The cannabis industry is struggling through its lowest wholesale prices in years, and a series of recent Federal Reserve short-term borrowing rate hikes may add to the challenges. But despite the current conditions, New Frontier Data expects cannabis sales in the United States to grow by more than $10 billion between 2022 and 2025 and global cannabis sales to reach nearly $51 billion by 2023. Businesses that survive this cycle of market volatility will rely on the quality, efficiency, and ingenuity of their operational processes to keep costs low enough to generate revenue.
Equipment with unique and scalable technology, like the Mobius M108S Trimmer, has the potential to keep production running efficiently during lean times while presenting opportunities for a competitive spot in the brighter days to come.
In Colorado, wholesale prices have hit the lowest point in almost a decade, falling from $1,876 per pound in 2014 to $658 per pound in 2022. Despite the decrease in wholesale prices, the three major East Coast markets launching adult-use sales — New York, New Jersey, and Virginia — are expected to generate nearly $11 billion in sales by 2025, accounting for around one-quarter of all legal U.S. sales. High-quality commercial cannabis trimmers can help keep production flowing and labor costs low, ensuring businesses can stay competitive and afloat through evolving economic conditions.
The Mobius M108S is designed to function just like scissors, but at rates much faster than an individual hand trimmer. In the past, many cannabis professionals were critical of commercial trimming machines because they were not as gentle and precise as a trained human hand. “The design of the Mobius M108S mimics the action of scissors. Our patented Airthread Tension Tumbler works in harmony with our helical blade and flexible bed knife system to provide a true bypass cut. The result is a scissor-like hand trim on a commercial scale,” said Jared Penner, post-harvest sales associate at Mobius.
Manufacturers with expectations of growth need automated trimmers with scalability and standardizing capabilities for multistate operations (MSOs). Without the ability to maintain consistency across markets, large businesses and MSOs will struggle to achieve customer loyalty and ensure long-term growth. Mobius offers its customers tandem-ready commercial cannabis trimmers that increase throughput by more than twice the individual capabilities of a single machine. The machines are created to lock into one another with just a few steps. Once connected, the tandem configuration provides a faster feed rate and more high-quality trimmed flower than two machines operating independently, providing the same consistent, high-quality trim across multiple units.
The M108S also operates within the Mobius cannabis Automation Suite equipped with integrated machinery and hands-off processing methods designed to improve speed-to-market and serve as a foundation for growth. Mobius also partners with Bloom AI, a computer vision system designed to scan flower as part of the processing line and create an action plan to optimize automated trimming functions for specific business needs.
Whether a business wishes to process wet or dry flower, the Mobius M108S can be adjusted to trim the buds with a singular knob. Users can choose between 11 speed adjustments, including tumbler speed, blade speed, suction, and tilt of the commercial cannabis trimmer. These features help businesses fine-tune the trimming process to appropriately prepare different cultivars. For dry flower which tends to be more delicate, the machine reduces suction and tumbler speed, while for dense wet flower, it raises the tilt and sends product through more quickly. A single M108S can process up to 120 pounds of wet flower or 60 pounds of dry flower in one hour.
Easy cleaning and disassembly are key to an optimized manufacturing process. In fact, processing cannabis for the legal industry typically requires adherence to Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) cleaning standards. The Mobius M108S is GMP-ready with no concealed parts, hoses, or cyclones. In traditional industrial trimmers, these parts can be difficult to clean and often harbor harmful microorganisms when they are not carefully inspected. Factory-calibrated blade cartridges lift in and out of the machine without bolts or screws, blades never have to be adjusted or dialed in, and the integrated Trim Tote can be emptied and replaced in less than a minute.
Mobius sets itself apart with proprietary tooling technology to create TriFlex blade cartridges. Each blade is nitrided to harden the surface, black-oxidized to prevent rusting, aligned precisely, and formed to create gap-free contact that mimics the motion of scissors. The Mobius M108S is also equipped with the company’s patented AirThread Tension Tumbler, which uses spring tension to maintain minimal distance between blades and maximizes open surface area for cutting blade access.
Processing flower at a commercial scale can be financially and technically daunting, but contemporary technology has the power to give businesses peace of mind even in the midst of uncertain market conditions. “As the cannabis industry matures, it is facing significant growing pains. With a supply glut, falling wholesale prices, restrictions on access to capital, and other systemic problems, reducing processing costs is one of the only ways a business can recover capital and find relief. The mission of Mobius is to protect our customers’ product as well as their bottom line, allowing them to focus on cultivating industry-leading products, and develop a long-term and sustainable business model”, stated Penner. With scalability, integrable design, and the ability to process large harvests in minimal time, the Mobius M108S offers businesses a valuable solution for commercial trimming needs.
For more about the Mobius line of cannabis trimmers, visit MobiusTrimmer.com.
