Seed-to-sale software for the cannabis market

What is Seed-to-Sale?

The Seed-to-Sale concept is the IT industry's answer to the needs of the highly regulated pharmaceutical market. It facilitates tracking, reporting and process control both internally and for external auditors (e.g. state inspection inspectors). It integrates functionalities related to quality control and the circulation of controlled substances. In a nutshell, the implementation of Seed to Sale lends credibility to the company's activities in the area of regulatory compliance.

Advantages of using Seed-to-Sale software

Implementation of the solution requires systemic legal changes and probably training of additional personnel on the side of public administration to carry out control activities of entities using Seed-to-Sale. It is not possible to implement it without some effort on the part of all market participants.

So what are the advantages of 'seed to sale' software?

• Minimising risks in the areas of cultivation, transport, processing, waste management, laboratory testing and cannabis marketing
• Ensures that companies' internal processes comply with current regulations
• Facilitates public administration checks
• Allows real-time monitoring of turnover by services and police
• Streamlines the supply chain and reduces companies' operating costs
• Helps optimise resource management
• Increases high quality production
• Indirectly facilitates the elimination of entities operating illegally in the market
• Facilitates scaling of business in a secure, compliant environment

Such solutions do exist. I have compiled this text based on publicly available information. I do not point to a specific software manufacturer intentionally.

In addition, 4 socio-politically relevant advantages can be identified:

• Facilitates the elimination of substandard, unsafe or adulterated products from the market
• Impedes market access for those bringing illegal/counterfeit products onto the market
• Impedes controlled substances from entering the black market
• Enables easy tracking of cannabis plants and cannabis products from the field of cultivation to the point of sale (and in other systems even to the final customer)
• Prevents cannabis products from reaching unauthorised persons, e.g. minors

Tracking process from seed to sale

The idea of implementing the concept of "seed to sale" in the Polish legal system requires a broader discussion. First of all, because the existing software solutions for the hemp industry come from countries where the entire system of cultivation, production and distribution of both CBD hemp products, medical marijuana and legal recreational marijuana is structured differently than it is in Poland.

However, there are some areas that are already common to the entire industry regardless of location on the world map. Process management with the help of Seed to Sale software includes:

1. Crops - after planting, each plant is given a unique identification number to, among other things, monitor the growth of the plant and record the interactions with the plant that a person undertakes during this phase (e.g. field tests of the THC content of crops);
2. Harvesting and processing - the collected material is packaged and processed according to two categories: flowers and other production materials; they receive new batch identification numbers; the flowers, which are finished products, are ready for the next stage of the process; and other production materials are processed (e.g. extracted) and, after processing, the batches are ready for quality control;
3. Quality control - finished, categorised and labelled batches are sent for laboratory quality testing in the form of samples; batches that fail quality verification are sent for disposal, and those that meet quality requirements are distributed;
4. Transport - due to the controlled nature of e.g. medical cannabis, their transport requires supervision; the software allows the preparation of a detailed transport manifest indicating, inter alia, the origin, quantity, destination and details of the driver; the manifests are available to the state authorities in real time online;
5. Real-time cannabis product tracking portal - the whole process is available in real time online for the control bodies of the state administration and services (inspectorates, services, police)

Summary

Seed-to-Sale software is an interesting solution to facilitate the control of the broader cannabis products market. Within a certain legal framework, it allows to monitor the flow of products from the early cultivation phase all the way to the point of sale or even the final customer.

The implementation of such software solutions in Poland would certainly foster transparency and achieve the goal, which for both business and control authorities is to minimise the risk for consumers and guarantee the availability of only legal, high-quality cannabis products. This seems to be a beneficial solution for all stakeholders, especially in view of the upcoming decriminalisation and, in the future, possibly legalisation of the recreational cannabis market in Poland.