Smokin' the competition

As cannabis goes mainstream, new ventures are sprouting up to support the newly legalizing trade. We recently wrote about an e-commerce platform for marijuana retailers and their supply chain partners called LeafLink. And now comes news of an enterprising firm that recently became the first approved applicant for Colorado's new Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) transport license, which will allow it to offer transportation, distribution, and warehousing services for legal weed.

For the past several years, Denver-based CannaRabbit has operated as a licensed cannabis courier in Colorado, transporting items like test samples, flower, and marijuana-infused products throughout the state's network of growers, manufacturers, dispensers, and laboratories. But as of July 1, the company is now one of a small number of licensed cannabis couriers authorized to transport, store, and warehouse cannabis products for up to seven business days.

With warehouses on both Colorado's Front Range and Western Slope, CannaRabbit says the new operating authority will allow it to better service clients statewide by offering storage, cross-docking, and centralized product sorting for more efficient distribution. (Historically, Colorado's MED rules have only allowed for the transfer of cannabis products within the same day by the same driver, making it difficult for the courier to safely and efficiently transport product statewide.)

Perhaps more importantly, the company sees the new capabilities as a source of competitive advantage. With that wider time window, CannaRabbit can provide more flexible scheduling and consistent delivery than competitors, using its strategically located warehouses to get the ganja to dispensary locations across the state, company president Corey Young said in a release.