Endless Cultivation, the research and development department of Endless Biotech, has set lofty goals. "A leader in the science side of cannabis — that's where we want to position ourselves," says Travis Dahm, co-founder and director of business development at Endless Cultivation. "Everything we do allows us to provide what we believe to be the best tissue culture clones on the planet, with distribution in Oklahoma, nationally, and ultimately globally as well."
Located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Endless Cultivation was one of the first recipients of a cultivation license in the Sooner State. The company is composed of two distinct departments: a cultivation department operating under the name Endless Cultivation, and Endless Biotech, which Travis describes as the "science side of the business." This side focuses on tissue culture, genetic preservation, genetic cleanup, DNA barcoding, and synthetic seeds. Currently, the company operates solely within the United States, but it aims to go global soon. "Sometime within the next nine months, we'll be in a position to produce just under a million tissue culture clones a month."
Some of the tissue culture clones from Endless
Trial and ambition
The company has even larger ambitions, hoping to raise funds to build a 40,000-square-foot tissue culture lab that will produce an astounding five million tissue culture clones per month, which will be key to expanding the business globally.
Explaining the strategy for expansion, Travis is candid: "Our plan right now is to scale up to a million tissue culture clones per month. After that, we plan to open fulfillment centers on both the East Coast and the West Coast of the United States, where we will handle bulk fulfillment. From there, it will be broken down into smaller shipments, and those fleets will distribute within those regions."
Chief Scientist Braz Vaidya
Travis is transparent about the challenges involved in the company's expansion plans. Specifically, he highlights issues like media mixing and the general storage of tissue cultures. After all, managing five million tissue cultures is no small feat. How does one handle such a vast inventory? How can you maintain the quality of the plants? And how do you efficiently fulfill individual orders when you have to sift through five million plants? Handling 100,000 plants a month is light work compared to the five million that Endless aims to produce monthly. The solution to this problem, Travis says, lies in AI. "AI can assess the plant, evaluate its quality, analyze its structure, and inform us about its condition."
A strong partnership
Maintaining optimal conditions is paramount for the Endless Cultivation team, as well as ensuring the safety of workers. In operations that use multi-tier racks, it's common to see employees balancing precariously on ladders to harvest crops growing up to 20 feet high. The experienced team at Endless was determined to avoid such hazards, so they made employee safety a top priority by partnering with Pipp Horticulture.
Some of the cannabis clones that are genetically preserved at Endless
"We conducted a thorough evaluation; there are so many small factors to consider. One significant feature for our company was Pipp's catwalk system, which allows team members to slide behind the different tiers and safely walk on catwalks. We use their racks in our clone rooms and in what we call our ready-to-flower plant rooms." After countless hours of evaluating all options, Endless reached out to Pipp Horticulture, confident in the quality of their products.
"It has been inspiring working with Endless Cultivation, watching them set ambitious goals which they are steadily tackling," says Jessica Pleysier, vertical grow specialist from Pipp. "Their facility is well built out, and we are thankful to have our products showcased within. Their team is incredible and we are looking forward to watching their expansion and success."
A different approach to genetics
When asked about concerns regarding the often predatory nature of the cannabis genetics industry, Travis explains how Endless sets itself apart. "We're not just selling genetics. Genetics are certainly something we do, but we also provide guidance on how to grow them to achieve the best results. It's a different level, a different model from that perspective."
A major concern within the cannabis genetics sector is the lack of uniqueness in the genetic makeup of plants produced by tissue culture labs. Many growers find that clones from these labs are indistinguishable from one another. However, Endless offers a solution for growers, as Travis elaborates: "We offer exclusive deals. You can send us a genetic strain, and we'll either preserve it for you or keep it in exclusive production through a contract. It's your genetic material, and we will continuously supply you with those genetics. Our model is subscription-based, with the goal of maintaining 300 to 500 genetics in tissue culture."
Members of Endless' tissue culture team
This is the public option for growers, but the company also offers a private service where growers can send Endless Biotech their strains to be cleaned, preserved, and even put into production. "You set your schedule. How often do you want deliveries, and how many? They'll come to you with an exclusivity agreement in place. It's all contract-based, and it's yours."
For more information:
Endless Cultivation
endlesscultivation.com/
Pipp Horticulture
[email protected]
www.pipphorticulture.com