This article is brought to you by PurePressure, providing extractors with the machinery that makes solventless products possible.
With new suppliers coming on the market all the time, it can be hard to walk the line between quality products that help you stand out and scaling fast enough to keep up. Fortunately, extracting high-quality rosin directly from ice water hash, dry sift or flower—without the use of solvents like butane or propane—is easier than ever.
“Solventless is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to add additional products to your process lineup,” says Eric Vlosky, director of marketing at PurePressure, which specializes in solventless cannabis processing.
While rosin used to take more time and more care than other hash oils, with turnkey rosin presses like the PurePressure Pikes Peak, safe, potent extraction without the use of harsh chemicals is more accessible than ever, even to the smallest of cannabis businesses.
Why businesses should consider solventless SKUs
According to MJ Biz Daily’s 2019 Factbook, processing labs that produce seven or more SKUs report significantly higher levels of profitably (as high as 90%+) above their peers that produce less distinct products. In other words, the easiest way to grow an extraction business, both in size and profitability, is to offer more SKUs. But with limited lab space, that can be a challenge. Fortunately for extractors, solventless is versatile, making it an easy way to expand an extractor’s offerings.
(Courtesy of PurePressure)
“Right now, the number one most desired solventless product is a high-quality hash rosin for dabbing, but it’s easy to build on that to offer solventless to different niches of consumers. Every market is different,” he explains. “Older customers are a great example. We’ve talked to a lot of people that really like an almost old-school Moroccan brick hash style, which is something that younger consumers aren’t necessarily looking for.”
Fine-tuned pressure and heat control allow extractors to produce different textures and consistencies to meet that variety of needs. “Once you invest in a high-quality rosin press,” adds Vlosky, “solventless is an easy route to adding additional products to your process lineup, like true solventless vape pens, solventless-based topicals, edibles and more.”
The advantages of solventless products
Unlike BHO and similar hash oils, rosin only needs heat and pressure for extraction, meaning the finished product doesn’t contain residual hydrocarbon. If executed correctly, it even has the same levels of cannabinoids and terpenes as when the raw product was first introduced—so creating a product that stands out to customers is just a matter of getting the process right.
“When making rosin, it’s really all about finesse and a really gentle touch,” says Vlosky.
(Courtesy of PurePressure)
PurePressure sells commercial pneumatic presses that run on compressed air instead of high-force hydraulics. This allows them to achieve a pressure level designed for hash extraction, making a product that doesn’t require the intensive labor of the past.
“Many businesses in this space either have no solventless team or a very small one,” explains Vlosky. “Most people would be surprised to learn how lean processing lab teams are in general, at least the people that are running the equipment.”
Due to this, PurePressure makes machinery that keeps both function and output scalable. When a business is ready, it can switch to a dual-pressure model that diversifies which products can be made. When more output is needed, business owners or lab leads can upgrade from Pikes Peak to Longs Peak, which has twice the output and 60% more pressure.
The bottom line: With solventless, it’s easier than ever to stand out.
Creating the craft beers of cannabis
In a sea of lower-quality cannabis products, the discerning customer is going to be looking for the best quality extraction.
(Courtesy of PurePressure)
“We like to think of rosin as the craft beer of the concentrate world,” says Vlosky. “It really attracts true cannabis concentrate connoisseurs, and the people that are going to talk about your brand, be a brand champion, post about it on Instagram in an enthusiastic manner, all of the stuff that you can’t force customers to do unless they really love a product.”
Vlosky adds that cannabis consumers can be a little more health-conscious than the typical consumer, so a product with no chemicals or solvents can give an extractor a leg up in the market, and something else for an influencer to write home about.
(Courtesy of PurePressure)
“If you are not making a solventless product of some variety, by default, you’re missing out on a section of the market. There are a number of customers who will only purchase rosin-based products because they prefer products with no added ingredients,” he explains. “So, if you’re not making any kind of solventless concentrate, you’re almost taking yourself out of the race.”
PurePressure offers a painless set-up process that extractors can easily understand. When they buy a PurePressure pneumatic press, they’re not just paying for equipment, but expert knowledge on how to get the most out of it.
“Our main customer service liaison is a former hash maker herself, and with her experience, we’ve been able to deliver outstanding customer service to all of our customers,” says Vlosky. “It’s a combination of giving extractors the most control and reliability and then having the best customer service to back up the equipment. That’s success in our book.”
