Selling Edibles in Michigan: Mastering the Art of Deliciousness
Cannabis edibles are LEGAL IN MICHIGAN! Once completely illegal and only since 2018, it is now possible to sell cannabis edibles in Michigan lawfully. But, to get into the marijuana business in Michigan you will have to do the work to get into the Michigan METRC system.
The edible cannabis industry business is booming. So, it is no surprise that many people want to jump on the edible train and sell their products in the state of Michigan. If that’s you, read further to learn how to start an edible business in Michigan legally.
Michigan Marijuana Laws & Processing Licenses
Step 1: Michigan Cannabis Lawyer
Michigan Marijuana laws are extensive and change constantly. If you want to sell edibles in Michigan get a Michigan cannabis lawyer as soon as possible. A marijuana lawyer will help you navigate these ever-changing state laws and cannabis regulations.
Following every Marijuana Regulatory Agency (MRA) change takes a lot of work and you have an edible empire to run. Also, they should be able to tell you whether this information is up to date or not! The industry changes daily and trying to keep up with it is a full-time job.
Just make sure to find a lawyer that knows marijuana business licenses, and marijuana licensing requirements, and believes in your vision!
To make legal Michigan marijuana edibles your brand will have to operate out of a processing center or microbusiness. You can get your license or lease your brand to the processing center. These licensed processing centers and microbusinesses are the only places where infused products are legally created. To sell edible food in Michigan, your products must be made and sold out of these licensed facilities.
See below: Licensing Edible Brand Leasing Agreement
Check out the Marijuana Processor Application Instructions or the Marijuana Microbusiness Application Instructions for more information.
Step 2: Branding and Marketing
It really should start with this – a vision and a goal to bring something to market for your target audience. Your cannabis product needs to be something unique that people will buy.
You’ll need to have a unique cannabis company overall! Make sure your business plan has all of the interesting and unique ways you’ll be breaking into the edibles marketing niche.
Your brand should not be childlike in any way. Nothing that is associated with youth should be included in your branding. This means no cartoons, no light blue or pink colors, and no icons that could be confused for non-medicated items.
Your edibles cannot look like ANY other popular brand out there. This could be very confusing. No one should ever eat a nice treat and NOT know it’s a cannabis edible.
That means no medicated M&M’s or “Wonka” Bars can be sold in the legal market. Not only is this copywriting infringement, but it is also ambiguous to the younger crowd who can’t read.
As well as packing your social media needs to be tight as well because of all the nuances of posting about cannabis online.
Step 4: Municipality Approval
If you want to have a cannabis commercial kitchen, the next step is to get your municipality to write an ordinance.
The city council writes this ordinance of the city in which you will operate your business. This ordinance must specifically allow processing licenses or micro-businesses in the area.
If your municipality is accepting applications already you can skip this step. Watch out as many towns are putting a “cap” on how many of these licenses they will be giving out.
Check this map to see who has and has not opted into marijuana in your community: Michigan Marijuana Opt-in and Opt-Out List
Step 5: Qualification and Licensing Application
If the city council has an ordinance and processing licenses available, then you can go for your Michigan marijuana license state qualification. You will have to go through a background check to get approved for your processing license.
Don’t forget there will be a separate application license fee to just APPLY to get approved for a license.
Step 6: Real Estate
While this is all going on you need to start looking for real estate that is zoned properly and can accommodate your operation. This is tricky to balance because even if you get the O.K. from your municipality, the state can still deny your application.
Check this map to see who has and has not opted into marijuana in your community: Michigan Marijuana Opt-in and Opt-Out List.
Step 7: Creating Product
If you are qualified by the municipality and the state, and you have a building you are ready to make edibles.
Don’t forget to include Step 2 and all the laws when creating your product.
Step 8: Selling and Shipping
After you create your products you will call up a secure transporter and they will transport your edibles to the provisioning center that bought your product.
Congratulations, you have now started an edible business in Michigan!
Reminder:
Please keep referring to Step 1 of this process. Sometimes you can do some of these steps in a different order or maybe you can even skip them. Your lawyer will know how to do it the right way for you.
Edible Companies Brand Leasing Agreement
If getting a processing license is out of your reach, then leasing your brand might be a better option. Leasing your brand involves 1 step, getting a Michigan cannabis lawyer. They will help you with all the legalities of getting your brand into a processing center.
Don’t forget to read up on the Lara Bulletin on Intellectual Property & Recipes.
Then you can find already licensed processing facilities near you on this map: Check our directory:
Michigan Marijuana Microbusiness For Edibles
A Michigan marijuana micro license is an enclosed system that goes from growing to customer. These types of licenses are self-sustaining and cannot participate in the recreational and medical markets. This means they must grow, process, and sell all out of the same facility.
That means you will have to grow the marijuana, process it into oil and edibles then sell it all with just your materials.
Just be warned, as of June 2021, there hasn’t been a successful micro business in Michigan that sells edibles yet.
Edible Processing License Extras
If you are going to create an edible cannabis business you should know these additional concepts.
Medical and Recreational Processing License
There are two different categories of licenses, medical and recreational. Processing centers must hold one or both of these licenses to sell edibles in Michigan legally. If you have a medical marijuana license, you can sell only medical products to medical marijuana businesses. Likewise, a recreational license can only sell to recreational marijuana businesses.
Michigan Medical & Recreational Marijuana THC Limits
Both licenses have THC limits per package. These limits are enforced by testing almost every edible batch made. MMFLA administrative rule 62 states that processing products cannot exceed maximum THC levels. Make sure your edibles are tuned into these numbers based on the license where you make edibles.
Selling Edibles Legally in Michigan
Yes, it is legal to sell edibles in Michigan but you must follow the steps above to distribute your products. Remember this is not legal advice just a combination of all the information I’ve gathered over the years of trying to get legal cannabis edibles business in Michigan.
Extra resources: Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency Edible Links
If you would like more information make sure to check out the links below. Good luck on your edible journey!
Want to check out the numbers? Check out the MRA statistics
- Make sure to Get a Michigan Cannabis Lawyer!
- Rule 33. Requirements and restrictions on marijuana-infused products; edible marijuana products.
- Michigan Marijuana Facilities Map
- Lara Bulletin on Intellectual Property & Recipes
- Michigan Marijuana Opt-in and Opt-Out Map
- Marijuana Processor Application Instructions
- Marijuana Microbusiness Application Instructions
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