X-Tract Ramping Up In Vermont’s New Cannabis Market

In Vermont, newly-legal recreational cannabis is a “craft industry” said Trevor Schell, chief executive of X-Tract, which specializes in cannabis oil extraction. The business ecosystem there is mostly small farms and start-ups that “don’t have the resources” to drive up and down the state selling their wares to dispensaries he said.

That’s why his company, which takes in dried cannabis and works with brands to produce pre-rolls and edibles, has built relationships with retailers. “We let dispensaries know what we have, they order it and we have a delivery van we drive around the state,” he said.

Seventy towns and cities in Vermont will allow retail sales, which is a greater number than many had expected. People knew the college towns and larger cities would allow retail sales, said Catherine Burke, a lawyer who works with cannabis companies in Vermont, but neighboring state New Hampshire has not legalized the substance yet and smaller Vermont towns are “opting in for business and tourism,” she said.

X-Tract has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into extraction equipment and plans to be using it all of it soon. Schell is currently producing pre-rolls (marijuana cigarettes aka “joints”) and cannabis-infused caramels, gummies, peanut butter cups and bonbons.

To produce edibles, after extracting the cannabis oils from the plant, a sample of the output goes to a lab for testing to make sure it does not contain impurities and is safe for human consumption. Getting results can currently take two weeks and production can’t start until then said Schell.

Vermont law states that cannabis concentrates cannot be more potent than 60% THC.

As procedures like testing become smoother and more streamlined, Schell’s priority will be to keep a steady stream of products rolling out to dispensaries to meet the new demand in Vermont. “They want consistent stocking,” Schell said of the dispensaries, ”Their big fear is running out of product.”