Last year was a whirlwind for the cannabis industry. New players continued to flood the market, and oversupply issues caused severe price compression, especially in more mature western markets. Competition from the illicit market also remained fierce–a factor that market analysts predict will remain a struggle for operators heading into 2023.
Top lesson learned: “When people think of cultivation, they think plants and growing techniques. A lot of people skip over the fact that it's an industry and business. The reason they forget is that it's been in the shadows for so long, that there's not much structure like a business would have. When you buy a McDonald’s [franchise], they give you SOPs and training sessions and set you up for success. When you open a large cannabis cultivation facility, it's literally, "Good luck finding employees that are reliable, give us your tax dollars ASAP, and we don't even know the rules we’re enforcing on you, so we’re going to be very harsh and blame you for everything… .
Top lesson learned: “2022 was a momentous year for Sweet Dirt. We opened two new adult-use stores (bringing us to a total of four adult-use stores and one medical store). We also opened a new 10,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and a new medical greenhouse. We added two new brands to our growing portfolio, and we grew our team by a staggering 160%. And we retained our status as Maine's only certified clean adult-use cannabis provider of scale.
