Striking the Balance between Artistry and Efficiency

Efficiency vs Artistry
Quality vs Quantity
Craft vs Commercial

Whenever something of high quality is produced at a massive scale, it suffers in quality while usually becoming cheaper and more consistent. Which in some cases can create more "value" to the consumer, since the product is still good- but more cheaper and more widely available.

I often think of craft beer brands that have amazing products, then scale up for national production/distribution, and the resulting product is significantly worse. But hey, now you can buy it at the local store instead of waiting 2 hours at the brewery.

Striking this balance is one of the most important aspects of the maturing commercial cannabis business. Not just in terms of scale, but even in terms of HOW the plant is grown. During my Future Cannabis Project "Synganics" episode, we discussed how reduced yields of better product can be more profitable than high yields of average product. Many growers are realizing that "chasing yields" with grow practices that just make monster plants (at the expense of proper maturation and aroma development) isn't actually the best business practice.

One way growers can analyze this is with advanced metrics in their cultivation that dive deeper and reflect Resource Use Efficiency (RUE) such as Watts/Gram or Revenue/m2, or financial analysis such as ratio of OpEx+COGS/Revenue commonly referred to as Cost-to-Revenue Ratio. They might find that lower yields of higher value products actually consume less labor or resource inputs, resulting in higher profits. However, some companies have financial models or business strategies where they don't necessarily care how profitable they are, as long as they drive huge top line revenue, so that they can inflate the value of their business.
Profitability is so out of style these days 🤣

I encounter this phenomenon even in breeding new cannabis varieties. It is not often the most vigorous or highest yielding plant that has the best aroma and quality. And it certainly seems like the plant is somehow 'capped' on its ability to be fast-growing and high yielding, while also having top quality aroma and smoking experience. Its the one right in the middle- that is strong but also produces great aroma and quality, that I tend to select. Everything is about balance!