES-DRIVEN BUSINESSES.

BY BRENDAN MCKEE

As the industry matures, one of the most significant questions retailers ask themselves is “how do we create real careers, not just jobs?”

We’ve come a long way from the early days when retailers tried simply to keep up with demand and figure out compliance on the fly. Now, we’re building businesses that will last, which means investing in the people who keep those businesses running. That starts with ensuring team members, especially those from underrepresented communities, have opportunities to grow from entry-level roles into leadership.

I’m not talking about just checking a box. I mean building real, long-term career paths that turn today’s budtenders into tomorrow’s managers, buyers, trainers, and even owners.

There’s something powerful about seeing someone you work alongside move up the professional ladder. It creates a sense of possibility. You think, “If they did it, maybe I can too.” That’s why internal promotion needs to be a large part of the way retailers operate.

But giving someone a new title is only part of the picture. The larger goal is to create a culture in which people are supported, mentored, and genuinely set up to succeed.

Photos:

We all know this industry can be challenging. The ups and downs, the price compression, the saturation. . . It can be a lot. But taking care of your team creates a kind of stability that helps weather the chaos. And that starts with building a team that feels valued and empowered to grow.

To that end, some businesses are working toward becoming employee-owned. The idea is simple: If owners and employees are building something great together, then the rewards should be shared. Creating wealth-building opportunities for your team, especially in a space where equity and justice are enduring parts of

with scheduling, or taking on small responsibilities to build confidence and experience.

Make growth paths clear. People want to know what’s possible. Be transparent about how to move up, what the expectations are, and how performance is measured. Regular check-ins and open conversations go a long way toward establishing clarity.

Prioritize equity. Be mindful about who is offered opportunities and whether everyone has a fair shot. Review job requirements to make sure they don’t unnecessarily exclude people with unrecognized potential.

"A BUSINESS ROOTED IN COMPASSION, FAIRNESS, AND A COMMITMENT TO DOING RIGHT BY THE PEOPLE WHO MADE SUCCESS POSSIBLE SENDS A POWERFUL MESSAGE.

the conversation, feels like a natural extension of the industry’s values. What cannabis brand wouldn’t want to leave that kind of legacy? A business rooted in compassion, fairness, and a commitment to doing right by the people who made success possible sends a powerful message not only within the business community but also to values-attuned consumers.

Here are a few other things businesses can do to build real career paths for their staff.

Spot potential early. Don’t wait for someone to ask for a promotion. Keep an eye out for team members who show up, take initiative, and care about the work. A great manager isn’t always the loudest voice in the room; sometimes they’re the one quietly leading by example.

Offer training before the title. Give team members a chance to learn what leadership entails before they’re officially handed a leadership role. That might mean shadowing a manager, helping

Celebrate wins. When someone moves up the ladder, make a point to acknowledge the advancement—not just because the employee earned the new role, but also because recognition reminds everyone else on the team that progress is possible.

Developing talent from within is essential in an industry that’s still finding its footing. The more we invest in our teams, the stronger and more resilient our businesses become. And the stronger and more resilient we become, the better we look to regulators, legislators, investors, outside talent, and the public at large.

Beyond spreadsheets and strategy, there’s just something deeply rewarding about watching someone grow into a role they never imagined for themselves. That’s the kind of impact that sticks—and the kind of legacy our industry should be proud to create.

BY TAYLOR ENGLE PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW STROTHER

The DISCIPLINE to SCALE

DISCIPLINE

Xylem Robotics founder JEFF WU explains why standards, flow systems, and disciplined operations will determine who thrives as manufacturing enters its next era.

The cannabis industry is no stranger to turbulence. Operators across the country face complex challenges: record consumer demand, heightened regulatory uncertainty, and a marketplace that rewards speed as vigorously as it punishes mistakes.

In this environment, decisions made today can have unforeseen long-term consequences. Operators who underestimate the operational complexity of manufacturing risk setbacks that can ripple across their entire business. Each choice, from equipment selection to employee training, carries weight far beyond the immediate outcome.

Across the spectrum, from cultivation to manufacturing and retail, the stakes are higher than ever. Each harvest and every batch of extract carries the potential to bring a company closer to trust or disaster. Trust, in this context, is multi-layered, encompassing regulators, investors, retail partners, and consumers. One lapse in quality or consistency can erode all these relationships, making the journey back to credibility both costly and time-consuming.

The difference often comes down to standards compliance.

“My previous experiences in lab equipment and appliances allowed me to understand cannabis manufacturing is a cross between consumer packaged goods (CPG) and pharmaceuticals,” said Xylem Robotics founder Jeff Wu. “And central to the success of CPG and pharmaceuticals is a well-run supply chain with product consistency and quality. We actually screen our potential clients to see if they understand basic supply chain principles, because we want the people who purchase Xylem products to be successful in this market.”

The screening process is about more than technical knowledge. The Xylem team also attempts to ensure operators understand how product flow, traceability, and documentation affect the bottom line. Wu emphasized foundational operational understanding is a prerequisite to responsible scaling.

For decades, cannabis operated outside traditional regulatory frameworks that come naturally to the much more mature CPG and pharmaceutical industries. But as legalization expands, regulators and consumers alike expect the industry to play by the same rules as other industries. That means documenting everything, ensuring traceability, managing risk and, above all, maintaining a culture that mandates quality.

Building this culture is not a matter of simply posting rules on a wall; it requires hands-on leadership, consistent training, and clear communication so every employee understands their role in maintaining compliance and product safety.

Preparing for increased federal oversight

Few people understand both the urgency and the opportunity better than Wu. After years of building systems that helped companies in highly regulated markets avoid recalls and survive audits, he entered cannabis with a pragmatic message: Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) aren’t optional. They’re inevitable. Those who prepare now will not only survive federal scrutiny but also thrive in a more mature, trusted marketplace.

Preparation involves assessing existing workflows, identifying gaps in training or documentation, and making capital investments strategically, rather than reactively, to support long-term growth. That’s easier said than done. Many operators are trying to scale production in a patchwork of state-by-state regulations while managing thin margins, talent shortages, and constant competitive pressure.

The combination of rapid growth expectations and limited operational experience creates stress points that often manifest in inconsistent product quality, delayed shipments, or compliance oversights, all of which can jeopardize contracts and investor confidence.

Operators who embrace standardized practices put forth by GMP and the International Organization for

Standardization (ISO) now will be ready for a federally regulated market in the future. Those who don’t will be exposed to operational, legal, and financial risk that scales with their production volume.

Wu broke down the current state of cannabis manufacturing, the inevitability of federal regulation, and why building a strong culture of standards compliance today will determine who leads tomorrow. His insights emphasize operational excellence is both a defensive and offensive strategy that prevents failures while positioning companies to win in a competitive, evolving market.

