Differentiation Starts with Definition: Why Cannabis Brands Need Quality Standards Now
- Jhavid Mohseni
- 17 minutes ago
- 4 min read
In today's cannabis industry, oversupply isn’t just a phase — it’s the new normal.
From cultivators and processors to manufacturers and brands, operators across the supply chain are feeling the squeeze. Prices are falling. Shelves are crowded. Products are blending into one another. The brands that once stood out are now struggling to be seen.
We all talk about the importance of differentiation — but here's the hard truth: you can’t differentiate what you can’t define.
The Problem: Quality is Claimed, Not Proven
Right now, nearly every cannabis brand claims to be "premium." They use the right words: top-shelf, exotic, craft, small-batch, sun-grown. But without a shared definition of what those terms actually mean, they become little more than marketing noise.
Consumers are confused. Retailers are skeptical. And even within B2B deals, I’ve seen countless transactions derailed because one party’s idea of “AA” or “Indoor” didn’t match the other’s.
And that’s where most of our problems start: without a common language, quality becomes subjective. Subjectivity leads to misalignment. Misalignment kills trust. And in a marketplace driven by volume and urgency, that’s a recipe for chaos.
My Experience: How Standards Transformed Our Business
At Tamerlane — the global cannabis brokerage and trade platform I founded — we saw this problem play out daily.
Buyers would request "top-quality flower," only to reject the shipment when it arrived. Sellers would ship “AAA-grade” product and feel burned when the buyer disagreed. Back-and-forth negotiations dragged on. Deals fell apart. Trust eroded.
So we did something radical: we introduced standardized, third-party quality grading across all trades on our platform. No more subjective claims. No more vague descriptions. Just clear, defined, consistent quality criteria.
The result?
Cancelled orders dropped by 90%
Average deal prices increased by up to 15%
Sales velocity improved by over 60%
And the reason was simple: once everyone was speaking the same language, trade got easier. Trust increased. Good product commanded better prices. And expectations were aligned before the product ever left the farm.
What Gets Measured Gets Valued
Think about any other mature commodity industry — diamonds, beef, coffee, even olive oil. They all use third-party grading systems to define and verify quality.
That's what allows for pricing tiers, trade efficiency, and consumer trust.
Cannabis is no different. If we want to move from a hype-driven industry to a value-driven one, we have to measure what matters — and that means setting a clear standard for quality.
That’s exactly what we’re doing with the International Cannabis and Hemp Standards (ICHS).
ICHS is an open, evolving framework that defines quality in cannabis flower and biomass using objective, verifiable criteria — aroma, color, trichome coverage, and structure — based on over 500,000 pounds of manually graded cannabis.
We designed it to serve as a shared foundation: whether you’re a cultivator in Humboldt, a processor in Ontario, or a retailer in New York, you can refer to the same quality scale, leverage independant objetive grading and speak the same language.
Bringing Standards to Life: Cannafax
While ICHS sets the foundation, we needed a way to apply it directly to products and stakeholders — from bulk trades to consumer packaging. That’s where Cannafax comes in.
Cannafax is a third-party quality grading and transparency tool that gives cannabis products a visible score and label, backed by the ICHS standard. It supports both bulk transactions and retail product differentiation.
Here’s how it works:
Every batch of flower (bulk or packaged) is assessed using our trained grading system.
Products receive a Cannafax quality score, based on appearance, aroma, trichomes, and structure — not just THC or terpenes.
For bulk trades, we issue a Certificate of Grade (COG) — a verified document that clearly communicates quality to buyers and sellers, reducing friction, protecting deal value, and speeding up transactions.
For consumer products, each unit gets a Cannafax label and QR code linking to a detailed product report: quality score, lab results, cultivation info, and grower transparency.
Whether you’re trading 100's of pounds or selling eighths, Cannafax gives your product a voice — rooted in objective quality and third-party verification.
It’s simple, clear, and designed to empower both sides of the transaction.
Verified Quality = Real Differentiation
Differentiation isn’t about flashy logos or clever strain names anymore. It’s about trust. And in this market, trust has to be earned — not just claimed.
Cannafax gives brands and growers a new way to prove they stand apart:
Pesticide-free? Prove it.
Lead-free? Show it.
Top-quality flower? Let the score speak.
With Cannafax, you don’t have to shout over the competition — you can simply show what makes your product better.
Retailers win too. Instead of guessing what’s worth stocking or relying on marketing promises, they can scan the product, view verified quality, and make data-informed buying decisions.
Consumers benefit most of all. In a world where legacy trust is eroding and “top-shelf” often disappoints, they now have a way to validate what they’re buying — and discover the growers who truly care about quality and safety.
In an Oversupplied Market, Verified Differentiation is Survival
Let’s be real: most cannabis products on the market today look the same. Many test similarly. And yet, only a few rise above the noise and command real loyalty.
The ones that do? They’ve found a way to define and communicate their quality in a credible, consistent way.
That’s what Cannafax and ICHS are offering: not just another tool — but an infrastructure for verifiable differentiation.
Because in a race to the bottom, the only thing that will keep your business alive isn’t volume — it’s value. And value starts with clarity.
Call to Action: It’s Time to Define What You’re Worth
If you’re a brand, don’t just say you’re premium — prove it.If you’re a cultivator, don’t let great flower get commoditized.If you’re a retailer, don’t gamble on shelf space — stock products you can trust.If you’re a consumer, don’t settle for hype — demand transparency.
The cannabis industry is still young, but it’s growing fast. The businesses that survive and thrive won’t be the ones shouting the loudest — they’ll be the ones that are trusted, transparent, and defined by quality.
We built Cannafax to serve that future.
Now’s the time to lead with it.
—
Board Member, International Cannabis & Hemp Standards (ICHS)
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