A Legacy Story- From Outlaw to CannaCraft CEO

We often talk about Beard Bros operating at the intersection of the culture and the industry in cannabis, and how unique of an ecosystem that is. We are incredibly grateful for the village of like-minded people we get to interact with daily who are passionate and enthusiastic advocates for the plant. Few people exemplify that more than Dennis Hunter, co-founder of California powerhouse CannaCraft and legacy grower since the 80s.

When Bill and I were together in Santa Rosa last month for Hall of Flowers, we linked with Dennis and he gave us a tour of their massive 40,000 square foot headquarters.

Dennis has long been a proponent of cannabis, growing up watching family and friends use it for medicinal and recreational purposes and eventually growing it himself as a teenager. 

In 2014, Hunter created CannaCraft with Ned Fussell, a fellow cannabis advocate, and lifetime cultivator. This authentic connection to the plant and commitment to ensuring safe cannabis is available to all who need it has been a guiding principle for CannaCraft since the start. In simple terms, they set out to make the world happier and healthier through cannabis.

Mission accomplished, but with a few “bumps” in the road to keep things interesting, so let’s back up a bit.

Establishing His Roots

Born and raised in Mendocino County in California’s Emerald Triangle, Hunter grew up being influenced by the area’s underground culture and was growing by the time he was a teenager. What started as a small hobby, quickly morphed into him running a huge operation up in Humboldt.

While that is pretty standard to see all across California these days, it got Hunter busted with a quickness back in 1998. Federal agents from the DEA arrested him at his Humboldt County headquarters for illegal grows in two indoor buildings and an outdoor spot. 

It was the largest indoor raid in the state’s history at the time. Facing mandatory minimums and the prospect of lengthy jail time, he chose a different route.

“It was pretty scary,” reflects Hunter today. “I was looking at a ton of time, and I thought it was best to go on the run for a while.”

Enter Josh Abrams.

That’s the alias Dennis went by for four and a half years while on the run from authorities. He was eventually caught and convicted on pot-related charges in 2002, and he served six and a half years in federal prison.

Hunter, then 25, went to a medium-security prison, serving part of the time in Nevada and Oregon. While incarcerated, he took UC Berkeley Extension courses in real estate and appraisal.

The Art Of The Pivot

Upon release and on parole that forbade him from operating another grow, he pivoted again. He opened up a hydroponics store Left Coast Garden Supply, and sold supplies to all the growers while fulfilling all his post-release responsibilities to the federal government.

Soon after his parole ended in 2014, he moved fast and CannaCraft was born. 

“We thought, ‘we’ve already done it wrong, let’s do it right this time and not make those same mistakes’,” he says.

Before long CannaCraft was among the biggest cannabis companies in the state, with dozens of products across several successful brands, including AbsolutExtracts, CannaCraft’s strain-specific line of cannabis oils; Care By Design, a line of high quality CBD products; and Satori, an award-winning line of infused artisanal chocolates. 

CannaCraft also partnered with Lagunitas Brewing Company to brew an alcohol-free, IPA-style cannabis “beer”, making headlines in The Washington Post and The New York Times.

It wasn’t all about building brands and making money, they actively looked to give back to both their local community and the greater cannabis community.

Santa Rosa and the surrounding areas were devastated by wildfires in 2016, and the Red Cross actually set up their headquarters inside of the CannaCraft facility to manage their operations. Their normal location in Windsor was too close to all the fires, and they needed somewhere for 150-200 people to work from.

“With all the stigma at the time around cannabis, being able to work directly with the community during a crisis, it was really a good opportunity for cannabis companies to be present and offer support” Hunter says.

CannaCraft also created the social justice focused brand Farmer and the Felon. 

Right now, over 40,000 non-violent cannabis offenders still sit behind bars in the United States. By partnering with the Last Prisoner Project, Farmer and the Felon aims to bring restorative justice through the power of cannabis. 

By purchasing products from Farmer and the Felon in retail shops, you can help out those thousands still languishing behind bars.

Despite doing everything correctly and being a leader and driving force for compassionate works in the area, trouble hit again for Dennis and the company in 2016. 

When state politicians were looking for a facility to tour as they prepared to write new cannabis laws, CannaCraft was an obvious choice. 

He and his staff opened CannaCraft’s doors to 56 regulators, including state representatives, senators, assembly members, and their staff, who took notes as the team showcased standard operating procedures and detailed their meticulous production techniques. 

Less than two weeks later, another group showed up at their doors, but with very different intentions.

