At the May 14 Emerald Cup, Fig Farms received an award for 1^st Place Indoor Flower and won the Indoor Flower Breeder’s Cup, according to a press release.

The California cultivator was founded in 2016 by legacy farmers and breeders Keith and Chloe Healy, per the release.

Animal Face, the Emerald Cup 1st Place Indoor Flower Winner

Animal Face by Fig Farms was named as this year’s 1st place indoor flower at the Emerald Cup.  

The 1st place winning Animal Face was hunted from seed, further solidifying the ability Fig Farms has in selecting winning phenotypes. Animal Face’s terpene profile was categorized by the Emerald Cup as “OG & Gas” with tasting notes of gas, kiwi and paint thinner. 

Holy Moly!, the Emerald Cup Indoor Flower Breeder’s Cup Winner

Holy Moly! by Fig Farms is this year’s Breeder’s Cup award winner for Indoor Flower.

Fig Farms created the Holy Moly! strain by pollinating Banana Fig flowers with Animal Mints pollen. Holy Moly!’s terpene profile was classified by the Emerald Cup as “Dessert,” with tasting notes of cherry, chocolate sauce and Tootsie Pop center.

“Thank you to the Emerald Cup judges for recognizing and validating our obsessive perfectionism in the garden - we are extremely honored to be receiving these awards,” said Fig Farms’ Keith Healy. “California is the epicenter of the cannabis culture universe, making a win in the Emerald Cup a world wide achievement. Winning these awards in Hollywood amongst all of our respected friends and peers is a proud moment we’ll cherish for the rest of our lives.”

Santa Rosa, CA – May 16, 2022 –  CannaCraft, a large-scale cannabis manufacturer based in Northern California, is honored to announce their multiple first place award wins in the 18^th annual Emerald Cup.

Dubbed as the “Academy Awards of Cannabis,” the prestigious competition of over 50 unique categories took place on Saturday, May 14^th, 2022 at The Montalbán Theatre in Hollywood and was broadcast live worldwide on ALTRD.tv. 

Farmer and The Felon brand’s “Lemon Sponge Cake” took home the highest honors of the evening, winning not only 1st place in the Sungrown Flower category,  but also earning the coveted “Best In Show” distinction.

Sungrown flower is, by the competition’s definition, the “full sun, full term outdoor cultivation of mature cannabis without the use of artificial lighting in the canopy area at any point in time and without the use of a protective structure,” and to grow the superior quality that Farmer and the Felon is known for is extremely challenging, given the myriad of determination factors. The sun, soil, microclimates, and terroir all contribute to bringing about a unique and full expression of the flower along with its entourage effect. 

The brand’s “Georgia Pie,” “Double OG Chem,” “92 OG” and “Sticky Buns” strains also finaled in the category, with 3rd, 4th, 8th and 11th place wins, respectively.

CannaCraft’s Care By Design brand was awarded two 1st place wins for its “1:1 Joint and Muscle Cream” in the Topicals – Therapeutic category, and its “1:1 Max” drops in the Tinctures category. The 1:1 Max is currently the most potent CBD product in the California market.

Hi-Fi Sessions’ “Hoppy Chill”  also grabbed the top spot for Edibles – Beverages. The best-selling beverage line, a collaboration between CannaCraft’s AbsoluteXtracts and Lagunitas, has held the top spot for two years, with Hi-Fi Hops’ “Unplugged” winning 1st place in 2021, and recently relaunched as Hi-Fi Sessions. 

“We are thrilled to have three of our top brands spotlighted in the winner’s circle this year,” says CannaCraft co-founder Ned Fussell. “The Emerald Cup began as a low-key, growers-only gathering with people sharing and celebrating the year’s harvest. Even though it has grown exponentially over the years, its core values of authenticity and goals of sustainability have remained the same. It celebrates the farmer, the harvest and the best of what our community has to offer, and CannaCraft is honored to be recognized for our contributions.”

This is also the second year in a row that Farmer and the Felon secured the top spot in the Cup’s Sungrown Flower category, with its “Gorilla Snacks” strain taking the 2021 honor. 

“Our diverse library of genetics has been curated from both old classics to the newest most coveted and tightly held cuts,” explains Farmer and the Felon Brand Manager Patrick Anderson. “We aim to provide our consumer base and dispensary partners with every possible option of flavor, aroma, and effect profile to suit their unique needs.”

Farmer and the Felon represents the story of struggle and perseverance that paved the way for today's legal cannabis marketplace, and reinforces CannaCraft’s longstanding commitment to doing right by their customers and community. With a mission to support social justice and preserve California’s cultural cannabis legacy, Farmer and the Felon provides a platform for growers, activists and ex-prisoners to share their stories. Part of the proceeds are invested in bringing social change and restorative justice to non-violent cannabis offenders. Launched in 2020, the premium, affordable flower brand offers a robust menu of traditional, seasonal and speciality strains. 

“We love participating in the Emerald Cup each year – its roots and legacy are undeniable,” relays CannaCraft co-founder Dennis Hunter.  “It started in the Emerald Triangle where I was raised and where I learned to cultivate cannabis. Watching the Cup evolve has been surreal. In the early days, farmers entering the competition had to conceal their identities for fear of prosecution. Now it’s the epicenter of excellence for the entire industry. My gratitude and admiration always goes out to the Emerald Cup Judges. The amount of cannabis they have to consume and judge is incredible! We are honored that with all the entries, our products were selected as finalists. It means a lot to us and our employees who work incredibly hard to ensure our products are the best.”

