Craft products and small batch production has become more popular in recent decades, from microbreweries full of interesting beer to small coffee roasters pushing quality over quantity. Customers enjoy products that offer a more personal brand, where consumables are treated with more care and the experience feels a little more special. Expertise is implied and often demonstrated in craft food, drink, and other consumables.
Authenticity is in high demand for today’s consumers, and this can translate into micro cultivation in cannabis, especially into the future as the industry evolves. Changes might mean that craft cannabis becomes a more sought after product in the future. Read on to learn more about micro cultivation!
Know What a Micro Cultivation Licence Is for Your Cannabis Career
Micro cultivation is licensed by Health Canada. The encouragement of micro cultivators in the cannabis industry aims to:
- Add diversity to the marketplace
- Make the landscape more competitive
Micro cultivation licenses and standard cultivation licenses share a lot of authorized activities, but they differ in that licensed micro cultivators can only have a plant surface area of 200 metres squared. This measurement factors in multiple surfaces, like when surfaces are stacked.
The difference between micro and standard cultivation licences is a question of measurement
Students in Cannabis Training May Know the Activities of Micro Cultivators
Aside from the surface area involved, micro cultivation licences are quite similar to standard ones. Some of the shared activities that both micro and standard cultivators are allowed to perform are:
- Propagate, cultivate, and harvest cannabis
- Change the properties (chemical or physical) of cannabis to test it
- Sell or distribute dried/fresh cannabis, plants, or seeds, provided the receiver is a licence holder, with the exception of nursery license holders
- Sell seeds only to nursery licence holders
- Drying, trimming, milling, and other ancillary activities
A cannabis course can give you some background on what exactly is involved in this industry.
What Micro Cultivators Are Like in Ontario
Not too many micro licences have been issued at this point in Canada, though a few have. Since micro cultivation is still in an early stage, there is great potential for growth and discovery.
Micro cultivators may have:
- More ability and time to pay close attention to their plants, due to the small scale with which they are working
- Few buildings, for example just a greenhouse and a storage space
- A more personalized, unique approach similar to microbreweries and craft food companies
Many smaller scale growers will do a lot of the start up work themselves, as opposed to bigger budget companies that can outsource labour like building and setup.
The Potential for Craft Cannabis in the Industry
When more micro cultivators exist in Canada, there may be change in the industry and customers may enjoy more access to cannabis that is identified as micro cultivated. Cannabis careers in the future may become more focused on this type of growing and marketing. Many people feel that craft products:
- Are higher quality because more special attention has been paid to the product
- Are easier to connect to as brands because they are smaller and more personal
- Have more specialized expertise or specific intent behind them
Owners of micro cultivation companies are more likely to do a lot of the work by hand, themselves
The appeal of craft products comes from customers caring a great deal about what they purchase and consume. Many cannabis customers are concerned with quality and where their cannabis comes from, and could be people who want to attach to micro cultivated products. Customers may enjoy the possibility of trying new products too, and having more, smaller cultivators in the industry gives them the variety that would allow for this.
Are you interested in cannabis training?
Contact AAPS to learn more.