Cannabis Appellations - The Small Cannabis Farmers - Elyon Cannabis
By Ron Ferraro
Elyon Cannabis is a small, family-oriented team of local growers and business owners who combined their growing skills and decades of experience to offer cannabis consumers access to some of California’s most meticulously cultivated Sonoma County cannabis. That’s why Elyon is proud to be the leading cannabis distributor of Sonoma County grown cannabis, taking Sonoma’s cannabis to markets all over California.
We found that in the new legal adult-use cannabis market, luxurious, high-quality cannabis quickly became too costly for most cannabis consumers to enjoy. With the belief that everyone deserves to consume cannabis from the “top shelf”, we want to be the brand that invites everyone to experience high-quality, organic, sun-grown cannabis.
At Elyon Cannabis, we pair decades of growing experience and talent with optimal growing conditions to showcase what is possible when you put extra care into your cannabis. Our focus is to build local careers as we partner with Sonoma County growers and to team with the industry as a whole to make Sonoma County cannabis a powerful and lasting brand.
The small cannabis farmers have taken the hardest hitswith our newly regulated industry, and many are still in the process of getting their permits to cultivate. We at Elyon will continue to work directly with local farmers to help them through the regulatory process and to partner to help build and manage their farming operations.
As a diverse industry, we recently came together to discuss cannabis appellations development in Sonoma County. Elyon Cannabis was honored to host this event, along with an all-star panel of industry experts, government agency leaders, and Sonoma’s cannabis farmers. The event was sold out, despite the fire evacuations that took place less than a week prior. Many of Sonoma’s cannabis cultivators know the importance of designing appellations to showcase their unique microclimate and soil structure, and were eager to push this dialogue forward.
Appellations are a legally defined and protected geographical area that identifies where something, like champagne, is made.The sparkling alcoholic beverage champagne, for example, only comes from the Champagne region of France. This provides useful information to the consumer by certifying the place-of-origin information for that specific product, allowing them to enjoy the unique characteristics that different appellations can produce in the same cultivated strain. In the case of cannabis, the same strain grown in a foggy coastal area versus a dryer inland area will produce different results. Articulating these differences to the sophisticated consumer will help promote Sonoma County cannabis and keep our county economically ahead of the curve.
That is why we need to come together as business owners, interest groups, and concerned citizens to make sure the Sonoma County cannabis brand is promoted the way it should be.There is even more urgency to act quickly with the passage of SB 185 by Senator Mike McGuire allowing appellations to be formed by January 1, 2021. The importance of collective action to prepare for a successful future was understood by all who attended the appellations forum. We have a year to prepare to declare these appellations, and that is why we have committed to participating in quarterly meetings that will take place in anticipation of the rollout of the appellations declarations in 2021. We invite any and all interested to not only attend these meetings but to actively participate in developing what will ultimately become a boon to the overall economy of Sonoma County.
The brand of Sonoma County cannabis is in our hands.
What can it do for our economy? How we position Sonoma County’s brand today will answer that question. The cannabis train is moving, and its impact reaches every sector of our economy from construction to soil stewardship, from individual small farmers to canna-tourism throughout the region. The actions we take now to promote the allure of Sonoma County cannabis will help us all. Other counties, such as Santa Barbara, are already ahead of us, and we need to catch up.
Sonoma County is a special place. From the mountains in the east to the valleys leading to our west coast, the diversity of our ecosystems and their unique appellations are striking to visitors from around the world. Let us work together to showcase that diversity, to celebrate it, to promote it to cannabis consumers throughout California and eventually beyond. Cannabis consumers, like consumers of any product, are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their preferences. They are looking for more than just cannabis, they are looking for an experience.
Ron Ferraro is the CEO of Elyon Cannabis and founder of the building company, Sunset Developers, which focuses on rebuilding homes from the 2017 Tubbs Fire. Ron has a passion for Sonoma County and strives to make it a stronger, more vibrant community for all. He supports local animal shelters regularly donating to The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, volunteers his time with Little Wonderers adopting and fostering cats, and is a member of Los Cien, Sonoma County’s largest Latino leadership organization. Most recently, he designated the North Bay Cancer Alliance as a recipient of proceeds from Elyon Cannabis product sales for its Breast Cancer Awareness campaign.
