smart upc cannabis
Cannabis companies face unprecedented headwinds. Yet these companies are building businesses in a tough market plagued by myriad challenges, from banking prohibitions to ever-changing regulations. One such startup, Lucid Green, has a solution to a growing labeling problem and raised a $10 million Series A led by Gron Ventures with participation from Gotham Green Partners.
The company’s intelligent UPC aims to reduce cost and increase transparency in all parts of the supply chain, from growers to brands to retailers to consumers.
With Lucid Green’s system, aptly called LucidID, products use one barcode from seed to consumer. Cultivators and brands can use this barcode to upload and access test results and compliance certifications. In addition, retailers can use it for real-time inventory management and building loyalty programs with shoppers. Because this happens with one label, Lucid Green says this system eliminates the tedious process of affixing new labels to product packaging.
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Legal cannabis is highly regulated and requires numerous checks along the route to the consumer. The retailer or dispensary is often saddled with extra work around affixing specific labels to different products as regulations change, increasing labor costs and reducing revenues. Lucid Green claims its data suggests the LucidID system can save retailers up to $10,000 a month.
Other companies offer similar solutions around QR codes but lack the comprehensive benefits found with LucidID. For example, some brands use QR codes to give consumers more information. Others use QR codes for inventory tracking. Lucid Green says the closest competitor comes from pharmaceutical companies, though most stop short of letting consumers access the information available to pharmacies.
The project started from the consumer’s point of view. “The idea was to put all the [testing and strain information] in a QR code that leads to rich information to allow people to have a better experience,” Levy said. “About 18 months ago in the California market, regulators kept layering on more regulations…and started asking the brands to put on unique codes.” These codes carry critical regulatory testing results and often require workers to put a label on each product.
smart upc cannabis
