What are the Challenges in a Cannabis Supply Chain

The industry term "seed to sale" refers to bringing marijuana-based goods to market, including planting, growing, trimming, drying, testing, and distribution to retail dispensaries in your state.

Fremont, CA: The fundamental challenge in the cannabis supply chain is the prohibition of interstate transportation.

Business owners seeking to benefit from the Green Rush must consider additional concerns while building legal cannabis distribution systems within the state.

Seed-to-Sale Software Use

States that authorize medicinal or recreational cannabis use seed-to-sales software databases. These databases must be used by all producers, processors, testing laboratories, distributors, and retailers. Each licensed grower's cannabis crop is logged with a unique ID. Government seed-to-sale software tracks legal cannabis growing, lab tests, processing IDs, distribution and transit records, and inventory inputs.

These software tools help trace marijuana manufacturing from seed to sale. Every harvested unit is accounted for.

Micro-businesses, operators, and others new to the plant-handling supply chain may find these systems onerous and jeopardize their survival if reporting requirements are not satisfied.

Integrating POS and back-office systems can be challenging, especially for new retailers, wholesalers, or operators. Misreporting transactions and purchase histories and avoiding these systems owing to their time-consuming and interdependent supply-chain difficulties may occur unintentionally.

Department of Transportation Regulations

The United States Department of Transportation prohibits freight trucks from carrying marijuana or its derivatives.

The federal ban on cannabis shipment and transit creates significant supply chain barriers. To avoid regulation by the Department of Transportation, growers and manufacturers sometimes use smaller freight groups, such as vans, for smaller orders.

Larger freight fleets offer more comprehensive services than smaller firms. This raises security issues for cash-based shipping transactions, route control and tracking, anti-theft measures, and the safety of cannabis goods in transit.

As the cannabis business grows, it's important to consider transit issues, even within individual states. MRBs can shift from small-batch van shipments to cost-effective bulk transportation options.

Banking

Transportation difficulties are not the only government hurdle preventing cannabis-related firms from operating lawfully and effectively. Entrepreneurs and investors in MRBs have financial challenges because of the prohibition on FDIC-insured banks doing business with cannabis enterprises.

Some MRBs employ apps as a solution, while others rely on all-cash operations, which might cause compliance issues. While several cannabis-legalized jurisdictions are working on legislation to address banking and finance difficulties, MRBs must prioritize safety and documentation while managing funds across their supply chain.