Scaling Solventless Processing with Automation

The legal global cannabis market has been forecasted to surpass $146 billion by the end of 2025. Concentrates are one of the prime sellers in today’s market and should factor into a large portion of the forecasted market by then. As cannabis markets mature, they all follow the same path - increased concentrate sales at the expense of straight flower purchases. The concentrates market is thriving due to its potency, versatility and several other reasons. 

Simply put, the green rush will largely be driven by gold. Not the kind you store in a vault, but rather, the type extracted using heat, pressure, and other solventless methods. 

This is no flash in the pan spike in popularity for rosin, either. Sales from Washington and Colorado back in 2016 revealed just how much rosin was in demand. Going a step further, Rosin Tech News explained how rosin has been on people's minds and social media feeds for several years now. 

“A 2018 study analyzed social media users Twitter posts between 2011 and 2017 and found that rosin was by far the most talked-about concentrate, citing its non-solvent nature as the biggest draw. Consumers see rosin as a cleaner, healthier, and more natural form of concentrate that not only has similar levels of potency to solvent-based extracts but also retains far more flavor.”

The February 2018 analysis also claimed that "Rosin is a new and understudied technique of marijuana concentrates extraction." This may explain why some negative myths still linger, but are quickly disappearing in the vast quantities of solventless concentrates being sold daily. 

Debunking Commercial Rosin Pressing Myths

Rosin pressing has always been viable for home producers. Until fairly recently, that wasn’t the case for commercial producers hoping to provide customers with a scaleable solventless concentrate option. Today, some producers still believe that rosin and solventless extraction methods can’t produce at a commercial scale.

That simply isn’t true. Since as early as 2017, solventless technology developers have claimed that their devices can match or exceed solvent extraction methods. A solventless extraction process doesn't require a large staff either. For example, a company using three Automated Pressure Control PurePressure rosin presses can translate to over 20 pounds of throughput per day using ice water hash or sift. The resulting solventless cannabis yield can then be used in a range of topics from vape cartridges to edibles to oils for dabbing and much more. 

Rosin pressing is a straightforward process that takes little to no time to learn. Its direct approach is much less complicated than using volatile solvents. Thus, cutting down on the learning curve while maximizing time to produce products is virtually guaranteed in just about any business instance. 

In addition to cutting down on production time, companies can cut down on overhead. A Longs Peak Pneumatic Rosin Press with an eight-ton force capability  is surprisingly inexpensive when compared to every other processing method available. Meanwhile, a solvent extraction setup will cost six figures or more when all factors are considered. If you want to get your money back in short order, it’s hard to argue the quality and price points of a rosin extraction machine. 

When debunking these rosin extraction myths, it is clear that not only is rosin pressing a more affordable commercial-scale option. It provides companies with minimal required learning while providing producers with a direct production approach that often comes with features to make the process even easier. They include presets and recipe storage, which can be found in several of our rosin presses. 

Commercially Produced Cannabis Products Using Rosin

High volume cannabis processing is inherently linked to using ice water/bubble hash or sift as its source material. That does not mean you should exclude flower rosin from consideration. It is possible to reach commercial-scale production levels using rosin, regardless of the inputs you use, however typically bubble hash or dry sift derived rosins retail for higher price points. For example, PurePressure's Bruteless™ systems make producing high volume bubble hash more efficient than ever, which increases profitability and reduces overhead for solventless processing operations.

Regardless of the material used, producers can now use solventless cannabis concentrates to create their products like the ones mentioned above and several others. This extends to THC as well as CBD products. Companies producing one or the other can rely on solventless extraction methods to produce the materials needed for production. 

Notable Companies That Go Solventless

You may not have noticed, but many of the top brands in cannabis use solventless methods to create some or all of their products. These companies serve as clear proofs of concept that solventless rosin extraction methods are viable and lucrative on the highest of commercial levels. 

Just a few of the prominent names in the space that employ solventless extraction methods include Papa & Barkley. The brand creates an array of THC and CBD products. Their top-of-the-line full spectrum patches are made using rosin.  The products containing 30 mg of total cannabinoids take 15 minutes to an hour to kick in and should last for 12 hours. 

Edibles creator Arcadia Brands also use rosin to create its menu of delicious infused treats. As does our good friends at Kush Masters. In addition to using solventless processes, the company uses hash created from a variety of high quality cannabis grown at their own facility as well as across the state of Colorado. It has also fully automated many of their terpene separation processes.

These methods have resulted in pressing hundreds of grams of ice water hash all while being virtually unattended for numerous solventless processing laboratories. Demand for concentrates is booming and shows no signs of stopping. With an outlook shining as brightly as the concentrates it produces, a solventless rosin extraction looks poised to be one of the top names in the space for producers and consumers alike. The solvent-free process appeals to many consumers seeking a "pure" product that is just as potent as solvent-based concentrates. 

On the other side, producers who have debunked the myths of years prior can attest to the value the rosin provides when used in commercial-level production. These producers are likely to also vouch for the ability to producer rosin with little to no human oversight needed. In many instances, pressing is fully automated from the recipe retrieval in its database to the pressure required in its plates and pneumatic tubes. 

Now more than ever is the time to consider going solventless and going one step further by automating the process.