To survive in the legal cannabis industry in the future, cannabis cultivators need to understand that there is a window of opportunity open right now, and the businesses that have paid attention to the beer industry are the ones that will be able to seize that growth opportunity.

Specifically, the lessons we can learn from the craft beer industry are critical as the legal cannabis industry moves from a laser focus on commercialization to a focus that prioritizes consumer tastes and cannabis experiences.

We’ve all heard about threats of cannabis commoditization and how important branding and experiences are, but what does that really mean for cultivators? The history of craft beer provides the answers and sets a course for the cannabis industry’s future.

What the History of Craft Beer Means for the Future of Cannabis

The craft beer industry grew from consumer demand for better quality and more variety as well as demand for alternative sources that would put money back into local economies instead of giving money to large companies.

As a result, craft brewers focused on creating distinct flavors using unique and local ingredients. They looked for more sustainable inputs and developed processes that helped the environment rather than hurting it. All of their efforts were based on a passion for the ingredients and the beer.

Knowing that history, it’s not surprising that craft cannabis has become a hot topic in recent years. While it’s true that cannabis cultivators today are limited by restrictive regulations, there is still an open window of opportunity to meet consumer demand and establish brands that fill specific niches.

In the craft beer industry, consumers wanted something different from the “all-the-same” flavor of beers sold by big industry players. Craft brewers saw the opportunity to satisfy that need, and it didn’t take long for craft beer to become the fastest-growing segment in the industry during the early 2000s.

According to the most recent data from the Brewers Association, the non-profit trade association for small and independent American brewers, “Overall U.S. beer volume sales were up 1% in 2021, while craft brewer volume sales grew 8%, raising small and independent brewers’ share of the U.S. beer market by volume to 13.1%. Retail dollar sales of craft increased 21%, to $26.8 billion, and now account for just under 27% of the $100 billion U.S. beer market.”

What if craft cannabis accounted for 13.1% of legal cannabis sales and outpaced the growth of non-craft cannabis? The history of craft beer shows us it can happen and tells us that there is an important place in the legal cannabis industry for craft cannabis in the future. Regardless of the size of a grow operation or company, craft cannabis must be a part of any conversation about a licensed cultivator’s future strategies.

5 Important Lessons Cannabis Cultivators that Want to Grow Should Learn from Craft Beer

The most important thing to understand when you benchmark the craft beer industry for key learnings to apply to cannabis cultivation is that the story is not just about growing cannabis and slapping a different brand name on it. Consumers in the future will want much more than that.

Craft cannabis is about growing unique cannabis consistently and at scale (for larger growers) so you can steal market share, establish a strong position in the market, and be competitive today and in the future.

With that in mind, following are five important lessons that cannabis cultivators must learn and apply to their own businesses in order to seize the craft opportunity and grow for many years to come.

1. Create a Company Culture of Differentiation

For your business to launch a successful craft cannabis brand, you need to create a company culture of differentiation. Craft brewers typically have something in common – a love for the product they’re making and the ingredients that go into it. Their passion motivates them to create distinct outcomes that lead to unique products. Cannabis cultivators need to have similar passion for the cannabis plant, what it can do, and the experiences and benefits it can deliver when grown with a creative mindset.

Fortunately, the cannabis industry is filled with people who are passionate about the cannabis plant, so you could say passion is already built into the DNA of most cultivation companies. However, taking that passion to the next level so you can build a unique craft brand requires a focus on adding value with every crop and always prioritizing experience over consumption.

Think of it this way – not many people pay extra for a craft beer so they can simply consume it as quickly as they can. Instead, they choose a craft beer for the experience the beer provides. The same is true of craft cannabis. Therefore, it’s essential that cultivators grow to add value in order to secure market share among distinct consumer audiences seeking unique cannabis products.

Value could be added in terms of inputs and cleanliness, processes, terpenes and cannabinoids, or any other added value that your plants and crops deliver which other cultivators don’t or can’t deliver. Once you know what differentiates your brand, you can exploit it in the marketplace and secure market share. However, you have to start from within and ensure everyone on your team supports your culture of differentiation.

2. Define Your Strategy

When it comes to craft cannabis, cultivators must choose a strategy. You can either plan to do one thing extremely well and fill a specific niche with the best possible solution, or you can provide a variety of fresh, new choices to fill the gaps that consumers who prefer to try new products all the time are looking for.

You also need to think about how your strategy aligns with your long-term business goals. Some growers will create smaller craft brands, but others will need to create unique crops that can be used to create distinct products at scale – crops that can eventually cross borders when interstate commerce is available.

But that’s not all. Multi-state operators (MSOs) must be able to grow unique crops using repeatable processes so they can grow those crops in multiple states and still consistently provide the distinct brand experience that consumers learn to expect. This is essential to reduce operational costs and increase profits.

The good news is you don’t have to pursue an all or nothing strategy. However, you do need to set yourself up for success now. And that leads us to inputs and processes as discussed in #3 below.

3. Choose Your Inputs and Processes

Craft brewers grew in popularity and stole market share from big competitors by doing a few things really well:

Developed unique flavors that appealed to consumers’ demands – both existing demands and demands consumers didn’t even realize they had.
Used locally-sourced, specially-sourced, or sustainable ingredients and inputs.
Launched multiple products to fill more than one gap in the marketplace.

