Confident Cannabis And The Road To Transparency In The Industry

Story by Natan Ponieman and Javier Hasse.

Confident Cannabis is a tech company focused on bringing transparency across the cannabis supply chain. The company offers lab testing and wholesale solutions for cannabis operators, as well as an information management system for certified labs.

Brad Bogus, VP of Growth & Marketing, spoke with Benzinga about the firm's accomplishments and possibilities.

Making Data Accessible For The Industry's Sake

"We have a ton of cannabis chemistry data because we work with over half of the cannabis labs nationwide, who are using our lab testing software," says Bogus, who also believes a great number of insights can be extracted from this cannabis chemistry database.

According to the firm, it's the largest database of this kind in the country. Confident draws conclusions from anonymous bits of data that are analyzed broadly to achieve a better understanding of cannabis products and their genetics.

"We help cannabis businesses test, buy and sell from one another," he said. "Our mission is to simplify wholesale testing and trade. Informing the industry on cannabis chemistry helps to achieve that mission, and pushes the industry to be more mindful of chemistry."

Confident allows companies in states where its wholesale software is live to find strains of cannabis based on their chemistry, and place immediate orders on those strains. Bogus expects to see buyers that are currently just looking at THC potency to start thinking about more diversity in their products from a full chemistry perspective.

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How Can Companies And Consumers Benefit From Confident?

Everyone benefits from an extended knowledge of cannabis chemistry, according to Bogus.

Data revealed one impressive fact: Indica, Sativa and Hybrid don't mean anything chemically. There’s no chemical distinction between them, despite more than 90% of cannabis being bought and sold to consumers based in these categories.

"That isn't supported in the data," says Bogus.

Another revelation came when the company confirmed strain names and genetics are poor predictors of consistency and effect. The same strains by name or genes produce, in some cases, wildly different chemical contents. This is because of all the choices growers make when cultivating like lighting, nutrients and cure time produce different results harvest to harvest, and strain to strain. This is added to the fact that strain names are not proprietary, so most times, anyone can name their genetics as they wish and sell it without infringing any rights.

The company's software is analyzing and documenting the chemical profiles of hundreds of cannabis strains. Using this information, consumers can stop depending on strain names to make sure they get a desired effect. They can understand what’s behind each strain and use this knowledge to become more informed consumers.

But these benefits don’t end with consumers.

"If you own a retail store and you sell out of a favorite strain, it would behoove you to offer an alternative or two that are not just similar in taste and smell, but more importantly, effect," says Bogus.