Marijuana-Infused Products: A 5-Step Guide to Optimal Facility Design

As the cannabis industry continues to thrive, licensed manufacturers are adding cannabis-infused product lines to meet the growing market. This is especially true in states where their medicinal programs are expanding into adult-use options. For your cultivation or manufacturing business to provide the cannabis community with popular products such as gummies, confections, and infused pre-rolls, your facility needs to be meticulously designed to ensure product quality, worker safety, and regulatory compliance.

As Design+Build happens to be one of our specialties, we’d like to briefly discuss five key considerations for creating an efficient, safe, and FDA-compliant cannabis food production facility.

1. Begin With the End in Mind

“Begin with the end in mind” may seem more philosophical than operational; however, adopting this mindset early in your design process can help you avoid common pitfalls that seem to plague even experienced cannabis professionals. So, what does it mean to “begin with the end in mind?” It simply means that it’s important to consider many aspects of your business before you begin to design your facility. A very simple example of this is: What product(s) do you want to produce in this facility?

This might seem like a simple question, but there is tremendous complexity lurking just below the surface. A commercial kitchen built in a typical restaurant facility might be a very flexible space, allowing for the crafting of multiple infused goods using the same space and equipment. However, food manufacturing of shelf-stable products requires a bit more specificity. Let’s pick a single product as an example: gummies.

A Cannabis Fan-Favorite

If you’re in a new, adult-use market like the state of Ohio (with adult-use sales beginning in August 2024), you may want to be sure gummy production is among your cannabis product offerings. Much like the popularity of pre-rolls or raw single-serving units sold in other states, gummies are a cannabis community staple. Before creating your first gummy production line, here are a few questions and decision points that need to be addressed before diving into design specifics:

• Do you have a recipe for your gummies? Have you quality tested it with non-infused product?
• Does your recipe require specific equipment for production? Does that equipment require ventilation (i.e., a hood)?
• Have you set throughput and volume targets for production (i.e., how many gummies do you want to produce per hour/day/month, etc.)?
• How will your product be packaged?
• Will more than one type of product be produced in this same room/area?
• If so, how do you plan to mitigate cross-contamination risks?
• Have you defined a facility workflow that maps a product’s process from component parts (ingredients) to processing to packaging to storage and delivery?

There are many things not included in this list that demonstrate the fact that a simple product decision comes with a multitude of related decisions that must be made to successfully implement the production process. For example, your decision on your facility’s throughput goals directly impacts your equipment choices. Are you making artisanal, handcrafted gummies in small batches, or are you producing gummies at scale for maximum throughput?

Scalable, Custom Design Solutions

In the 1980s, nearly every kid with a Nintendo gaming console believed a couple of NES cartridges would entertain them for the rest of their lives. This was disappointingly not the case. Although a metaphorical stretch, those who partake in cannabis are beginning to expect new methods of consumption that allow them to explore new experiences.

Having a long-term product manufacturing strategy can also help you design your facility for future scalability and avoid potentially costly retrofits. There is no “one-size-fits-all” cannabis kitchen design. The design of an area in your facility to produce one kind of product usually won’t translate to the production of a different cannabis product. The required equipment, space, and process planning to produce gummies are very different than the production of baked edibles or infused chocolates. If you’re designing a new manufacturing operation, today is the best time to think about tomorrow.

This mindset of working backward from your goal can be applied to almost every aspect of your operation. This includes things such as labor schedules, order and purchase scheduling, storage, packaging, delivery, and more. Define your goals and outputs and then work backward from there.

2. Space Planning

Early in your design process, it will be imperative to diagram and plan how to use the available space built into your cannabis facility. You need to account for all operational aspects, from storage and production to packing and shipping. Ensuring there is adequate space for these activities contributes to an efficient workflow and helps maintain a safe work environment.

Storage areas should be designed to accommodate raw materials, finished products, and waste materials separately. Temperature-controlled areas may be necessary for perishable ingredients or to maintain product stability. This is especially true if you plan on curing flower or storing terpene and cannabinoid-rich oils at optimal temperatures to help mitigate degradation.