The state of manufacturing compliance

At first glance, cannabis manufacturing resembles any other CPG operation: Inputs enter the system, and products come out. But under the surface, a fundamental question defines the success of the entire process: batch or flow?

“Think of home brewers versus a beer factory,” Wu said. “Batch manufacturing [as in home brewing] groups products into lots, with the entire batch moving through each production stage sequentially. This offers flexibility but ultimately can lead to downtime and higher total manufacturing time and cost.” One potential issue with batch manufacturing, he pointed out, may occur when a manufacturing defect is discovered during the production cycle. In that case, the entire batch must be disposed of or processed again.

In contrast, flow manufacturing pushes products through the system one at a time, from start to finish without interruption. This creates a steady stream of output, reducing lead times and increasing consistency while lowering perunit costs. However, flow systems generally require a larger investment up front.

“Regulations drive up the cost of compliance or product standards,” Wu said. “Flow manufacturing solves these issues head-on with consistency and quality, which are key drivers of success for consumer products.

“Early on, when I was an investor-operator in a California cannabis manufacturing facility, the first proto-Xylem cartridge-filling system we built was a flow manufacturing system to compete with much larger competitors like Select. It was our secret weapon, so to speak.”

For context, most cannabis companies operate with a batch system. Flower is harvested, processed, and packaged in lots. It’s then measured by the pound, the run, or the day. This approach fits the plant’s agricultural roots but leaves gaps in traceability and risk management. In contrast, flow systems, which are common in food and pharmaceuticals, continuously track inputs and outputs. This creates a tighter, more transparent chain of custody.

Wu explained why flow systems are essential for scaling. “If you batch 200 units, you’ll be profitable,” he said. “Batch 400, still okay. But at 1,000, cracks start to form. By 10,000, you’re losing money and exposing your company to operational risk. One misstep at a million [production] units can be catastrophic. Even paint specks or minor contamination can trigger multimillion-dollar legal exposure.”

He added labor costs in the United States make batch systems fundamentally unscalable at high volumes.

“Comparing batch and flow, one is efficient and one is not,” he said. “One is scalable; one is not. All largescale manufacturing requires flow-based systems. Even pharmaceuticals are flow-based. If people think they can scale a batch approach, they’re in for a big shock.”

that difficult to hit if you start at the beginning,” Wu said. “Building out a GMP facility really doesn’t cost much more than a regular facility buildout; maybe 20–30 percent more. For a lot of cannabis people, it’s the shock of the unknown. They’re not used to that type of work. It’s like a culture shock. But it’s all in the name of safety.”

He believes rescheduling likely will bring Food and Drug Administration oversight, treating cannabis products like a hybrid of Schedule III pharmaceuticals and Schedule IV beverages. ISO Class 7 or 8 cleanrooms will become mandatory. Facilities unprepared for this level of operational rigor will face significant financial and legal consequences, from licensing and insurance issues to lawsuits.

“GMP and ISO standards mean product consistency and quality. These lead to customer satisfaction and, more importantly, customer retention.”

The gap between today’s practices and tomorrow’s expectations is one of the industry’s biggest vulnerabilities, he added. GMP requires more than cleanrooms and lab coats. It also demands rigor: written procedures for every process, training records for every employee, logs for every piece of equipment. For operators accustomed to fast pivots and creative problemsolving, that level of structure can feel suffocating.

“I think operators just need to understand that most [of the requirements are] for customer safety, and it’s really not

“Most likely, ISO Class 7 or 8 cleanrooms will be required for all recreational cannabis products,” Wu said.

“ISO Class 8 primarily focuses on preventing dust and foreign particle contamination in packaging, and ISO Class 7 is for ready-to-eat food packaging. Some counties have already adopted these standards because local health departments reference FDA guidelines, but the standards are very patchwork at the moment.”

Lessons from other industries

Wu encourages operators across the spectrum to take lessons from other tightly regulated sectors that are well-established.

“If you’re working in meat packaging or foods, there is zero possibility you’re not going to hurt someone if you don't adhere to GMP and ISO standards,” he said. “In cannabis, things like gummies are at least a little safer. Once you get water out, sugar is a natural preservative. But, I’d still be

worried about mold, especially in flower. And when it comes to drinks, I’m worried about potential bacterial issues.”

He emphasized cannabis is not a hype-driven product like energy drinks. Products require disciplined manufacturing practices and reliable supply chains. Compliance is more than merely a legal checkbox. It’s a financial safeguard, Wu said. Recalls, fines, and lawsuits are not theoretical risks; they can be operational landmines.

“GMP and ISO standards ensure products are produced safely, consistently, and with quality,” he explained. “When federal legalization occurs, these standards will most likely be mandated and compulsory, but this is not what most operators want to hear due to the equipment and capital investments needed to comply. However, if operators take a pragmatic approach, GMP and ISO standards mean product consistency and quality. These lead to customer satisfaction and, more importantly, customer retention. GMP and ISO standards control for equipment and processes hygiene, which builds in risk management, and that minimizes costly recalls and legal exposure.”

The potential for federal regulation already is is causing shifts in the market. Investors are starting to ask tougher questions about compliance readiness, Wu said. Retail buyers want assurances products are manufactured to the same standards used in traditional consumables sectors. In addition, employees are more willing to work for companies that value safety and consistency.

For operators wondering how to prepare for GMP and ISO standards, Wu offered a simple recommendation: Begin with documentation. Creating standard operating procedures (SOPs) and logging processes can pay immediate dividends even for businesses that are not ready for full GMP certification. Establishing written SOPs trains teams to think systematically and creates a paper trail that regulators and investors can trust.

“I came into the cannabis market during the 2018 California legalization frenzy with investments into Eaze and a processing facility,” he revealed. “The people who brought me into this market were the ‘tech bro’ crowd who were interested in fast money and fast exits. Most had little interest in understanding supply chains or manufacturing and even less interest in running such a company.

“But at the end of the day, hundreds of millions of dollars of investment capital cannot change the fact that cannabis is a perishable product that needs to be physically manufactured and requires strict supply chain management to generate profits,” he continued. “Success means simple, fundamentally sound business models with durable competitive advantages centered around product consistency and quality versus complex, flashy trends.”

The industry may still be years away from federal legalization, but for manufacturers, the clock is ticking. Standards compliance is not a one-time project; it’s an ongoing discipline. The companies that take it seriously today will be the ones that remain standing tomorrow.

“What’s fun about watching people with [Xylem’s] systems is, a lot of operators are running the model we wanted to run back when we were operators,” Wu said, chuckling. “Now you see operators actually using these systems the way they’re designed to be used.”

Many new operators enter the industry with a fundamental misunderstanding about the nature of the business, underestimating the harsh realities of manufacturing in a highly regulated space, he said. Today’s industry may not be subject to FDA oversight, but that day is coming. Developing the discipline required to consistently produce a product at scale is crucial, he said—and the sooner operators embrace that truth, the better for their bottom lines.