To do all three of these things, cannabis cultivators need to develop repeatable processes using consistent, high-quality inputs. In addition, the inputs need to position your craft cannabis as organic – or capable of being certified as organic in the future. If producing organic cannabis isn’t part of your cultivation operation’s strategy, that’s fine, but you still need to be able to prove that your cannabis crops are 100% clean.

All of this starts with your processes and your inputs. For example, rather than using a cheap grow media that claims to be clean but really isn’t, use the bio365 grow media, which is the grow media for the craft cannabis industry and craft cannabis at scale.

The reasons bio365 grow media is the choice for craft cannabis are easy to explain and prove. When cannabis cultivators use bio365, they get measurable benefits, such as:

Lower costs: Nutrient savings, water efficiency, fewer amendments, less soil per plant, reduced labor, and more
Reduced risk: Healthier plants, easier, more forgiving media, consistent and predictable outcomes, decreased disease pressure, less crop loss, and more
Improved quality: Better chemotype expression, more cannabinoids like THC and CBD, increased terpenes, and more
Increased yields: Less transplant shock, faster crop cycles, higher yield per plant, and more

To gain market share and increase sales in the craft cannabis industry of the future, you need to choose inputs and create processes that deliver the same consistency and benefits that bio365 grow media provides.

Bottom-line, if your inputs and processes don’t support a “craft” strategy, then your crops won’t either, which means the brand you’re building won’t be much different from any other commercial cannabis brand.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with a less unique, commercial cannabis brand if that’s your strategy. The marketplace needs large-scale commercial brands and craft brands to meet diverse consumer demands. You just need to choose your strategy and the inputs/processes required to support that strategy in order to be successful.

4. Listen to Consumers, Test, and Be Nimble

The craft beer industry grew from consumer demand for better, different beer options. As a result, today’s craft beer industry is thriving with U.S. sales outpacing the country’s beer market overall. The same thing is likely to happen in the cannabis industry in the future, so it’s crucial that cultivators are listening to consumers and planning ahead to deliver on shifting consumer preferences.

But that’s not all. Smart cultivators will not only respond to consumer demand – they’ll create it by introducing innovative new strains and brands that consumers didn’t even know they wanted. With that in mind, the cultivators that will win in the future are the ones who are innovating for tomorrow’s demand today.

Think of it this way. The future of the cannabis industry is Generation Z – those Americans who were born roughly between 1995-2012 and make up 27% of the U.S. population (86 million people). They have about $360 billion in disposable income, and the average amount a Gen Zer spends on socializing each month is estimated to be $166.75. That means, each Gen Zer spends $2,000 per year on socializing.

All of that data adds up to one thing – Gen Z is the future of the cannabis industry, and collectively, they have a lot of disposable income to spend on social activities. Craft brands that appeal to the demands of Gen Z and deliver unique experiences tailored to that audience will be able to carve out a significant market share. Now is the time to start planning.

Of course, Gen Z is just one example of a consumer segment that has unique demands and preferences that can be met with craft cannabis. The key will be taking the time to understand the unique demands or various audiences, testing relentlessly, and being nimble enough to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves (or abandon tests if they’re not delivering adequate results).

5. Prioritize Science and Quality

We live in a world where consumers can confirm business claims almost instantly with a Google search and a few social media conversations. Therefore, any cultivator who wants to bring cannabis to the marketplace, which has a chance to stand out as different from commoditized, commercial cannabis, will need to be able to prove that their crops are measurably better and different in one or more ways.

Cultivators who can do that will not only secure market share among niche audiences, but they’ll also be able to charge a premium for their crops – crops that will be more and more in demand as the brand reputation grows.

Therefore, it will be absolutely essential that cultivators can back up any and all claims with real proof of quality, cleanliness, cannabinoid and terpene content, organic, and so on. For example, a cultivator who wants to develop a product that can be certified as organic in the future needs to ensure all inputs – from grow media to fertilizer and everything else – is organic. Use Rockwool grow media? Your cannabis cannot be considered organic because Rockwool uses synthetic components. Instead, you need to use a grow media like bio365 clean living soil, which can be used to grow organic cannabis and can be proven to be 100% clean with real scientific data.

Of course, growing high quality cannabis crops that produce specific cannabinoid or terpene profiles can be challenging and expensive. Again, you have to use the right inputs to support your focus on science and quality.

For example, bio365 grow media allows for better chemotype expression, increased terpenes, and more cannabinoids. We have many case studies that prove it from large MSOs, single-state operators (SSOs), and even small single facility growers. Follow the links to read case studies from Holistic Industries and Columbia Care.

Key Takeaways about Critical Growth Lessons Cannabis Cultivators Must Learn from the Beer Industry

The five lessons discussed above are five of the most important takeaways for the cannabis industry. Follow these lessons, and you’ll be able to seize market share in the cannabis industry of the future.

Your success starts with the right strategy, culture, priorities, processes, and inputs. Remember, if you’re prioritizing science and quality for your cultivation operation, then you should be using bio365 – the first ever living soilless media for both small craft cannabis cultivators and craft cannabis cultivation at scale.

Ready to put your craft cannabis or craft cannabis at scale strategy into action? Contact us to learn more about bio365 living soilless media or request a trial to get started!

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5 Critical Growth Lessons Cannabis Cultivators Must Learn from the Beer Industry