Purveyors Of
Hemp Essential Oil
Terpene Belt Farms is a vertically integrated agricultural processor, established in 2019 to create the first scaled supply of hemp essential oil. Operating under the 2018 Farm Bill, Fresh Never Frozen® hemp essential oil is produced with a maniacal focus on quality. Our oils pay homage to the legacy of California Cannabis while bringing awareness to the rich terroir by creating a vintage-driven framework to elevate the conversation about cannabis derivatives and their applications.
How It
Began
2003
In the early days of California’s medical marijuana movement, our lineage got its start. The company emerged as Garden of Eden, one of the earliest (and still operational) licensed cannabis retailers in the country.
2011
We set up an analytical lab to ensure patient’s safety ahead of any regulations that required it. Our initial focus was surrounding potency and safety, as Garden of Eden was servicing many terminally ill and immunocompromised patients.
2013
Around this time, we began to see the emergence of cannabis vapes. Even before tank-based vapes hit the scene, local entrepreneurs were filling Cartomizers with crude cannabis oil. This was the wave. Cannabis had never been so convenient. We dove in head first into extraction, then hardware, and eventually moved into cultivation to ensure a consistent supply of inputs for our vapes.
2016
Over time our focus shifted towards terpenes and we began to really understand where the magic in the plant came from. The consistency in our naming conventions enabled one of the earliest principal component analysis of cannabis flower. To capture this data, we developed our own proprietary software platform to close the loop from the lab to the consumer. Our attempt at solving that problem has evolved over time to become www.Treez.io.
2018
Faced with the changing regulations, we were forced to pull back on our farming operations and our vape products suffered because of it. We sourced cannabis terpenes from anyone and everyone who had them for sale. The reality set in — if we wanted to produce a consistent 100% cannabis vape product, we were going to have to turn to non-cannabis flavoring agents.
The pressure mounted.
2019
California regulated hemp farming, and Terpene Belt Farms was born. Our relationships in the cannabis science world, stemming back to 2011, unlocked the solution to our terpene problem. Turns out, the lack of high quality cannabis derived terpenes was not just an Eden problem. It was a universal issue and we set out to solve it.
2020
After proving that world class oils can be produced under the hemp framework, we scaled from our pilot program. During the 2020 season, we bumped up our farming footprint to 160-acres and built out an on-site system designed to take plants from the field and convert them into oil within 90 minutes. We call it Fresh Never Frozen®.
2021
With rave reviews coming from our brand partners, we enthusiastically responded by increasing our farming footprint to 240 acres. To keep our tradition of picking flowers at peak ripeness, we added a second harvest team, which increased our throughput to
5 tons/hr.
2022
Taking the learnings from the previous seasons, we realigned our focus on consistency. Slimming our variety count down to 22, we brought to market never-before-seen profiles, igniting the exotic category with some Terpinolene dominant varieties with never-before-seen minor pairings.
2024
With Candies dominating in the flower market, we were coming into Season VI with a heavy dessert outlook. Season V set a new yield bar to chase after, so our operations got off to a fast start before a long heatwave slowed things down in the field. We finished out the season with some late ripeners with no early rains on the horizon.
Farming
In the foothills of the Diablo Range, you’ll find a lesser-known cannabis mecca: The California Terpene Belt, where Fresh Never Frozen® cannabis essential oil is produced with the care and attention only found in legacy cannabis farming. This lies in the San Joaquin Valley, a highly sought after farming region known as “America’s Breadbasket”. We call it fragrance farming. Our Northern California terpene farm is the cornerstone of the rapidly maturing cannabis derived terpene market.
Processing
Our Fresh Never Frozen® approach to material handling enables us to make what we believe are the best cannabis terpenes in the world. Our flowers are processed fresh. They are never frozen, dried, or cured. The processing plant is specifically designed to create high quality cannabis essential oil using a solventless extraction process. The processing is finely tuned to capture the essence of the plant, leaving behind the cannabinoids.
Direct Sales
With a literal 100 years of combined cannabis experience in the company, we are compelled to partner with brands to ensure they are achieving the best possible results with our oils while remaining in compliance with the ever-changing landscape. To do this, we engage directly with the brands, manufacturers, and co-packers that use our oils in their formulations.
The Future
Is Bright
As the first company that has achieved industrial scale production working with the fragrance molecules from the cannabis plant, we feel a duty to break down the walls that have been erected around cannabis. We have enjoyed the support of cannabis product manufacturers, but the entire world is waiting for cannabis to become more accessible. With our cannabinoid-free oils, we have a unique opportunity to kick down barriers and take our oils into the traditional flavor world. In 2024, we submit our first FDA GRAS application for both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. It won’t be our last.
Affiliations
TPC
ASTM
NAFFS
FDLI