“Cannabis is a manufacturing business with hard costs of goods, and you will never get around that fact,” Wu said. “If you think this will be two to three years and then you can go sit on a beach, that’s not going to happen. Be ready to run a proper company that does true manufacturing work. Success comes from doing it well and producing products people want to buy.”

For operators, adopting GMP and ISO standards now will deliver more than a competitive advantage. Upgrading operations will prepare businesses for an industry that most likely will be increasingly regulated, scrutinized, and operationally demanding.

Practical Automation

Two upcoming systems from Xylem aim to bring food- and pharma-grade efficiency to vape production.

In November, Xylem will debut two cutting-edge systems designed to transform production. Both machines aim to give manufacturers the tools to operate with the efficiency, consistency, and safety standards found in large-scale food and pharmaceutical environments.

“The first is a Xylem vaporizer manufacturing line, which is the first in the industry,” Wu said. “This system will fill, cap, clean, disinfect, and package, all in-line with one person. It’s designed to drive the cost of a finished and packaged vape product to around one cent.”

Developed for high-volume operations, the system wipes and sanitizes cartridges with alcohol to remove fingerprints and prevent contamination before moving directly into a packaging line with a nitrogen overlay for freshness and stability. The result is a finished, GMP-compliant product at what Wu called “a fraction of the typical cost.”

For smaller or boutique operations, Xylem will launch a compact, artificial-

intelligence-driven cartridge filler. Unlike traditional batch systems, which rely on trays and manual oversight, this machine uses a camera and image-recognition inference model powered by an embedded NVIDIA GPU to map carts and precisely inject product. By automating accuracy in small-batch production, Xylem aims to tackle the common challenges of consistency, labor costs, and production errors.

The machine will be one of the first AIdriven hardware solutions in cannabis manufacturing, offering operators an alternative to conventional filling.

There is a broader vision behind the new equipment: Xylem wants to enable manufacturers to adopt proven production methods that reduce risk.

As Wu explained, more than simply checking regulatory boxes, compliance protects businesses from operational pitfalls that scale with volume. Small mistakes like a misfilled cart batch or contamination may seem minor at low output, but at the scale of millions of units, they become major financial and

legal liabilities. High-volume brands must consider federal-level scrutiny, insurance requirements, and potential consumer lawsuits, all of which make GMP-compliant processes essential for sustainable growth.

Xylem’s machines also prepare operators for the inevitable transition to federal legalization. Even rescheduling will bring new operational mandates. Whether cannabis ultimately is treated like Schedule III pharmaceuticals or Schedule IV alcohol and beverage products, GMP standards (including ISO Class 7 or 8 cleanrooms) likely will become mandatory.

Wu noted that most manufacturers already use facilities that can meet these standards, but many operators aren’t yet equipped for the operational rigor required.

“Our objective [at Xylem] is to develop autonomous solutions, whether using mechatronics or AI, that enable manufacturers to adopt proven production methods that transform manufacturing,” Wu said.

Cultivating Change

Tech-native, wellness-forward, and unburdened by prohibition’s baggage, Gen Z cultivators are redefining what it means to grow.

BY TAYLOR ENGLE

In an industry still steeped in old-school, “heady” tradition and scarred by prohibition, a new generation is rewriting the rules of cultivation. Meet Generation Z: tech-native, wellnessforward, and unburdened by the cultural baggage that kept their predecessors in survival mode. These young agriculturists are not growing just weed; they’re also growing the future of the industry and demonstrating what it means to thrive during uncertain times.

For this cohort, cannabis is more than a plant. It’s a lifestyle, a statement, and a story worth telling. From hash to hardware, Gen Z growers are infusing the space with innovation, intention, and a dash of digital swagger.

Photo: Sticky Fields

Tech, tools, and fearless farming

If legacy growers are the roots, Gen Z cultivators are the fresh green shoots reaching for the sun in surprising new ways. They bring new tools, new tech, and a bold new mindset, and they’re not afraid to experiment with every aspect of the craft.

“Gen Z benefits from a wide variety of products in the technical field,” said German cultivator Felix “Grow Tent Ninja” Schaudin, a member of the cohort. “If you don’t want to grow organically—or simply don’t have the time for it—there are already automated systems on the market where basically only a few steps are required during a run. To a certain extent, this also digitizes the grow.”

From AI-assisted cultivation to Bluetooth-controlled automation and real-time livestreams, Schaudin predicts cultivation’s future will be rooted in wellness and optimization and shaped by data and connectivity. Having come of age during a global health crisis, Gen Z consumers read product labels and ask questions. They want clean cannabis, and they want it grown with purpose. Gen Z growers are determined to deliver.

“I think our generation will be the one to make further progress in the coming years through the use of modern tools and artificial intelligence,” Schaudin said. Emerging tools can help with “the optimization of the ripening process, the reading of DNA sequences, and the possible discovery of new cannabinoids and terpenes.”

FELIX “GROW TENT NINJA” SCHAUDIN IS AMONG THE GEN Z GROWERS EXPLORING ALTERNATIVE CULTIVATION METHODS. (Photos: Felix Schaudin)

Although not a grower himself, Ay Papi’s Justin Lee has observed the shift. “People of all ages are thirsting for something better, something cleaner—sort of like we’re seeing with food,” the solventless hash brand’s founder and chief executive officer said. “Organic used to be considered luxury—and it still is—but I think people are more aware of it now.

“The average organic shopper used to be a lot older than [organic shoppers are] today,” Lee continued. “Now, you have younger people waking up, being more proactive about health and wellness, and understanding that the ingredients they use, even if they’re more expensive, are worth it for the benefits. That means I can gear my products in a way that is more accessible to the younger demographic while still appealing to older people.”

That same awareness is pushing young cultivators to experiment with not just what they grow, but also how they grow it.

“In order to attract younger consumers, you have to continue to innovate,” Lee said. “They’re used to Apple and iPhones having [new devices] annually, so for us that means we need to bring new flavors and do new pheno hunts every year so we always have something new to showcase.”

Lee also opined that while legacy growers tend to be more set in their ways, younger growers often bridge generations: Many of them come from legacy families, but they’re fresh enough to be fearless when it comes to trying new ideas.

“You see them taking more risks, innovating, because you always have to trial and error, but it’s almost like the younger generation just isn’t afraid to fail,” Lee said. “They understand [failure is] just part of the process. Growers are really getting innovative with breeding projects today as a result; some are doing pheno hunts with over 100 different types just to find two or three that work. They’re very committed, and they’re also more willing to utilize and implement technology.”

Planting stories, not just seeds

In cannabis’s current era, who you are matters just as much as what you grow. No one understands that better than Jesse Robertson, a California cultivator and CEO of Sticky Fields whose viral videos and unfiltered presence helped him develop international recognition. While he isn’t a member of Gen Z, he recognizes the importance of tech literacy and employs tactics common among the younger generation.

