Cannabis Product Testing: How to Improve Shelf Life Stability
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In a vertically integrated cannabis operation, there's little margin for error. Whether you're responsible for crop cultivation, regulatory compliance, or product development, you understand far too well how a single miscalculation can impact your bottom line. Although you go to great lengths to ensure you're providing consistency and reliability from one shipment to the next, lab tests intended to confirm your cannabis products are pure, potent, and safe for their intended use can only take you so far.
Like any other agricultural crop, cannabis has a limited shelf life. The clock starts ticking with the first cut of each new harvest. If you're relying on spreadsheets and whiteboards to monitor plant movement, identify optimal drying conditions, manage your inventory, or evaluate the reliability of packaging materials, chances are you could be overlooking a considerable amount of essential data other companies use to maximize profitability. Instead, it's worth considering how much you could gain by investing in seed-to-sale analytics software.
What Role Does Shelf Life Stability Play in Product Testing?
The samples you submit to your testing facility provide loads of useful information. The certificate of analysis is essentially your report card. Failure is not an option. When the cannabinoid concentrations and terpene profiles remain consistent, your customers know they can count on your products to deliver predictable results. But as you know, the tests used to verify potency are just the beginning. Third-party test results from an accredited cannabis lab also confirm your samples have been screened for pesticides, residual solvents, mycotoxins, and microbial contamination. Where does shelf-life stability fit into the equation?
Like many other substances, cannabis loses its potency over time, and with that potency, its therapeutic potential. In most states, stability tests and expiration dates are required for all products sold for medicinal use. Not only do shelf life stability tests help ensure your valued customers are purchasing products they can enjoy with confidence, your investment also provides valuable information you can use to fine-tune your production methods and minimize revenue loss.
How Shelf Life Testing Data Benefits Your Business
Shelf life testing is a rather involved process. Real-time testing monitors sample degradation at three, six, and twelve months. Passing a real-time stability test requires storage in a specifically designed climate-controlled chamber in a secure facility. Products must be accurately labeled and packaged according to state specifications. Accelerated shelf life testing is a simulated version of the same process. Instead of keeping the cannabis in a controlled environment, technicians speed up the aging process by exposing your samples to sub-optimal temperatures, various pH levels, and humidity to determine how long it will take for the products that sample represents to expire under less extreme conditions. Failure to pass state-mandated tests intended to ensure quality control could mean huge losses for your company.
Not only could you see hours of labor-intensive work unceremoniously flushed down the drain, your business could also be subjected to numerous audits, hefty fines, or worse. The audits alone put many cannabis operations out of business permanently. The best way to ensure your samples can withstand the intense industry-wide scrutiny is to work proactively. Don't leave anything to chance. Instead of allowing valuable data to slip through the cracks, consider how the information lurking between the lines of your certificate of analysis could help you nip potential problems in the bud before they could negatively impact your test results. With the right seed-to-sale software, you'll have a single, user-friendly system designed to integrate with traceability platforms like METRC, plus features to streamline inventory management, scale production, and automate your processes to help ensure consistency. Now that we've got your attention, consider some of the many ways the following benefits could impact your business.
Maintaining Peak Cannabinoid Concentrations & Moisture Levels
Your customers appreciate knowing the cannabinoid and terpene profiles of their favorite products. Your state requires accuracy in your reporting. If routine testing reveals your typically consistent THC levels dropping as your CBN (cannabinol) levels rise, you could be seeing evidence of poor storage conditions or a product that was misdirected as it made its way through your facility. Excessive moisture is an entirely different matter.
With the right data analytics platform, you'll have access to the information you need to determine why disappointing variances happen. Plus, everyone on your team will know at a glance the ideal growing, drying, packaging, and storage conditions for every strain in your inventory.
Fewer Movement Tracking, Labeling, & Packaging Errors
When your analytics software features the benefits of a cannabis-specific inventory system, you'll have the information you need to determine which products are exceeding expectations and which might sit on the shelf a bit longer. When you have the details necessary to ensure optimal conditions at every stage of production; there's less risk of losing lower volume products to looming expiration dates. There's also less risk of compliance issues due to labeling and packaging issues.
As your stability tests ensure the accuracy of your product expiration dates, investing in seed-to-sale software designed to support automation integration makes it that much easier to ensure your customers have accurate, informative instructions for every product and strain.
Minimizing Loss from Distribution & Transportation Hurdles
Distribution errors are largely driven by ineffective data collection, inventory oversights, and a limited ability to connect the dots between metrics you already track. With so many restrictions in place for cannabis transportation, getting your products from where they are to where they need to be in an efficient, timely manner is a challenge all its own.
Whether you're selling to wholesalers or directly to a dispensary, the difficulties you could encounter are essentially the same. When you're responsible for tracking and tracing multiple shipments, having access to essential information from any digital device could be just what you need to ensure your products get to their destination with minimal delay.
Could Data Analytics Help Your Cannabis Business Extend Product Shelf Life?
The results of shelf-life stability tests let your customers know how long they can expect your products to retain their flavor, aroma, and potency. You'll also gain much-needed insight into the inevitable changes in cannabis composition over time. With the right seed-to-sale software, you'll have the tools you need to help identify optimal nutrient mixes, while also monitoring growth cycles, pruning, curing, and environmental conditions. Could optimizing your processes help your business extend product shelf life? It's possible. But that's just one of many reasons you may want to consider your options.
The best seed-to-sale software also makes it easy to forecast yields, integrates with traceability platforms like METRC, and helps you streamline your processes and minimize overhead costs without compromising quality. Although you're sure to find numerous companies claiming their software is capable of meeting the demands of nearly any business, the cannabis industry has specific challenges relatively few providers will understand. Experience matters. For more information about some of the many ways, seed-to-sale software could benefit your vertically integrated cannabis company, visit Rockton Connect Cannabis.
At Rockton Connect Cannabis, we understand the complexities of cannabis cultivation, offer unlimited support, and have a genuine passion for solving problems. If you're intrigued by what you've learned, reach out and schedule an assessment.