MJBiz - July/August 2024 - 48

SUSTAINABLE IS ATTAINABLE
organic. Rather, that job is done by
third-party organic certifiers that
are accredited by the USDA.
Many of those third-party certifiers
are state agriculture departments,
but some are nonprofits and small
businesses, Gelt said. Most certifiers
are not willing to grant organic status
to a marijuana company for fear
of losing their USDA certification
accreditation, much like how banks
and credit card companies fear losing
" None of these programs have
market traction. None of them have
delivered a premium to producers
that qualify for their programs, "
he said.
their federal banking licenses.
" The more specific way to
comment on the current status of
availability is that no one has really
been willing to test, " Gelt said.
Since hemp is federally legal, it
does not face the same challenges,
and there are many hemp products
with organic certifications, he
added.
PRIVATE CERTIFICATIONS
In the absence of a USDA organic
certification, a handful of states
have tried to launch organic
marijuana-certification programs,
including California, Colorado,
Maine and Vermont, while many
private certifiers launched as
businesses.
Some of the best-known private
certifiers of organic cannabis are
Sun and Earth, Clean Green and
Dragonfly Earth Medicine Pure (aka
DEM Pure). These businesses can
award their stamps to marijuana
businesses, but the stamps can't say
" organic, " since only the USDA can
bestow that term.
" This is an entrepreneurial
response to the effective lack of
availability, " Gelt told MJBizMagazine.
Unlike products such as produce
and baby food, which carry solid
premiums for being certified organic
by the USDA, cannabis does not
enjoy the same premium for having a
private certification, Gelt said.
" There's really meaningful valueadd
at the produce shelf. Consumers
Chris
Van Hook
pay more for organic-certified
products. That effect has not taken
hold with any of the commonly
found cannabis certifications that
are effectively replacement regimes
for organic, " Gelt said.
One reason certified marijuana
doesn't command a higher price is
that consumers don't recognize the
private certifications as easily as
they do with USDA-organic-certified
products.
" That's one of the problems with
all of these marijuana certifications.
Nobody knows what Clean Greencertified
or Sun and Earth-certified
or Dragonfly Earth Medicinecertified
means, " Gelt said.
" You have to meet consumers
where they are, and consumers
don't want Clean Green- or
Dragonfly Earth Medicine-certified.
Consumers want organic, and that's
one of the big challenges that goes
on with all of these programs. "
When consumers see the word
" organic " on a package, they
understand it, Gelt said, adding
that the same is not true of the
other labels. " Organic needs no
explanation; all of these other things
do need explanation. "
The second reason Gelt cited for
lack of premium pricing is that
so many private organic cannabis
certifications have been awarded,
the labels have lost value.
48 July-August 2024 | MJBizMagazine
CERTIFICATION VALUE
Van Hook of Clean Green disputes
the assertion that his and similar
organic certifications don't bring
value to cannabis products.
Clean Green had more than
200 certified farms before
California passed its recreational
marijuana program in 2016, but
many of those initial farms haven't
survived, Van Hook said, and now
that number is about 80 or 90.
Yet last year, Clean Green certified
more than 400,000 pounds of
cannabis trim and flower in eight
or nine states plus some Canadian
provinces, Van Hook said.
He added that what critics call
" awarding too many certifications, "
he calls growth.
" We grew. I'm glad we grew
that much, " Van Hook said. " Is the
premium program worth it? Well,
400,000 pounds a year think it is. "
Van Hook noted that for cultivators
to get the most out of their
certifications, they need to know
how to leverage them. For example,
they should have the logo on their
products and marketing materials,
and they should post frequently on
social media and include the logo in
posts, so people begin to recognize it
and associate it with organic.
" The only thing I'm concerned
about is helping our own members
get their own products sold at a
good price, " Van Hook said.
VALUE OPPORTUNITY
While Gelt doesn't believe current
organic certifications help
marijuana growers much, he does
see hope for the future.
" Producers can get paid
premiums for producing these
MJBiz - July/August 2024

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