“I’m glad Gen Z growers are getting more comfortable,” Robertson said. “As soon as Instagram came out, a friend called me and said, ‘Hey, none of your friends know what you’re doing. Why don’t you share it?’ So I did. One of my first videos got a million views, and it blew me up all over the world. I went to the Emerald Cup afterward, and people recognized me at every coffee shop. This whole community took me in, and all I did was share a picture of me shaking up a giant cannabis plant. It was pretty cool.”

FACING PAGE AND ABOVE: JUSTIN LEE BELIEVES GEN Z GROWERS BRIDGE GENERATIONS. (Photos: Ay Papi)

Ever since, Robertson has pushed his online presence, making his face synonymous with his farm. That’s a common tactic among the digitalnative generation.

“If the consumer knows who the grower is and can digitally connect with them, they might find the method behind their product,” Robertson said. “Meaning, they might be able to follow us online and find how genuine we are. With social media, you get to understand that you’re not just dealing with a corporate structure. You’re dealing with a person, and they’re growing your plant with love and care.”

Younger growers understand and embrace authenticity in branding, Robertson explained. For a generation raised on influencers and indie brands, personality and purpose are powerful differentiators. For them, social media is more than marketing. It’s also storytelling, communitybuilding, and proof of presence.

Schaudin agreed. “In the past, people relied on anonymous nicknames in forums,” he said. “I would argue that Gen Z is much more spoiled

JESSE ROBERTSON IS NOT A MEMBER OF

GEN Z, BUT HE HAS ADOPTED SOME OF THE GENERATION'S TACTICS. (Photos: Sticky Fields)

by today’s setup. Thanks to legalization, access is easy, even without a [virtual private network] or paranoia about persecution.” Consequently, many young growers have never seen a need to conceal their identities.

“However, I would also argue that Gen Z is finding a connection to a healthy lifestyle, especially with cannabis,” he continued. “The way people consume is also changing. While the older Europeans predominantly use tobacco when consuming weed and hashish, the new generation leans toward modern tobacco-free or less-harmful consumption methods, such as inhalation without combustion. Extravagant pre-rolls and elaborate, hand-blown dab rigs are also becoming more common on Instagram stories.”

Lifestyle signals matter deeply. In fact, for many of the youngest consumers, they’re the only thing that matters. From blinky Mylar bags to candy-named strains, lifestyle branding drives demand, and Gen Z cultivators speak that language.

“Gen Z grew up with trends moving fast,” Schaudin said. “It’s fair to say packaging, marketing, market prices, and demand have changed dramatically. In the past, hash from Morocco and poorly grown weed from neighbors or elsewhere was predominantly available in Europe. Nowadays, you can easily look at menus on your smartphone, and you can see demand depends on the popularity of a brand or strain.”

Old school, meet new roots

The market may be shifting, but the old guard isn’t being left behind. In fact, there’s an unexpected bridge connecting past and present: hash.

Traditionally associated with old-school culture—temple balls, Moroccan bricks, hot knives—hash is enjoying an expanding market through rosin, which is becoming a crossgenerational connector.

“It’s very much attracting old-school traditional [producers] and the new-school young consumer, in the sense that hash is a traditional form of concentrate, but when pressed into rosin, it’s old school meets new school,” Lee said. “You see older heads used to more traditional hash opening up their minds to rosin, and you also see younger generations who maybe experienced rosin first making their way back to dry-seed hash.”

In Germany, Schaudin is seeing a similar rise in the popularity of combustion-free concentrates. “In my circle of friends in Germany, I am currently experiencing an increase in the popularity of hash concentrates,” he said. “This is presumably because combustion-free vaporization is becoming more popular. The internet, and social media in particular, makes information readily available, so new standards and trends are set relatively quickly. But I will say, hash is the future.”

Beyond flavor and consumption method, hash represents something deeper: heritage and connection. The traditional concentrate is a thread that ties today’s techy growers to the roots of cannabis tradition. Hash also represents a space where innovation can shine without erasing the past.

But some things, particularly marketing, are new-school all the way. For example, the days of hiding behind the leaves are over. Gen Z growers are going on camera, turning cultivation into content, and becoming public figures in ways their prohibition-era predecessors never would have imagined.

Robertson has been ahead of the curve. For Lee and Schaudin, the connection between creator and consumer is the foundation of their marketing. Whether via livestream, app, or Instagram grid, today’s cultivators are shaping culture while they shape the plant.

“There’s a reason people want to buy directly from the farmer,” Lee said. “We’re working on an app that will let us do just that: streamline sales, lower prices for consumers, and increase [return on investment] for cultivators. We want to revive sungrown flower and give people access to quality without the markup.”

Rooted in respect

Gen Z didn’t invent cannabis cultivation, but the youngest generation of growers are reimagining it. And in doing so, they’re redefining what it means to be a cultivator: innovator, storyteller, healer, entrepreneur, artist.

“I’m not jumping into the [artificial intelligence] world,” Robertson said. “That’s the young growers’ realm. But I do know it’s going to work. There will be more people smoking in ten years because of them, and that’s a better world for all of us.”

Lee noted success will require regulatory adjustments, particularly in California, where the current rules make maintaining a legal grow difficult regardless of age.

“Every year, we’re seeing a lot of farms go out of business due to regulations,” he said. “Taxation is insane, and when you look at the trickle-down of what the farmer makes, there are a lot of things that need to change. Where the younger generation can help this process is by utilizing technology to innovate and streamline direct-to-consumer purchases more efficiently. We’re seeing that in food, too. If people have an avenue to purchase from a farmer, they will.”

Gen Z may not be reinventing the grow process from seed to sale, but they’re redefining what it means to be a cultivator in the modern era. With equal parts innovation and intention, they’re building brands, shaping culture, and proving the future can grow in a different direction.

UNLOCKING THE INVISIBLE

SCIENCE AND PRESERVATION ARE UNLOCKING THE PLANT’S NEXT FRONTIER, FROM HIDDEN AROMA COMPOUNDS TO COLD-CHAIN CARE, PUSHING CULTIVATION AND CURING INTO A NEW ERA OF SOPHISTICATION.

BY PAM CHMIEL

Cannabis has always been more than THC percentages or strain names on a jar. Behind every aroma, flavor, and effect lies a complex chemical story scientists are only beginning to unravel. Today, breakthroughs in breeding, cultivation, and post-harvest processing are pushing the plant into uncharted territory. From elusive compounds that shape scent in surprising ways to the overlooked role of preservation after harvest, researchers and cultivators are piecing together a new understanding of what defines quality and how to protect it.

What’s next for the plant? Its wellness and therapeutic potential are driving advances across science, breeding, cultivation, and extraction, setting the stage for nextgeneration products aimed at an increasingly sophisticated consumer market.

BEYOND TERPENES

While the industry has made significant strides in understanding and commercializing a variety of cannabinoids, the next wave of innovation is emerging from low-concentration volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These compounds gained attention following the recent publication of a three-volume white paper, The Science of Exotics, by Abstrax Tech.

Abstrax’s peer-reviewed research confirms what cultivators, extractors, and scientists long have observed: Elusive minor VOCs, not terpenes alone, drive the plant’s distinctive aromas. Abstrax, which specializes in terpene research and formulation development, has identified hundreds of low-concentration molecules including esters, alcohols, aldehydes, heteroaromatics, ketones, and sulfur compounds that produce potent, unique aromas. By shifting from subjective human olfaction to scientifically validated aroma markers, the company created a roadmap that could fundamentally reshape breeding, cultivation, extraction, and product development.

The influence these organic compounds exert on aroma intensity compared to terpenes helps explain how two strains with nearly identical terpene profiles can smell very different. For example, even when limonene is dominant in a strain, that terpene’s presence doesn’t necessarily translate to a citrus scent. The perceived aroma is driven by how the minor compounds are expressed and interact with other constituents.

To prove this, Abstrax employed gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to conduct advanced chemovar analysis, which resulted in the identification of more than 400 compounds. In one study, researchers analyzed five ice-water hash rosin extracts from genetically similar phenotypes. Despite their genetic similarities, the extracts exhibited distinct aroma profiles determined not by dominant terpenes but by rare compounds such as 3-mercaptohexyl hexanoate and cheese-scented fatty acids. When correlated with sensory-panel data, the results highlighted the critical role of low-abundance compounds in strain differentiation and the potential for advanced product development.

“There are so many different genetic expressions, and understanding this chemistry will help breeders select phenotypes, cultivators optimize harvests, and operators fine-tune the plant during curing or extraction,” said TJ Martin, vice president of research and development at Abstrax and lead author of the study’s results. “Our research highlights which compounds to focus on for optimizing processes by following the right chemistries. Sensory analysis is still critical, and human senses remain incredibly relevant; however, with this additional layer of knowledge, brands have more tools than ever to innovate and refine products.”

According to Kevin Jodrey, a cultivator and co-founder of Cookies’ research and development lab, “If you know cannabis chemistry, you know about these secondary metabolites; it’s nothing new. What Abstrax is doing by mapping and showing these chemical pathways will help breeders and cultivators manipulate the plant by taking the guesswork out. Their research not only advances the science but also brings it into the public sphere.”

Jodrey said terpenes are relatively easy to detect because they occur in high concentrations, which explains why brands often focus on them when differentiating products. “Terpenes are molecularly bonded more heavily and remain present longer,” he explained. “That means it’s easier to test a plant and pick up terpenes than [to detect] a volatile alcohol, which has delicate molecular bonds that break easily and only appear in nanogram or microgram amounts.” But the minor compounds may offer effects and benefits science has yet to uncover.

Like other plant properties, aroma results from a complex interplay of volatile organic compounds, terroir,

production methods, and environmental factors, Jodrey explained. Even minor adjustments, such as switching grow lights to a blue spectrum, can influence how plants express their metabolites. “There’s a very complicated relationship between what we do as cultivators, what the process brings to the table, and how the plants respond to everything,” he said.

The market’s demand for new strains often limits commercial cultivators’ ability to work with a single cultivar long enough to optimize its volatile compounds. “Ideally, farmers would identify varieties that thrive in their specific operations, then develop standard operating procedures that can be fine-tuned with slight variations,” Jodrey said. “Once you have that basic framework, you can repeat it with consistency.” He added a caveat: Sometimes the hot cultivar of the moment doesn’t perform well in every environment.

The environment plays a decisive role in how plants express their chemistry. Outdoor cultivation, Jodrey emphasized, comes with built-in advantages. “You don’t have to create extra stress [for the plants],” he said. “The outdoors naturally has higher stress levels, primarily due to the temperature variation between night and day. It’s the huge swing in temperature that creates these impacts, and that’s how the plant produces metabolites.”

Science and cost remain barriers to widespread experimentation with metabolites that occur in small concentrations. Comprehensive assays that measure volatile alcohols, esters, ketones, aldehydes, and other fragile molecules are prohibitively expensive. The molecules’ delicacy and scarcity make them hard to preserve and quantify. “It’s a juggling act of finding a plant that produces the metabolites you want and a method that accentuates that development,” Jodrey explained. “And right now, we don’t have an affordable way to measure these in order to advance product development.”

Armed with new insights into VOCs, breeders may soon revisit the plant’s genetic archive to reimagine favorite OG strains. The industry has an opportunity to unlock aromas, flavors, and effects that have been overlooked.

“Some breeding programs are incredibly advanced when it comes to chemical profile manipulation,” Jodrey said. “We’ve long studied plants for their cannabinoid production, and the same approach can be used for the development of volatile organic compounds.”

THE ART OF THE CURE

Joe Edwards, chief science officer at Deconix and an expert in post-harvest processing, emphasizes the critical role of drying and curing in producing high-quality, consistent cannabis products. While breeding and cultivation determine a plant’s potential, the curing process dictates the final expression of terpenes, cannabinoids, and overall sensory appeal.

Traditional methods, such as bucket and bin curing, remain common across the industry but lack the precision needed for consistency. The result? Variations in aroma, flavor, and potency occur even when starting with the same cultivar. “The key challenge is shifting from a subjective, art-based approach to an objective, science-driven one,” Edwards said. “Analytical testing is the answer, but it’s expensive, and most companies only test at the end of the curing process. More frequent testing throughout the curing process could help standardize outcomes and eliminate guesswork.”

Just as important, he said, not all cultivars should be cured under the same conditions. “Some cultivars may need just three days of curing, while others require more,” he said. “Like aging fine wine or whiskey, the goal is to highlight the unique characteristics of each variety rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach.”

Yet, while curing is crucial, terpene formation begins long before drying starts. “We’re not gaining more terpenes during curing,” Edwards explained. “Terpenes are synthesized during the plant’s initial biosynthesis phase when enzymatic reactions break down compounds and create volatile organic compounds and acids.” Curing, therefore, is less about creating new compounds than preserving and refining what the plant has already produced.

He compared terpene maturation to adjusting a soundboard in a recording studio. “You can push all the dials up, but it might be an atrocious sound,” he said. “As some tones settle and balance out, you get beautiful music. Terpene development works the same way. It’s about finetuning, not amplifying everything at once.”

Each cultivar follows its own maturation curve, and understanding the timeline is key to unlocking peak expression. Edwards recalled working with Cherry Lime Haze, a notoriously unpredictable strain. “It had no discernible aroma for the first twenty days after harvest,” he said. “But between day twenty-five and day forty-five, it developed a bright, almost carbonated lemon-lime scent. If

left too long, it would degrade into a muddled wood aroma. However, by day seventy-three or seventy-five, it could rebound with a rich, dark-cherry note.”

