“Craft” shows up on a lot of cannabis labels, and in Ontario it has a fairly specific meaning: product from smaller-scale licence holders – micro-cultivators growing in rooms measured in hundreds of square metres, not warehouses. Commercial producers work at many times that scale. Neither is automatically better, but they make different trade-offs.
How craft growers work
Small canopies mean the grower can walk every plant. Craft operations tend to run small batches, hand-trim, hang-dry and cure slowly – steps that preserve the resin glands (trichomes) and the aromatic compounds that give flower its character. The cost is volume: small batches sell out, lineups rotate, and the price per gram usually runs higher.
How commercial growers work
Large producers grow at a scale that keeps shelves stocked and prices accessible, with highly standardized rooms, feeding schedules and processing. Some automate trimming and dry in days rather than weeks. The result is consistent, available and affordable – and at its best, very good. The trade-off tends to be less batch-to-batch character.
What to look at on the shelf
- Who grew it – Ontario labels name the producer; a quick look tells you if it’s a micro licence or a major.
- Package date – fresher generally means more aroma, whoever grew it.
- The trim and cure – hand-trimmed, slow-cured flower usually looks fuller and smells louder in the jar.
- Your own experience – plenty of people keep a commercial daily driver and a craft jar for weekends.
We stock both on purpose at our Keswick shop. Tell us what you’re after and we’ll point you at the shelf that fits – the menu on this site always shows what’s in from each grower.