The Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) has launched a new “craft” label for cannabis flower strains, which they’ve defined as “hand-trimmed, hang-dried, hand-packaged and grown in a facility that produces less than 10,000 kg a year” on their site.
Legacy consumers want craft
The word “craft” gets thrown around a lot in cannabis, so it’s nice to see an attempt to define the category. The goal in creating the designation was to help connect legacy consumers to smaller producers, according to Marijuana Business Daily.
“They want craft product, product that meets their expectation of quality but also connects them to the producer,” Pete Shearer, senior category manager, told MJ Biz. “I think there’s lots of consumers where, for one reason or another, they want to vote with their dollars and support smaller operations, ones that align with their values and their understanding of what good cannabis is.”
Others have different views of what defines ‘craft’. Long-time cannabis advocate Mark Spear tweeted:
Premium pricing
The designation will extend to the OCS’s wholesale business, so we’ll start seeing it in private stores, too. It will be interesting to see how their target market responds to pricing, which can be a lot lower in the illicit market. On the OCS site, craft grams are priced just above $8 on the lower end, but some raised their eyebrows at what’s at the higher end.
Along with a screenshot showing one craft strain priced at a stomach-churning $69.96 for 3.5 grams (almost $20/g), cannabis QA specialist Michael Ciardullo tweeted:
