Pesticide-Free Food Tastes Better—Wait Until You Try Clean Cannabis This Autumn
As consumers embrace pesticide-free food for its health and taste benefits, Autumn Brands is bringing similar clean practices to cannabis. The women-owned, family-operated company based in Santa Barbara California is setting new standards in sustainable, pesticide-free cultivation.
Co-founded by Autumn Shelton, chief financial officer and partner, alongside the Brand family -Hans, Johnny and Hannah Brand – Autumn Brands is making a name for itself with its dedication to health, wellness and environmental responsibility.
In an exclusive interview with Benzinga Cannabis, Shelton shared the journey from traditional agriculture to cannabis and the challenges of running a pesticide-free operation.
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From Daisies To Dank: The Bloom Of Autumn Brands
Autumn Brands started as a cut flower business growing Gerber daisies, but as competition from South America increased, the team realized they needed to pivot. “My partner Hans had owned this property for over 30 years, and the cut flower industry was struggling,” said Shelton. “We saw the legalization of cannabis as an opportunity to transition. So we flipped the operation from cut flowers to cannabis.”
But it wasn’t just a matter of switching crops.
Courtesy of Autumn Brands
Shelton and her team took it a step further by deciding to grow cannabis without the use of any pesticides – organic or otherwise. “Hans came to me in 2017 and said, ‘I want to stop spraying pesticides,’ and I said, ‘I love this idea, but how are we going to …