Jane Sandelman, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Cannatrol – Interview Series

Prior to co-founding Cannatrol, what industries and roles did you work in? What were the most valuable lessons in business management that you learned during those roles? 

I spent most of my career in CPG marketing, coming up the “military” product management ranks. That level of product management and financial discipline has given me a really solid business grounding. Once my husband Dave and I “retired” from corporate life, we entered the hospitality industry, buying a 12-room inn and 50-seat restaurant in Vermont – which actually became the origin of our technology. While running the inn and restaurant, we met local cheese makers that needed help controlling their aging rooms. Those conversations were the genesis of the technology, and that’s when the fun began.

What in particular inspired you and David to create Cannatrol as a company and then invent the Vaportrol technology? Did you, in particular, have experience in manufacturing prior to co-founding Cannatrol?

I’d definitely say that the tech preceded the company. The technology was originally developed for cheesemakers that couldn’t control the environments of their aging spaces. These were folks we had met when we owned our restaurant, and we were serving their beautiful artisan cheeses. The tech evolved from there, moving from cheese to charcuterie and now to cannabis and beyond.  David and I both have manufacturing experience from our corporate lives, so the actual manufacturing came together pretty easily.

From an engineering and mechanical standpoint, what all went into the creation of the first round of Cannatrol machines? Were there certain technologies or machinery that served as an inspiration to the design of the Cannatrol machines?

Once we made the decision to bring this tech to cannabis, we couldn’t find a place to test the technology. No one wanted to give us a drying room valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars in inventory to play with untested technology. Because the tech operates in a sealed space, we took an old wine cooler, gutted it and put about $8,000 worth of sensors (and other equipment) into the box. We gave it to a well-respected Vermont grower to test. He was really skeptical, but after he ran one cycle, he didn’t want to give the prototype back. There was that much of an improvement in his flower.

What were the agricultural and production issues that these machines were first created to solve? Why did your technology prove to be so effective for dairy farmers and curing meats in particular?

The heart of the technology is consistency, control and repeatability. It really doesn’t matter whether it is cheese, meat or cannabis. The process of drying, curing or aging needs to be tightly controlled. We need to remove the variables from the process to give cultivators precise and dependable environmental control. Traditional air conditioners and dehumidifiers create unstable conditions that can swing drastically and perform very differently in different climates. Any sort of manufacturing requires consistency, and we do that.

What are some ways that you’ve seen firsthand how Cannatrol machines are not just maintaining but upgrading the terpene and cannabinoid quality of harvested cannabis crops?

At first, we were getting feedback from our early adopters that “this is the best flower I’ve ever produced” or “your system has changed the way I approach my post-harvest process.” Those are big claims! At that point we really needed to understand the kinetics and the chemistry of what was happening. How could our device and tech be producing such a remarkable difference in the finished flower? That question has led us on a research path that has been really interesting, enlightening and even frustrating at times. I say it’s frustrating because the more we learn, the more we question. What we know for certain from our research is that we are delivering significant increases in terpene retention and cannabinoid stability, as well as increases in finished yield.

How has Cannatrol had to customize its machinery for specific cannabis clients? If a client requires especially specific harvesting conditions, how do Cannatrol machines adapt to even the most rigorous harvesting standards?

Our systems are specifically designed to adapt to different harvest cycles, harvest weights and the demands of specific harvest challenges. The first thing we do with our clients is learn about their unique situations. Every grow is different and needs to be treated that way. One size does not fit all.

Apart from only flower cultivation and harvesting, what other cannabis product types are being used/manufactured with Cannatrol machines? I read on the website that your customers use the machines for hash and gummy production, too.

Our systems are absolutely being used for gummies and hash. We’ve also heard anecdotally that flower that is dried, cured and stored in our systems produce top-quality rosin – with higher yields and great flavor. I’m looking forward to exploring that and how our tech can work with other forms of extraction.

How do you and David envision the Cannatrol machines and technology evolving in the future?

In the immediate future, we are excited about rescheduling and what it will mean for more standardization in the industry. Our technology is already being used in pharmaceutical facilities in the United States, Europe, South America and Asia. As more facilities in the United States need to meet more rigid standards, we have the technology they need to standardize SOPs through the entire post-harvest process and deliver safe, clean cannabis to consumers.

We know that our tech has application far beyond meat (BYND ), cheese and cannabis. We have seen the technology used for mushroom drying and storage with great results. Stabilizing the environment is critical for so many things, from fine art to document preservation. We are already talking to people in other areas of food production about food storage and preservation. I am excited about the future of our technology in cannabis and beyond.

Thank you for joining us, Jane! For more information on Cannatrol, please visit its website.