Only companies that present themselves as pros in botanical extraction will leave a mark in the industry and turn a profit.
Botanical extraction is highly scientific. But in order to find a spot in the marketplace, it requires business leaders to engage in professional practices. First, outfit your extraction facility with professional hydrocarbon extraction equipment, including stainless steel holding tanks from Highpoint by Worthington Enterprises. A sleek, clean extraction facility is the first step toward success in the botanical compound industry.
Quick Links
- Introduction
- Professional Hydrocarbon Extraction Equipment
- Post-Extraction Processing Equipment
- The Very Best Plant Material
- Thoughtful Branding and Marketing
- Packaging That’s Both Dynamic and Practical
- Engagement in Extraction Industry Trends
- Prioritization of GMP Certifications
- Adherence to Safety and Cleaning Procedures
- End-to-End Extraction Training
- Comprehensive Extraction Science
Professionalism belongs in every workplace. Whether it’s the way team members treat each other or the way they interface with customers, there’s no substitute for the skill, respect, good judgment, and courtesy a well-trained worker can offer.
But employee demeanor isn’t the only way to exhibit consumer-facing professionalism. Large-scale industries can infuse day-to-day operations with an air of professionalism through attention-to-detail, thoughtful marketing, the use of high-end equipment, and more.
For the botanical extraction industry, professionalism starts from the ground up. The design of your facility, your extraction equipment, and the very science behind your extraction methods should show consumers you care about quality.
In this blog, we’ll examine 10 signifiers of professionalism in botanical extraction.
1. Professional Hydrocarbon Extraction Equipment
There’s nothing more unprofessional than a manufacturing facility that looks like it collected its equipment from garage sales. Old, run-down machinery won’t inspire confidence in employees or consumers. Go the extra mile and invest in equipment that’s sleek, clean, and high-quality.
The professional sheen of stainless steel hydrocarbon extraction equipment doesn’t just elevate the appearance of your facility, it also elevates your processes. After all, you can’t get high-quality hemp extract, oil extract, or top-shelf CBD products without investing in equipment that looks the part.
Stainless steel sends a crystal clear message that you are at the forefront of the extraction industry. Think about a commercial kitchen in a high-end restaurant that gleams from top to bottom with stainless steel fixtures and cooking equipment. That material is used for a reason: it doesn’t just look great, it performs at a high level every single time.
The competitive advantages of stainless steel include:
- Higher oxidation and heat resistance
- More strength at room and high temperatures
- Better resistance to corrosion than most materials
- Low maintenance and easy to clean
- Attractive appearance
In the world of botanical extraction, stainless steel equipment—including holding tanks from Highpoint by Worthington Enterprises—delivers quality extract that will stand out in the marketplace. What’s more, a shiny facility with stainless steel equipment gives you the opportunity to feature your workspace in marketing content, such as website galleries, industry publications, and other types of consumer-facing material.
When you pull back the curtain and show potential customers how refined and advanced your facility is, they’ll see your commitment to professionalism and understand that you make the best extracts money can buy.
2. Post-Extraction Processing Equipment
Whether you’re engaging in ethanol extraction or some other mode of extraction on your way to CBD isolate or hemp oil product, the post-extraction process is just as crucial to the overall result. After all, there’s no good reason to ruin your product in the final stages after you’ve followed all the extraction protocols to a tee.
Consumers can tell when you take shortcuts, even in post-extraction processing equipment. After the main extraction effort from raw material, the botanical product is cycled through a refining process that enhances purity and removes unwanted compounds. One such post-extraction step is known as winterization.
Winterization is the process of removing compounds—fats, lipids, waxes, and chlorophyll—from the crude oil before the distillation process. Winterization takes the crude oil and dissolves it in a polar solvent, such as ethanol, at sub-zero temperatures. This creates a substance known as miscella, which coagulates so unwanted compounds can be filtered out.
3. The Very Best Plant Material
Simply put, if you start with subpar plant material, you will end up with a subpar botanical extract. Professionals in this industry are all too familiar with this truism. That’s why one of the top signifiers of professionalism in botanical extraction is using only the best hemp flower, botanical biomass, and flower material.
Sourcing high-quality botanical raw material comes down to knowing the plant part, genus, and species. The plant material also has to be unadulterated, with predictable potency levels, and safe for human consumption when in extract form.
A professional extraction operation will take note of:
- Plant identity (genus, species, plant part)
- Physical appearance (size, density)
- Chemical makeup (chemical constituents, marker compounds)
- Plant health (free from heavy metals, pesticides, mold, bacteria, chemical residues)
What’s more, raw botanical materials typically boast a high microbial load and thus, must be cleansed to meet safety standards. Therefore, your plant source should outline the method of sanitization used to reduce microbial load.
4. Thoughtful Branding and Marketing
After extraction, consumers need to know your product is out there, sitting on store shelves, ready to be purchased. When they find out what your product is and where it’s available, consumers must have a positive impression of not only the product, but of your company as well; otherwise, they might not bother to shell out their money at the crucial decision-making stage.
