Is CPG or Cannabis Experience more important?

In my opinion understanding the seed to sale pipeline is imperative for operational excellence.

To often I work with COO's who come to cannabis from the CPG world but lack a deep understanding of the depth and intricacies of production and the cannabis supply chain.

Yes, there are many overlaps, and on many levels cannabis is most certainly a CPG.

However, the needed detailed knowledge ranging from propagation, to facility work flow, to consumer trends and genetics selection, to quality control, to packaging and sales strategy, to brand development, is only developed from experience working directly in cannabis operations.

How can you know where to cut operating costs if you don't know about the nutrients and inputs you’re feeding your plants?

How can you talk about lowering COGS and saving money on energy if you don't know what PPFD and DLI are?

How can you strategically optimize labor if you don't know how and when to defoliate and how long it takes?

How can you make selections on what to grow if you don't know how different cultivars yield based on fluctuations in cultivation SOPs between facilities coupled with unique consumer demands?

If you are operating a plant touching cannabis business that sells cannabis based products, your core competency should be in cannabis operations and cultivation.

At its nucleus a cannabis business is a highly complex agriculture based industry.

This sounds like such a simple concept, but how can a leadership team make smart decisions without really understanding how a cultivation ecosystem works and the unique characteristics of the cannabis supply chain?

Happy Growing!