Cannabis Companies Embrace Ganjier Program to Boost Employee Expertise

There is a vast difference between having a sommelier in a high-end restaurant choose the perfect wine to accompany your meal and hitting the local liquor store on a Friday night to grab a box of wine. A sommelier is a wine steward, someone with specialized training and exceptional knowledge of wines and wine service. Their extensive background in the wine industry means they can provide customers with a unique and high-quality wine consumption experience. It also means that customers can trust that the sommelier will pick a wine that aligns with their tastes.

Now, the cannabis industry is looking to the wine industry for inspiration, and the budding Ohio marijuana market wants to get in on the ground floor. “Ganjiers” are the sommeliers of the marijuana industry. Ohio is looking to elevate its newly established recreational marijuana market with one of the industry’s first ganjiers.

What Is a Ganjier?

A ganjier is an individual specially trained and certified to distinguish the nuanced differences and qualities of cannabis strains. While wine industry experts are among the most widely recognized and highly regarded experts, industries like beer, cheese, chocolates, and cigars also have “sommelier” equivalents.

Thanks to the expansion of legal recreational marijuana markets in the U.S., many cannabis strains are on the market today. Customers often rely on retailer recommendations to help them find the strains and products they’ll enjoy. To enhance their reputation and offer customers an exemplary experience, some cannabis retailers were clamoring for “experts.” These experts direct customers to products they’ll love, elevating the customer experience and keeping them coming back for more.

Ganjier Certification Programs

Enter the Ganjier. Ganjieri is a one-of-a-kind certification program. It offers rigorous coursework designed to give individuals the knowledge and skills they need to become cannabis experts. Courses are taught by respected cannabis professionals and focus on:

• The history of cannabis
• Genetics
• Customer service
• Terroir

They also provide extensive training on the Systematic Assessment Protocol for evaluating the quality and value of cannabis flowers and concentrates.

The program limits the number of students it can accept each year to ensure optimal student-to-teacher ratios. It also offers scholarship opportunities to those impacted by the War on Drugs. Ganjier offers two different programs: Ganjier Product Specialist and Certified Ganjier. Program students must pass final examinations following the rigorous course work, including a 100-question multiple-choice test and role-playing scenarios. The Ganjier Product Specialist course is 100 percent online.

However, some in-person training is required to complete the Certified Ganjier program, which means traveling to the company’s California campus. Ganjier experts add a certain level of sophistication to the marijuana industry. Additionally, they may help retailers set themselves apart in a crowded field of cannabis competitors. Employers who focus on training their entire staff with the Ganjier program also ensure that their retail workers are all on the same page and speaking the same language. This strategy helps provide customers with a more balanced shopping experience no matter which employee interacts with them.

Ohio Wants in on the Ganjier Action

Ohio pot shops have seen their fair share of stumbles and false starts since voters passed Issue 2 in November 2023. Although seemingly overwhelmingly popular with voters, conservative legislators and Governor Mile DeWine (R) have made legalizing recreational marijuana challenging at almost every step of the process, first stalling the issue from getting on the Ohio ballot, then pushing voters to reject the measure, and finally looking for legislative workarounds to prevent the voter-passed initiative from going into effect.

As recreational shops in the state slowly earn business licenses and get their retail locations up and running, some in the Ohio marijuana market want to set themselves apart. Those in the Ohio recreational cannabis market may also want to help legitimize the industry in a state where the political climate has been extraordinarily negative and anti-marijuana.

 Certified Ganjiers in Ohio

As ganjiers slowly transform the cannabis retail experience, one of the first ganjier-certified professionals now calls Ohio home and is bringing their wealth of cannabis knowledge to a state looking to compete in the marijuana big leagues.

Zach Simcoe was the first-ever ganjier in Ohio. He was among 60 graduates who earned their certification from the California-based company The Ganjier. After earning his certification in 2021, he brought his newfound knowledge and expertise in the cannabis industry to the Cleveland School of Cannabis in Independence, where he taught horticulture and cannabis cultivation. The Cleveland School of Cannabis claims it is the first cannabis school accredited by a United States Department of Education recognized accreditor.

As Simcoe moved up in the school’s ranks, his passion for marijuana only grew. When voters in Ohio passed the recreational marijuana initiative, he helped develop the My First Plant program to help new and aspiring marijuana cultivators in Ohio how to start a home cultivation system. Being Ohio’s first and only ganjier has opened doors for his career and helped him cultivate Ohio’s emerging marijuana industry by providing people in the emerging industry with the knowledge and tools they need to grow and thrive.

Simcoe also hopes that his status as a ganjier lends some credibility to the newly established Ohio recreational cannabis market. With so much stigma and negativity attached to marijuana, especially in Ohio, he hopes that attitudes change and individuals can come to accept cannabis and take the industry more seriously.

Ganjiers Across the Nation

More retailers nationwide are embracing the high-end experience that employing a certified ganjier provides to their establishment and customers. For those who have completed the course, it comes as no surprise that cannabis is a complex and nuanced plant worthy of the same treatment as fine wines, cigars, and cheeses. Retailers, consumers, and other industry insiders are also reaching the same conclusion and welcoming these ganja experts with open arms.

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