The Song Remains The Same

A total of 100 agents raided the facility, kicking down every door and taking not just computers and paperwork, but all the products and extraction equipment. Then even threw Hunter in jail.

“I was trying to explain to them, ‘you guys don’t understand, we’re doing this right, this is legal’,” Hunter recalls now. Instead of hearing him out, they set his bail at $5 million.

This serves as a perfect reminder of the disjointed nature of the relationship between city and state officials and law enforcement and their lack of communication before action.

However, the cannabis community was united and very vocal in their support of CannaCraft, and less than two days after his arrest Hunter was released without charges being filed. 

Upon his release, Hunter and a group of lobbyists went to Sacramento and visited senators and assembly members. They asked for clarification around the laws that detailed manufacturing, which the police had insisted was illegal. 

Before the district attorney could charge Hunter or anyone associated with the investigation, a bill that he and the lobbyists helped craft was passed and signed, and it resulted in the case against CannaCraft being thrown out. 

“The D.A. said he’s never had a case where he was in the middle of investigating it, and the person goes and changes the law,” Hunter says. 

Onward and Upward

Since then, CannaCraft has been continuing to grow and expand their operations. They have brought in several brands that originated in the legacy market underneath their established infrastructure, like OMedibles, Humboldt Terp Council, and Kalya.

This robust portfolio is supported by state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment, in-house R&D, and statewide distribution all operating out of CannaCraft’s over 40,000 ft. facility in Sonoma County.

CannaCraft’s 200 unique products are created under one roof. Their commercial-grade cannabis manufacturing capabilities include oil processing and refinement for vape cartridges and cannabis concentrates, soft gel pill encapsulation, food-grade cosmetic and confectionery production, and a large-scale beverage bottling line.

Supporting such a large product portfolio requires a lot of cannabis oil, and to meet the demand they run over 20 extractors around the clock and process approximately 150,000 lbs of dry plant material annually.

Scaling To Meet Demand

Early on they were able to build their own manufacturing equipment. As they grew in size it required them to establish new relationships with outside vendors to scale to the appropriate levels of production. 

They needed to increase production capacity for everything from edibles, oil production, pill encapsulation, to concentrates. More often than not it resulted in subpar performance and unmet expectations that cost their operation time and money delays, something that can be a death knell for a cannabis company already operating on tight margins and with limited opportunities for funding.

“I can’t tell you how many cart-filling machines that I’ve bought over the years and have sitting in the back of the warehouse somewhere collecting dust.”

Occasionally though, you are able to find that diamond in the rough partner, and they can help you maximize efficiency while simultaneously increasing quality control.

“We got this Xylem X3 Automated Cart Filling machine about 3-4 months ago, and it has literally changed the game for us. It’s the first machine of its kind that actually worked better than I thought it would.” says Hunter.

With that new Xylem machine, one employee working a standard 8-hour shift is able to make between 10,000-12,000 finished carts. That’s a project that would have required 8-10 people to complete if still utilizing older methods. You still get a superior finished product as well, devoid of leaks and other issues plaguing inferior machines.

The X3 also fills at a constant temperature of 45 degrees Celsius, providing the optimal viscosity to transfer material from your source container to the cartridge,. It prevents the oil from overheating and leaving that burnt taste that was so familiar in carts in the last 5 years.

They were so impressed with the performance of the cart filler that they are participating in the R&D and commercial rollout of the Xylem L1 Concentrate Gramming System.

It’s the first automated gramming system designed specifically for “diamonds and sauce”. It dispenses solid diamonds first, then overlays them with live resin, live rosin, or terpenes at precise ratios with minimal loss of product during filling.

Keeping The Legacy Alive

With an origin story from the legacy market, combined with an advanced understanding of the legal industry and how to navigate it, Dennis and CannaCraft have been leaders since day one. We don’t see that slowing down anytime soon. 

The industry and more importantly the culture need people with the right intentions to continue to shape and mold the future path. We need to ensure things like advocacy, education, and compassion remain relevant and ever present. Otherwise they will become nothing more than hollow talking points for brands to make themselves appear to be contributing to the greater good. 

As more people come out of the fog of misinformation from the war on drugs and have personal experiences with the plant, the easier our job becomes.

“The stigma is slowly being chipped away,” Hunter said. “The majority of people, even if they don’t use it, know somebody who does. It’s easy to look at stoners, potheads. But when faced with people (for whom) it really does benefit their lives, that changes people who were staunchly against it. One of their own family members gets cancer. They’re willing to try some (cannabis). Mom is suffering, withering away. Where is that weed? Get it to her – whatever helps. When people encounter that in their lives, you see real change.”

This is the way.

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