With a private event guest list representing the highest quality cannabis brands in California, Emerald Cup is the world’s premier virtual cannabis destination and iconic live event. While advancing the concept of sustainable, sun-grown farming, the 18-year-old organization's reputation is firmly solidified as the largest, most-respected cannabis competition in the world.

Full Moon Farms

Another spring planting season for California’s legal cannabis growers is a time for optimism, an outlook curbed by a bevy of issues holding back the industry from its full potential.

Operators interviewed by Cannabis Business Times pointed to an ongoing supply glut, ever-changing state regulations and the still-thriving illegal market as obstacles negatively impacting their work this year. Yet, cannabis entrepreneurs continue to stay nimble in their daily functions as they wait for the pendulum to swing the other way.

Full Moon Farms, a small-scale business with three separate properties in Humboldt County, has 2.6 acres of sun- and greenhouse-grown cannabis canopy. Owner Nik Erickson works from a trio of disparate microclimates in growing strains such as Ice Cream Cake and Northern Berry.

Erickson enjoyed a hot sales year in 2020 before backsliding somewhat in 2021 with a declining market share for flower that remains a thorn in the side of California’s licensed cultivators. According to the California Cannabis Industry Association (CCIA), flower sales in March 2021 totaled $207 million, or just above 43% of total sales. In 2022, flower sales totaled about $150 million, or 37% of total sales.

“Farms got stuck sitting on product, which hit the bottom line for smaller operators that don’t have the wiggle room of the bigger, well-financed farms,” says Erickson.

Even as legal cannabis sales in the state increased by 7% from February 2021 to February 2022, transactions on a month-to-month basis over that time have contracted to pre-pandemic levels. Additionally, an unequal balance of supply and demand has created a bottleneck for businesses in Humboldt County and elsewhere. Roughly 1,000 brands in California have created a surplus for approximately 850 licensed retailers, making it difficult for Full Moon and others to gain much-needed market access.

“Ask an L.A. dispensary for Humboldt County sun-grown and you may find one brand,” Erickson says. “The access is not there, especially if you’re trying to kick up your own brand. Everything is so saturated, and consumers get lost in that.”

Tapping Into New Markets

Stone Road Farms, which grows its cannabis on a 10,000-square-foot plot in Nevada County, recently completed its first-ever spring crop. Founder Lex Corwin is excited to package “400 pounds of grade-A buds” into jars, prerolls and a new line of bubble hash.

“Everything went right this season, which never happens in cannabis,” says Corwin. “This is an opportunity to bring fresh product to market while other brands are getting gouged, and outdoor farms not having their product out until the end of August.”

Stone Road Farms

Stone Road has enjoyed a strong sales year so far, with the company’s infused prerolls a particularly popular product. (Corwin also recently launched in Massachusetts, selling 30,000 joints in nine days.) The company founder aims to finish 2022 with $5 million in topline sales, even if not every aspect of operating in California is sunshine and rainbows.

READ MORE: California’s Cannabis Industry Marred by Limited Supply Chain and Heavy Tax Burden

Following two years of buildout and working with the county to become legal, Stone Road must still contend with an illicit sector that exceeded $8 billion in sales in 2020, per figures from Global Go. The increased cost of licensing alone ups the stakes when illegal growers can simply ignore those regulatory hurdles.

“It’s ridiculous how much of our business goes toward a county cultivation tax, but a mile from my office is an unlicensed consumption lounge,” Corwin says. “I went in there and never heard of any of their products. It was clear that it wasn’t a legal shop.”

Price compression sparked by competition between legal and illicit markets hasn’t stopped Stone Road from getting its product into dispensaries. After serving on average 30 to 50 retailers a month last year, Stone Road is now selling its wares in more than 300 dispensaries.

Shop owners are hitting up Corwin on the NABIS distribution marketplace. Stone Road’s best-selling SKU is a five-pack of hash infused joints. Overall, the cultivator sells between 400 and 500 pounds of cannabis each month.

“We’re also trying unique collaborations, like one with Sundae School for our first edible hash-based gummy,” says Corwin. “They have a clothing line they’re going to design along [with the product]. We have to tap into new markets.”

Getting Nimble in Tough Times

Full Moon Farms

Flexibility is the watchword for Erickson at Full Moon, who in recent times has turned to white labeling for a financial boost. About 90% of the company’s grow is sold to a purchaser, which then uses its own brand to market the product.

Erickson is also scaling back spending around cultivation by relying more on automation. What’s more, Full Moon grows later in the season, cutting man hours while producing a smaller plant.

“A small plant is better than a ten-pound seed plant which is going to have so much wasted biomass,” says Erickson. “We have to pick the right strains, and it’s got to have that eye-popping bag appeal no matter what. But we’ve definitely been scaling back on infrastructure upgrades, unlike the last five years.”

Although the market is forcing growers to produce high-THC strains, Erickson is confident that consumers will return to the more nuanced artisanal space. Part of the onus is on cultivators to educate the public on the gulf between cheap vs. good.

Erickson says, “We see it as a craft product while competing with the commodity market. It’s apples and oranges, but the commodity market pulls down everyone including the craft farmers. We can’t let quality slip. As long as we meet the commodity market’s price point, then superior quality can sail over top of the commodity product.”

Grim present aside, there is a positive path forward for small regional growers, Erickson says: “It’s about adapting, and it’s our fight to lose. We were here before legalization. I see a future for us and good things coming for Humboldt County.”

Corwin of Stone Road is similarly optimistic about a larger-scale embrace of authenticity and quality, even if waiting for the tide to turn is the hardest part.

“Please support small-craft farms,” says Corwin. “You don’t even have to support Stone Road, just make sure your dollars are putting a roof over the heads of the people who built this industry.”