Humboldt Family Farms: The Craft Platform That Tells The Cannabis Farmer Story
Today’s legal cannabis industry owes its ever-expanding success to legacy operators: those who fearlessly built the market in the shadows, despite decades of fierce, unjust prohibition. But instead of giving thanks, a bulk of the legal market is intent on moving the legacy community to the back of the room, leaving them unseen, unheard, and unsupported.
This unnerving trend has flooded the nation’s various regional markets, as business licenses are regularly awarded to those with the fattest wallets while underground operators are pushed aside and forced to watch from afar.
However, an increasing number of legal businesses are aware of this imbalance, and are taking steps to help fix it. Humboldt Family Farms is doing so from the mecca of California’s Emerald Triangle, providing a platform for small, local, family-owned farms that provide exceptional cannabis products to consumers who care about community.
Humboldt Family Farms spotlights the work of NorCal cannabis farmers
With an approach inspired by the Humboldt farmers market, Humboldt Family Farms was formed to serve the organic, farm-to-table NorCal coterie – initially with fruits and vegetables, and now with cannabis.
“I first moved to Humboldt because I love the outdoors. My mom came to visit, and after surfing one morning we went into a local coffee shop, where I met my future wife and sister-in-law. Throughout the next couple of years, we started building out a vision for supplying that cafe from our fruit and vegetable garden,” said Humboldt Family Farms founder Scott Vasterling.
“It originally wasn’t a cannabis company, but eventually, it made sense for us to establish our business as a platform for cannabis farmers – who we already had good relationships with – to brand their products.”
Humboldt Family Farms expanded into a cannabis platform about two years ago with the ultimate goal of telling farmers’ stories, and showing consumers exactly where they’re getting their products from.
“We selected some great initial retail partners, and have pushed out some co-branded products. These farmers can leverage our platform for their benefit: we feature them and their farm brands to build awareness around their businesses. In turn, they participate in our branded merch, which we’re in the process of launching,” Vasterling said.
Vasterling had his eyes opened to this need for farmers to showcase their work at Hall of Flowers, where he recognized a lot of his colleagues’ work being represented at various brands without any credit back to the cultivators.
“I see this as an opportunity to tell an authentic story, and show the people behind the brands I’m so proud of. This is critically important for the overall craft market of cannabis. Cultivation has been normalized within Humboldt’s community for years, despite federal and state prohibitions. These families are the founding mothers and fathers of cannabis in Humboldt County, and it’s a pleasure to help represent them,” Vasterling said.
The importance of keeping the cannabis industry authentic and local
Spotlighting small, local, family-owned cannabusinesses is increasingly important in an industry that is inundated with heartless brands seeking quick profit.
This goes beyond operators: more consumers are waking up to the industry’s issues, and opting to support brands that truly care about their products. Humboldt Family Farms is a response to this new consumer demand, bringing a level of authenticity to the opaque pockets of the cannabis market.
“This isn’t just a brand slapping a label on a product. This is the blood, sweat, tears, and love that farmers and families have put into their land for generations. We finally have the opportunity to celebrate that, and it extends beyond cannabis. We’re celebrating farming as a skill and a craft. These are people whose hands are in the dirt – they aren’t hiring out their work,” Vasterling said.
Humboldt Family Farms hasn’t been the first company in the nation to try and accomplish this sort of farmers-first approach – but they are one of the first to do so without investor interference.
“I went down the route of looking for investors, but the amount of decision-making you have to give up…it just isn’t worth it. A lot of businesses fail because their investors only care about ROI. But with this brand, we’re saying, ‘We’re the farmers. We’ve been here forever, we’re here now, and we’re not going anywhere.’ To have that leadership and vision driven by actual cannabis farmers is a really unique opportunity for this industry,” Vasterling said.
Where Vasterling spoke, his consumers have answered, confirming their support of the businesses that make up Humboldt Family Farms and their collective desire to keep that determining power in the hands of the farmers.
“Our consumers are people who care: people who are already supporting their communities, whether it’s stopping at the corner bake sale, supporting local causes, volunteering, or being otherwise actively involved,” Vasterling said.
“This brand was developed for people who are doing a little bit of a deeper dive on where their food is coming from, who their farmers are, how it’s been packaged, etc. It’s for people who really care about where their products come from.”
The latest for Humboldt Family Farms: Old-school strains, limited releases, and fire Spotify playlists
To keep in line with that community-based, authentic ethos, Humboldt Family Farms’ initial product rollout includes classic old-school strains like Blue Dream and Maui Waui, with a developmental focus on a great experience and a positive vibe rather than a soaring THC count.
They’ve also launched merchandise that plays on Humboldt’s worldwide cannabis reputation, built out a Private Reserve club that alerts consumers to new strains and limited releases, and are continuously adding new designs and brands to the mix.
“We also work to celebrate the countercultural aspect of weed in our products – specifically around the history of music and cannabis going hand-in-hand,” Vasterling said.
“That’s something we celebrate and honor. We’ve developed a specific Spotify playlist to pair with each of our products, which you can find on our website. It’s reggae-heavy for obvious reasons – especially for this region. We’re just trying to have a good time with cannabis, and music is the perfect way to experience and share some culturally positive things about the plant.”
