New cannabis delivery service connects Sacramento customers to Mendocino County farmers
A new cannabis delivery service that connects consumers directly to Mendocino County growers is entering the Sacramento area.
By Jake Abbott (03/10/22)
MendocinoCannabis.Shop is a direct-to-consumer platform that went live this week in the Sacramento area and Butte County. The service is meant to provide customers 21 and older a new avenue to purchase recreational cannabis directly from small-batch producers located in the Emerald Triangle that results in a higher return for the growers themselves, as opposed to the traditional dispensary route.
The program is being spearheaded by the Mendocino Cannabis Alliance, a trade association that represents over 130 individual cannabis businesses in the county. There are 20 Mendocino County-based cannabis operations selling their product through the service. Current items being sold include cannabis flower, pre-rolls and vaporizer cartridges.
Chiah Rodriques, operations manager at Arcanna Flowers, one of the companies participating in the program, said it is hard for small operations like hers to have their products sold in dispensaries due to limited shelf space and competition from larger brands that can sell their product cheaper. This platform allows them to skip the "middle man" and keep prices affordable for the consumer, while enabling the farmer to retain 90% of the price of each product, after taxes.
"This shows that farmers can pool their resources and energy together to help each other, something we don't see very often in this industry, which is typically 'each brand for themselves,'" Rodriques said.
Michael Katz, executive director for the Mendocino Cannabis Alliance, said while there are other competitors providing cannabis delivery already, the difference between them and MendocinoCannabis.Shop is the quality of the products and the people producing those products.
"We have craft cannabis products from the Emerald Triangle, which is world famous for producing the best cannabis," he said. "It also gives conscientious customers the ability to support small farms, in the same way that people might want to get their products from a co-op or farmers market."
Katz said the program is made possible through partnerships with licensed distributors in other markets, such as Sacramento's Sovereign, which is approved for cannabis delivery and will handle the distribution in the local market.
The current plan is to introduce the concept in the Sacramento and Butte County markets before bringing it to other California markets, Katz said. As it begins to expand, the program will look for licensed retailers to partner with in other markets who are willing to support the framework that enables more of a return for the small cannabis producers.
"Ultimately, for small farms to survive it takes banding together and combining their resources to take the market on and by promoting those values that are in stark contrast to that extractive business model that seems to be dominating the industry," Katz said. "We know people want to see our community survive and to support small farms, so we have to work to let them know that service is available."
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