Rather than imposing rigid curing timelines, Edwards maintains cultivators must monitor each strain’s chemical evolution to bring out its optimal sensory profile. “You can clean all cannabis unilaterally, but curing must be done tactically,” he said. “Just as different wines and whiskeys require specific aging conditions, cannabis cultivars have distinct terpene profiles, flavonoids, and cannabinoid compositions that need to be enhanced, not flattened with a uniform approach.”

WHEN HIDDEN NOTES EMERGE

Marshall Ligare, PhD, an analytical chemist and former product development lead at hops research powerhouse John I. Haas, believes cannabis operations are just scratching the surface when it comes to understanding the biochemistry of VOCs and how to preserve them. The plant may seem like it has complex aromas in both live and dried forms, but as Ligare pointed out, many of the subtler compounds are never unlocked. Much as in hops, VOCs that are important to the cannabis experience often exist in dormant, bound states, locked inside the plant until something—a chemical trigger, enzymatic activity, or oxidation—sets them free. That’s why flower’s scent can shift dramatically after harvest, curing, or processing: The plant undergoes a chemical transformation at each of those stages.

In hops, for example, the tropical, wine-like notes of free thiols (responsible for the passionfruit and sauvignon blanc-like character in certain beers) exist in very low concentration in the raw hop cone. They only reveal themselves during fermentation, when beta-lyase enzymes release them. Cannabis behaves in much the same way, according to Ligare. Aldehydes, esters, and even sulfurbased compounds can remain hidden until the right stage of curing, drying, or enzymatic breakdown unlocks them. The plant’s aroma is, in effect, a moving target, he said, shifting, expanding, and sometimes vanishing depending on how it’s treated post-harvest.

Ligare outlined a structured experimental approach to uncover how organic compounds behave by tracking them at every stage of the plant’s life cycle. Researchers, he explained, should measure VOCs during cultivation, at multiple harvest points, throughout drying and curing,

and again after different extraction or processing methods to chart their chemical journey. Each step acts as a “checkpoint,” capturing how compounds stabilize, degrade, or transform and how those shifts ultimately shape the plant’s aromatic identity.

He explained this type of study requires carefully isolating variables such as the time of day the plant is harvested, the location of the bud on the plant, environmental conditions, and the chosen curing method. From there, researchers layer in chemical analyses, such as gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, to map which compounds remain stable and which emerge only after enzymatic or oxidative reactions. The goal is to understand the pathways of expression, where VOCs originate, how they transform, and what triggers their release into the aromatic profile.

While he acknowledged the exact interactions between trace VOCs and cannabinoids remain difficult to measure, Ligare stressed mapping studies are the foundation for developing consistent, high-quality products. “These studies can take months,” he said, “because you have to follow the compounds all the way through. You’re building a map of the chemical journey. And once you understand that journey, you can begin to control it and harvest at the moment when compounds are most stable, cure in ways that protect them, or process in a way that releases their full potential.”

THE COLD TRUTH

While researchers and breeders push the science of aroma forward, one weak link remains: preservation. Too often, the gains made in the grow room and curing shed are lost in warehouses and trucks and on store shelves.

Alec Dixon, co-founder of SC Labs and a longtime Emerald Cup judge, believes preservation and transportation represent risks that must be addressed. “The industry is not paying attention to preservation and the cold supply chain of custody required to maintain a premium product,” he said. “The infrastructure just isn’t there yet.

“People treat cabbage better than they treat cannabis,” he continued. “When you treat cannabis like cabbage, kept cold and protected, you’re able to preserve the volatile compounds that define quality, stickiness, and that moment when you open a jar and it bombs the neighborhood.”

Temperature control is paramount. According to Dixon, exposing flower to temperatures above 60℉ at any point between harvest and consumer purchase destroys valuable

VOCs. “If those aromatics are gone, there’s no more value in calling it a craft product,” he said. “By the time the customer buys the product, the taste, flavor, and entourage effect are gone.”

SC Labs’ Emerald Cup testing backs up the assertion. Since 2013, Dixon and his team have tracked the average cannabinoid content across all Emerald Cup entries, including the top twenty selected for the coveted awards. “The THC level has nothing to do with who wins,” he revealed. “What always stands out is terpene content. Winners consistently have higher terpene levels, most likely boosted by minor compounds. Terpenes, not cannabinoids, are the predictive indicator of what makes a competition winner.

“If you smoke a particular cannabis varietal rich in terpenes and other trace aromatics are present and preserved in the flower, the flavor, aroma, and entourage effects are going to be substantial,” he continued. “That’s what people are really looking for and what stands out among the most expert judges and connoisseurs in the space.”

He also pointed out the most successful brands he has seen are not the ones focused on scaling production, but those investing in VOC preservation infrastructure. “The brands that build loyalty are the ones treating herb like cabbage and protecting it with a real cold chain,” he said. Dixon suggested the supply chain embrace the same tools already standard in agriculture. Employing artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, blockchain, and 5G will help cultivators monitor and document the “cold chain” from farm to shelf. “If you build preservation into your supply chain, you’re almost guaranteeing the best consumer experience,” he said.

According to Dixon, the stakes couldn’t be higher. “Without a preservation strategy, the industry faces a slow loss of customer satisfaction,” he warned. “By the time brands realize they need to treat cannabis like produce, it may be too late. Farmers invest their lives in growing this herb perfectly, but once it leaves their hands 80 percent of the value is lost. Shelf life is determined by how it’s treated on the way to the consumer.”

When science, curing, and preservation work in harmony, consumers finally experience cannabis the way cultivators intend: vibrant, aromatic, and true to its genetics. That possibility is closer than ever.

LESSONS FROM PERFUME

Avery Gilbert, PhD, a sensory scientist who has worked with some of the world’s top fragrance houses, believes cannabis has much to learn from perfumery. “Perfumers have been doing with volatile organic compounds what cannabis brands are only starting to do,” he said. “They use terpenes, esters, aldehydes, sulfur compounds . . . hundreds of molecules, both natural and synthetic, to formulate fragrances with depth, subtlety, and originality.”

At the core of perfume design is an understanding of volatility. “Every molecule has its own rate of evaporation,” Gilbert said. “A perfumer choreographs those rates so the scent evolves. First, you get the top notes, then the heart notes, and then the base that lingers for hours. That evolution is what makes a fragrance feel alive.” By deliberately layering compounds with different volatilities, perfumers engineer a sequence of sensory impressions that creates something entirely new and superior to the sum of its parts.

Cannabis, Gilbert argued, is only beginning to explore this level of sophistication. “For a decade, I’ve been saying you can’t get too skunky from terpenes,” he said. “You need trace-level sulfur-containing molecules. Same with the tropical-fruit notes. These are what move you from a generic cannabis profile to one that has a distinctive, strain-specific character or one that is completely unique.”

Gilbert believes a layering approach could produce a luxury future for branding and product development. Just as niche perfume houses thrive on originality and risk-taking, cannabis brands could differentiate by embracing blending. “Blending enlarges the space for aesthetics,” he said. “It’s where the mystique of a true luxury brand can come from. If you can design aroma the way perfumers do, you won't be selling just cannabis. You’ll be selling an experience.”

Illustration: Luke Jones / Unsplash

HOW TO FIX Nutrient Deficiencies

Identifying and correcting nutrient deficiencies is essential for strong growth and abundant yields. Use this guide to keep your crop thriving from veg to flower.

BY SUSAN PARENT

Cultivation is an art and science that requires careful attention to detail. One of the most common challenges faced by growers is nutrient deficiencies, which can severely impact plant health, bud quality, and overall yield. This guide will help you identify and address key nutrient deficiencies in cannabis plants, ensuring your crop thrives.

During the vegetative growth phase, the pH level of the growing medium significantly affects the availability of mineral nutrients. In peat-based media, limestone is added to buffer the pH, typically maintaining it around 5.8 to 6.5 for optimal crop growth. However, if excessive leaching occurs, the lime can be washed away, leading to a drop in pH. In turn, this can lead to excessive availability of certain micronutrients, such as iron, manganese, boron, copper, and/or zinc. Leaching also may reduce availability to the roots of important secondary elements, such as calcium and magnesium.

In contrast, other growing media such as coir or rock wool do not include limestone; therefore, even with high leaching, the pH must be stabilized by the water and mineral nutrients supplied.

Ensuring fertilizers have the proper balance of ammoniacal nitrogen (NNH4) and nitrate nitrogen (N-NO3 ) is crucial. Fertilizers with high levels of ammoniacal nitrogen can cause pH drop that may result in mineral deficiencies or toxicities.

Additionally, monitoring electrical conductivity (EC) is vital to ensure the proper absorption of minerals. High EC levels can create imbalances in mineral uptake, while low EC may indicate plants are not receiving adequate nutrition.

Primary macronutrient deficiencies

NITROGEN DEFICIENCY

SYMPTOMS: Pale green leaves (mainly the older leaves at first), purple hues on stems, slow growth, and dormant lateral buds.

CAUSES: Insufficient nitrate nitrogen, excess manganese, chloride, zinc, or potassium, or a dysfunctional root system.

SOLUTION: Verify the pH of the media to be sure it meets the target of 5.8–6.5 and apply nitrate (NO3 ) nitrogen-rich fertilizers. Additionally, address root health to improve nutrient uptake.

PHOSPHORUS DEFICIENCY

SYMPTOMS: Dark green, bluish, or bronze leaves with curling and dark gray or purplish spots. Stems may turn bright red or purple. CAUSES: Improper pH levels, as phosphorus is more available at lower pH (5.5–6).

SOLUTION: Adjust pH levels.

Photo: Purple Farm Genetics

POTASSIUM DEFICIENCY

SYMPTOMS: Weak stems, poor bud development, and brown spots on leaves. Leaves may curl or twist and display yellowing or browning edges.

CAUSES: Nutrient lockout due to low potassium levels or improper pH.

SOLUTION: Adjust pH levels, use a potassium-enriched fertilizer, and carefully monitor pH and EC levels.

CALCIUM DEFICIENCY

SYMPTOMS: Large, light-brown necrotic spots; curling of new leaves; yellowing leaf edges; and fragile branches prone to breaking. Roots may turn brown and become vulnerable to pathogens.

CAUSES: Soft or filtered water removing calcium, or low root pH due to imbalanced fertilizer products.

SOLUTION: Use calcium-enriched fertilizers and adjust water and soil pH to maintain optimal levels.

SULFUR DEFICIENCY

SYMPTOMS: Yellowing leaves, woody and rigid stems, and delayed development during the vegetative stage.

CAUSES: Insufficient sulfur in the growing medium or nutrient solution, especially in sandy soils where sulfur binds with organic matter.

SOLUTION: Use potassium sulfate as a sulfur source and follow label instructions to correct the deficiency.

COPPER DEFICIENCY

Micronutrient deficiencies

ZINC DEFICIENCY

SYMPTOMS: Lower leaves turn yellow, showing chlorosis. Veins on leaves remain green while the rest of the leaves yellow.

CAUSES: Insufficient magnesium in the fertilizer used. This element is very important in photosynthesis; if the quantities provided are too low, the whole plant will suffer.

SOLUTION: Add Epsom salts (MgSO4 ) to the feeding regimen and follow label instructions to correct the deficiency.

SYMPTOMS: Leaves develop darker shades with purple or blue undertones, turning white or pale yellow at the tips and edges.

CAUSES: Nutrient imbalances, clay soils, or alkaline growing conditions.

SOLUTION: Balance soil nutrients and consider using a chelated copper supplement.

IRON DEFICIENCY

SYMPTOMS: Pale new leaves with green veins and blossoms dropping. Plants may appear frail and stunted.

CAUSES: High pH levels in the growing medium limit iron availability.

SOLUTION: Lower the pH of the soil or growing medium to 5.8–6.5 to improve iron uptake. Use a good chelated-iron fertilizer if new leaf growth does not appear green.

BORON DEFICIENCY

SYMPTOMS: Fragile stems, stunted growth, twisted stems, and leaf splitting. Early signs include yellowing leaves and slow growth, progressing to browning leaf tips and thick, misshapen leaves.

CAUSES: Unbalanced pH, insufficient watering, and heavy leaching can wash out boron and cause deficiency.

SOLUTION: Test and adjust soil pH or nutrient solution to ensure boron is accessible.

SYMPTOMS: Chlorosis (yellowing of leaves), poor flower development, and delayed flowering. Leaves may turn white, pale yellow, or bronze.

CAUSES: Low organic matter, crop residues, or low soil temperature.

SOLUTION: Increase organic matter in the soil and maintain moderate soil temperatures for optimal zinc absorption.

MOLYBDENUM DEFICIENCY

SYMPTOMS: Brittle foliage with burned edges and pale green or yellow leaves.

CAUSES: Cold temperatures or pH imbalances.

SOLUTION: Maintain warmer soil temperatures and adjust pH levels to 5.8–6.5.

MANGANESE DEFICIENCY

SYMPTOMS: Yellowing starts at the base of leaves and progresses outward, with mottled brown spots and eventual leaf death. Leaves may curl and disintegrate.

CAUSES: Overwatering, pH imbalance, poor substrates, or excessive iron in the soil.

SOLUTION: Improve drainage, adjust pH levels, and ensure balanced nutrient availability in the soil.

Cannabis plants rely on a balanced nutrient profile to thrive at every stage of growth. Identifying deficiencies early and addressing their root causes can save your plants and ensure a bountiful harvest. Regular testing, careful monitoring, and highquality fertilizers are the best tools for success.

MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY

The End of the Line

LABEL FATIGUE IS REAL. AUTOMATION TURNS END-OF-LINE DRUDGERY INTO EFFICIENCY THAT SAFEGUARDS BOTH

BY ALAIN VO

There’s a moment in every cannabis production run where the energy changes. The plant has been harvested, processed, infused, and beautifully packaged. Everything is rolling along smoothly . . . until it’s time to stick on labels, fold boxes, and build shipping cases. Suddenly, the process slows down.

The reason is hardly mysterious. This part manufacturing is the least glamorous. It’s the final stretch where products get buttoned up, barcoded, and boxed. It’s also where you’ll usually find someone hunched over a table, peeling stickers and folding cartons like they’re on an assembly line at an arts-andcrafts summer camp. The work is repetitive, hard on the body, and not what anyone dreams of doing as part of a thriving, vibrant industry. Nevertheless, the work

PEOPLE AND PRODUCTS.

is essential. Miss a label or get a weight wrong, and you’re looking at a compliance issue instead of a shelfready product.

People quickly burn out at this step. Turnover is real. You hire and train someone, then lose them and start all over again while trying to keep the production schedule intact. It’s like building a plane while flying, but with more paperwork.

At a certain point, most operators hit a wall. The team is solid, the product is solid, but the end of the production line is where everything hits a bottleneck. That’s when automation enters the chat—not as some sci-fi robot uprising, but as a way to stop your most dependable people from resigning over label fatigue.

Most folks didn’t get into cannabis to become professional box folders or label applicators. They

Photos: Leafy Pack Robotics

entered the industry to build something meaningful; to work with a product they care about. But when their day is filled with menial, mind-numbing tasks, morale plummets. So does consistency. It’s difficult to deliver excellence when the team is performing tasks that could be handled better and faster by machines that don’t call in sick or develop carpal tunnel syndrome.

Situations like this are where automation pulls its weight. Instead of four people managing five tedious steps, a single mechanical system can take the handoff and run with it. Labels go on straight. Packages are filled and sealed with precision. No one has to eyeball a milligram measurement and hope for the best. The whole operation runs more smoothly, and the team gets back time to focus on the work they signed up to do— the work that actually drives growth.

There’s a long-standing myth that automation is a luxury reserved for the deep-pocketed giants of the industry. That may have been true five years ago, but not anymore. Today, even small operators can plug automated solutions into their existing setup without gutting the whole facility. You don’t need a spaceship. You just need a smarter way to get product out the door without breaking backs or bank accounts.

While it’s true automation adds up-front expense, the return on investment shows up faster than you might expect. Reducing touchpoints also reduces mistakes, training hours, and wasted product. Labor costs drop. Throughput picks up. And the whole system runs with less chaos and fewer fire drills.

Some worry that machines will steal the soul of a brand or take away jobs from people who helped build the business, but in practice the opposite happens. When machines take over the soul-crushing tasks, humans get to lean into the parts of their role that matter to them: refining the product, improving the process, and creating something they’re proud to claim.

As smarter systems come online, automation will evolve from a tool into a partner. We’ll see machines that auto-correct, talk to inventory systems, and keep compliance in check before a human even notices something is out of whack.

End-of-line operations have been overlooked for too long. The component is integral to any production line, yet it’s often treated as a throwaway step; just a means to an end. In reality, the end of the line is where quality is locked in—or lost.

Automation isn’t the end of the line for human jobs. It’s the start of a smarter, more sustainable way to build the future.

Signal vs. Noise

IF YOUR PR ISN’T TIED TO BUSINESS OUTCOMES, IT’S DECORATION, NOT INFRASTRUCTURE. STOP MISTAKING HYPE FOR STRATEGY.

BY MICHAEL MEJER

Public relations has been oversold. Too often it is pitched as a shortcut to credibility, one shiny headline that suddenly makes a brand legitimate. “Get featured in TechCrunch” sounds good in a pitch meeting, but what will a hit like that do to move the business and build credibility among decision makers?

Part of where public relations has lost its way comes from confusing PR with advertising. Both matter, but they do different jobs in different ways.

Advertising buys control. You pay for the space, craft the message, and repeat that message until it sticks. That’s powerful when you want consistency and scale.

PR plays by different rules. You earn credibility when an editor or journalist decides your brand is worth covering, but the direction that coverage takes is out of your hands.

The trouble starts when brands treat any coverage, anywhere, as a win. A story in a publication your audience will never see is not impact. It’s noise.

The industry also has an unhealthy obsession with prestige. Everyone wants the Forbes profile or the Bloomberg Businessweek mention. Those feel glamorous, but the people who actually make decisions about shelf space likely are not flipping through Bloomberg. They are, however, regularly reading mg Magazine, MJBizDaily, and other popular industry trade outlets. Prestige looks good on the wall. Relevance is what builds your business. Knowing your audience is everything. There’s a time and place for both industry-trade coverage and mainstream media coverage.

Another misstep is the promise of instant results. Agencies love to guarantee placements in ninety days, deliver a few hits, and then disappear. This fast-food version of PR leaves brand founders wondering if the whole discipline is a scam. The reality is slower and far more valuable. PR works like compound interest. It builds credibility brick by brick until trust becomes the engine that drives investor calls, new client meetings, distributor inquiries, and talent pipelines.

The most damaging failure happens when PR is disconnected from business goals. Press for the sake of press does not matter. If you are raising capital, your communications should signal stability and traction to investors. If you are seeking product distribution, your media mentions should make buyers believe your product will sell. If you need credibility with regulators, you should be in the publications they already respect. When PR is not tied to a business goal, it becomes decoration rather than infrastructure.

The fix starts with clarity. Every brand needs a North Star. What outcome matters most right now? Once that is clear, media decisions become simple. If the target is investors, build stories and proof points that speak directly to them. If the target is retailers, show up where they go for trusted information. If the target is talent, spotlight culture and leadership.

From there, pick media with purpose. Forget chasing trophies and start dominating the outlets that shape your category. When customers and competitors keep running into your name, credibility begins to shift in your favor.

Founders also need to be educated about how PR actually works. It’s not a magic wand. PR is a process. Through it all, lean hard into storytelling. Cannabis is not a widget business. It is culture, politics, health, and personal transformation all rolled together. The strongest campaigns in this industry are about people. Data proves your point, but stories make it unforgettable.

Advertising and PR both belong in a serious cannabis marketing mix. Advertising builds reach and name recognition. PR creates credibility and trust. When brands understand the difference and use both with intention, momentum compounds, fabricated hype fades, and credibility soars.

PR rooted in storytelling and alignment builds reputations that survive every boom, bust, and ballot measure. Hype will get you noticed. Strategy will get you remembered. Only one of those will pay the bills.

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