Breaking Out of the Box: Building and Growing your Hemp and Cannabis Extraction Through External Collaboration and Internal Diversification

Speaking back in June 2020 at The Science of Cannabis Extraction Online Symposium, Kellan Finney of Eighth Revolution presented his innovative talk highlighting how the cannabis extraction industry could improve and progress.

Abstract: Research from a Harvard business study showed that employees and companies are less likely to collaborate and form alliances during tough economic times, and this is no less true in the cannabis space. It will be hard to forecast the true effects that COVID-19 will have on the economy and the cannabis industry as whole, but we know that they’ll be extensive. Prior to the pandemic, the cannabis industry was experiencing consolidation events and severe challenges meeting market expectations, and as the old saying goes, “When it rains it pours.” Just after the markets had begun to stabilize following the vape crisis of 2019, COVID-19 arrived. Historic evidence suggest agricultural and chemical companies have previously survived challenging times through optimization of their current practices and diversification of revenue streams. The optimization of current practices provides ample opportunity for strategic, external alliances and spurs the drive for internal collaboration. With ever shrinking margins, it will also become necessary to develop alternate means of earning revenue. For cannabis and hemp extraction companies, one avenue that has not been investigated enough is supplementing global chemical feedstocks using waste streams from the cannabinoid extraction and refinement processes. Over the course of this presentation, we will explore how collaboration and alliances are vital for the hemp and cannabis industry as well as the pivotal role the industry could play in creating a sustainable global commodity feedstock.