Branding and marketing work hand in hand to move your botanical extract from potential purchase to something that actually pulls in a profit, and it’s important to understand how these terms are defined:
- Branding: The creation of a strong, memorable, positive perception of a company and its products or services. Branding makes an impression on consumers through elements including logo, slogan, design, mission statement, and a consistent marketing theme. Successful branding helps an extraction company differentiate itself from the many competitors in the marketplace.
- Marketing: All actions your company takes to attract customers and maintain a beneficial relationship with them constitutes marketing. With marketing, you build awareness of your products or services through a series of efforts, such as blogging, advertising, storytelling, and social media engagement.
Professional extraction companies have to kickstart their branding and marketing efforts before products are placed on store shelves. Consider how you want your company to be perceived and what marketing channels are best for you. This is where a partnership with an established digital marketing agency can really come in handy.
5. Packaging That’s Both Dynamic and Practical
While your botanical extraction company is steeped in science, it’s also a retail business. Your business model and revenue stream ultimately depends on sales, and product sales generally go to companies that present themselves professionally. That’s why it’s imperative to consider another part of the branding and marketing equation: extract packaging.
Here’s why extract packaging is so important to professionalism:
- Protection: Packaging that offers a measure of product protection delivers tremendous value and professional prestige.
- Attraction: The old adage, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression,” holds lots of truth in today’s retail world.
- Branding: Packaging is a vital part of your branding, so you must stay consistent with your overall style.
- Separation: The botanical extraction industry is rapidly expanding, and packaging can go a long way in differentiating you from the competition.
6. Engagement in Extraction Industry Trends
A professional extraction business knows exactly what’s going on in their industry. When new trends emerge, extractors on the cutting edge can seamlessly integrate those trends into their day-to-day operations. And when a trend loses steam and becomes yesterday’s fad, a professional extraction company can just as quickly pivot.
Staying on top of industry trends is crucial in the extraction industry because it:
- Helps with industry forecasting
- Makes you an industry leader
- Creates branding ideas
- Opens up new business opportunities
- Stimulates growth
And the best ways to follow extraction industry trends is to:
- Sign up for email lists
- Subscribe to extraction industry publications
- Follow extraction industry blogs
- Conduct research on extraction technology and practices
- Network with other pros in the extraction industry
- Follow your competitors on social media
- Engage in training workshops and webinars
7. Prioritization of GMP Certifications
As the botanical extraction industry continues to enter the mainstream marketplace, attention must be given to current good manufacturing practices (cGMPs or GMPs), the most sought-after set of standards in the industry.
GMPs were created by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C) under the authority of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The act outlines the various accredited sets of standards that apply to manufacturers of foods, dietary supplements, medical devices, prescription drugs, and cosmetics. The standards require the development and implementation of processes that ensure all products are manufactured consistently and reliably with specific and predictable identities, potencies, and purity levels.
All extraction companies that want to be considered serious players in the botanical extraction marketplace must adhere to these professional standards. Noncompliance to GMPs isn’t just a nonstarter, it will instantly give consumers a negative impression of your company.
8. Adherence to Safety and Cleaning Procedures
Botanical extraction involves flammable and combustible liquids, so safety must be the highest priority of any professional extraction outfit. If consumers see that you care about your team members in the facility, they’ll know you also care about them and the overall quality of your product.
Keep an eye on as many safety standards as possible. For example, you can complete a Hazard Communication Program (HCP), presented by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). What’s more, you can also tune into other safety regulations, including:
- ASME B31.3
- The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) B31.1 code specifies the design requirements of high-pressure pipes. Code ASME B31.1 ensures your components can withstand the natural processes of THC extraction.
- ASME BPVC Sect. V111, Div. 1
- Used to calculate the thickness measurement of pressure vessels operating at pressures that exceed 15 psi (internal or external). ASME BPVC Sect. V111, Div. 1 also addresses connections and bends in pipes, as well as reinforcement.
You should also outfit your operation with safety data sheets, install a gas detection system, and perform comprehensive employee training.
9. End-to-End Extraction Training
Technicians with a high level of expertise are just as important to extraction as equipment and solvents. The botanical extraction technician plays a critical role in the development of many products, and their specialist training gives these professionals an edge in removing precious compounds from raw plant material.
Beyond the training required for the hands-on task of working with volatile solvents to extract potent chemical compounds from plants, technicians must also be well-versed in refinement. This improves the purity of the botanical extracts and makes for a more competitive product.
A professional extraction business makes employee training a top priority. In fact, the most successful extraction business won’t let any employees work the facility floor without first displaying expertise in the processes and science of extraction.
10. Comprehensive Extraction Science
Botanical extraction is a science. Based in a facility that’s more like a laboratory than a typical manufacturing setting, extraction involves chemical compounds, an assortment of solvents, and heavy-duty equipment. The scientific forces at work can create an extraordinary end product that will turn consumers into loyal customers.
This is why you, as a business owner, and your extraction technicians must always put the science first. If you start with an unimpeachable scientific method and add state-of-the-art extraction equipment, high-quality plant material, thoughtful marketing and packaging, and comprehensive training and safety protocols, you will find yourself to be a true professional in botanical extraction.
