Here, we begin to answer the most common questions we get. We will be adding to and updating this post regularly.
1. What is Fresh Never Frozen® and who’s it for?
Fresh Never Frozen® is our brand of cannabis-derived complete essential oils (complex terpenes). These are used to produce 100% cannabis-manufactured goods at scale and across state lines.
Fresh Never Frozen® was created for growing CPG brands that need cannabis formulation standardization and consistency.
2. How is Fresh Never Frozen® legally allowed to ship nationwide?
The 2018 Farm Bill freed “hemp” from the blanket term “cannabis.” Our cannabis seed genetics program starts with Type 1 (high-THC cannabis) and breeds out the THC, so the end result is a cannabis seed developed to be Type 3 (low-THC cannabis). This is grown as hemp under the 2018 Farm Bill.
All essential oils are cannabinoid-free and freely ship anywhere across the US or across the globe.
3. Can you tell me about your cultivation and extraction process?
We run a large-scale farm in Byron, California. This is in the foothills of the Diablo range (part of the California “Terpene Belt”) and is attached to CA’s largest freshwater delta.
Grown to produce terroir-driven terpene profiles, our plants are harvested at peak ripeness and are extracted live on site solely for their essential oil, within minutes of harvest. In addition to our own property, we engage local partner farms to grow our genetics and add to our acreage harvested each year.
Our plants are never dried, cured or frozen. We built a custom cannabis essential oil extraction facility onsite at our farm that processes over ten tons per hour (the largest extraction facility in the US). Oils are extracted using subcritical H20 and are solventless.
4. Why are cannabis-derived terpenes better than botanical or synthetic terpenes?
Botanical terpenes have been used out of necessity. They were the only flavoring inputs available at scale and with consistency in the early days of cannabis industry product development. Though they’ve been widely accepted in cannabis for a while now, consumers and patients now desire complete cannabis products: products that include as many of the natural compounds found in cannabis flower and without any non-cannabis ingredients.
Why? It boils down to the entourage effect: the concept that terpenes, THC, CBD, and minor cannabinoids work together to drive the true-to-the-plant experience. Cannabis oil contains hundreds of compounds (some known, some unknown). It’s all of these compounds working together that deliver complete medicine.
Non-cannabis terpene blends contain a handful of individual terpene compounds that are either from other plants or are manufactured flavor (think strawberry flavoring you may use to bake a cake). With this, you end up with only one cannabis compound: THC. With cannabis essential oil, you end up with a cannabis product that contains hundreds of real and natural cannabis compounds.
Botanical and synthetic terpene manufacturers often say they recreate the entourage effect, though by looking at the chromatogram of the non-cannabis terpenes, it’s easy to see that they don’t stack up to the real stuff. As an example, take a look at our “Similar to Jack Herer” cannabis essential oil vs. a non-cannabis Jack Herer terpene blend.
5. What are the biggest benefits of using Fresh Never Frozen®?
The biggest benefit is the supply chain stability of real cannabis inputs. It’s not easy to produce cannabis terpenes in-house. You probably know that when cannabis is extracted, there’s a big imbalance between cannabinoids and terpenes. For every gram of fresh flower extracted, just .005 grams of essential oil is captured. And once the material is finished, it’s finished.
Supply chain stability brings many benefits:
• Product consistency across batches utilizing 100% cannabis inputs
• CPG model-based product development and brand and formulation consistency across state lines
• Consistent COGS and margin forecasting
• Ability to be more aggressive with downstream pricing (this can only be done with a clear understanding of margin)
• Ability to support internal and wholesale product sales without fear of stockouts or batch to batch variance
• Cost savings across the design and execution of packaging, thanks to SKU level planning
• Reallocating of internal manufacturing resources (raw materials and labor) to more productive and profitable activities.
6. How does pricing work?
We sell by the liter, offering discounts for larger quantities. Customers can make a one-time purchase or be on contract terms to reserve coveted inventory in advance. Contact us at hi@terpenebeltfarms.com for more details or leave your information here and we’ll be in touch.
7. How do I store and formulate with Fresh Never Frozen®?
Learn all about best practices for storing and using our essential oils in this post. Stay tuned for video tutorials on formulation best practices! In the meantime, contact us with any questions.