Cannabis kitchens and manufacturing areas need sufficient space to house specialized equipment to create edibles and infused culinary offerings for social lounges. Equipment for these work areas may include extraction machines, distillation equipment, laboratory supplies, infusion systems, and commercial kitchen appliances for food preparation. Your work areas should also facilitate the efficient movement of employees and materials throughout the manufacturing process.

In addition, your packing and shipping space needs to accommodate packing materials, finished product cases, and space for shipping operations. Depending on your scale, this may include room for pallets, forklifts, or other necessary equipment.

3. Workflow Design

The design of a cannabis food production facility is a complex task requiring a clear understanding of commercial manufacturing processes, equipment requirements, safety considerations, and regulatory compliance. As you work through the questions we’ve mentioned, don’t forget to develop Standard Operating Procedures. SOPs are a key component of developing Good Manufacturing Processes (GMPs), which are increasingly important to manufacturing and processing in the cannabis industry.

The blueprint of your cultivation, manufacturing, and retail space should facilitate a streamlined flow of products and materials from receiving to shipping. This ‘one-way’ flow can help prevent cross-contamination and shrinkage and improve the workflow efficiency of personnel. Special consideration should also be given to the workflow designed for the extraction and infusion processes, where additional complexity can be hiding.

Maintaining a smooth workflow in production areas involves precise control and understanding of your equipment. The facilities should be designed to allow for these activities to be conducted as safely and efficiently as possible. And keep in mind, an efficient workflow is a more profitable workflow.

4. Equipment Planning

As you consider which pieces of cannabis manufacturing equipment to purchase, there are many strategic questions to ask that are easy to gloss over. Firstly, you’ll need to understand the power requirements needed to operate the extraction, infusion, and food production equipment being used to manufacture your products. Commercial electricians and engineers will likely be needed to ensure the electrical infrastructure in your space is adequate to meet the demands of your production rooms.

If you’re retrofitting an existing building, it’s very important to have the outlets and amperage being sent to each room assessed to verify enough power is being piped in depending on that area’s energy needs. You may need to replace or expand the breaker box or run additional power to a room housing high-draw equipment.

If you’re operating a cannabis kitchen with commercial foodservice equipment and/or full-service machines, you may need a 208 vs. 240-volt outlet available in addition to standard outlets. If you’re retrofitting in such circumstances, you need to verify if your high-voltage outlet is 1-phase or 3-phase. Keep in mind, these details matter and may be the difference between shorting out an expensive piece of equipment or overloading your electrical system. Never assume; always ask questions before you purchase your equipment or set up shop in a particular space in your facility.

Drainage and Space for Upgrading

Other considerations for the equipment you’ll be using are to verify whether it requires a drainage solution. Both solvent and solventless extraction processes can produce significant waste that needs to be safely disposed of. Furthermore, commercial kitchen operations require a professional-grade drainage system. Be sure you have adequate floor drains or disposal solutions in your cannabis processing space.

Lastly, ensure there is space surrounding your equipment for regular cleaning, maintenance, and upgrades. Your employees, maintenance crew, and service staff will thank you for taking this detail into consideration proactively.

5. Food Safety Best Practices

If you’re manufacturing edibles or infused foods, following best practices for food safety is a must. This includes implementing Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) plans to identify potential hazards and establish procedures to mitigate them.

Facilities must ensure appropriate hygiene measures, including handwashing stations and employee changing areas. Special attention should be given to allergen management, considering the diversity of ingredients that could be used in cannabis-infused foods.

Proper ventilation is a key factor in maintaining air quality and controlling odors, which can be a significant issue in cultivation and processing facilities. An effective ventilation system will also help control humidity, which can impact both the quality of the product and the longevity of the equipment.

Pulling It All Together

Knowing how you will use the space in your facility plays a huge role in a successful design and build venture. Whether you’re a commercial cultivator, edible manufacturer, managing a consumption lounge, or operating a retail space, the cannabis industry thrives because of our combined successes.

Pulling all the pieces together isn’t easy, and that’s where we’re here to help. Our team believes that through strategic partnerships, thoughtful planning, and deliberate design, producers can build a facility that not only meets their current demands but is also flexible enough to adapt to the creative and ever-changing product demands of the cannabis industry.

We offer our services nationwide and can service craft growers and vertically integrated operations alike. In fact, we help design and build them. If you have any questions surrounding your new or next cannabis operation, feel free to reach out to our Design+Build team.