New round of Cannabis recalls hit Springfield dispensaries and producers
Missouri Faces Another Major Cannabis Product Recall, Affecting Thousands of Products and Dispensaries.
Just one year since the first cannabis product recall hit the adult-use market in Missouri, another round of recalls have been issued. This time a Springfield-based producer is at the heart of the issue.
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services issued two recalls between Aug. 6-8 involving hundreds of thousands of individual products, like edibles, vapes, flower and marijuana-infused tinctures. While the products have not been deemed unsafe for human consumption, customers are asked to return recalled products to dispensaries, according to a release from the Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation (DCR).
The recalls are impacting Springfield businesses, as producers and dispensaries are forced to quarantine hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of recalled products. At Revival 98, a southwest Springfield dispensary located off of West Republic Road, more than 200 products had to be quarantined, Store Manager Mark Crawford said.
“We literally have three shelves in our vault full of quarantined products,” Crawford said. “Most dispensaries do carry at least some of (the brands involved in the recall), so I’m sure it will be affecting pretty much everybody.”
Two recalls tell two different stories
In early August 2024, DCR issued recalls involving products from two cannabis product makers: NGWMO, LLC, best known for brand Twenty Twenty, and Springfield-based C & C Manufacturing, LLC, best known for the brand Goat Extracts. More than 2,600 products were recalled from NGWMO, while more than 132,000 products were recalled from C & C Manufacturing, according to the DCR recall notice.
C & C Manufacturing has an approved production facility in Springfield, according to the Missouri Division of Cannabis Regulation. The extent of C & C’s level of production in Springfield is unclear. C & C Manufacturing did not respond to multiple phone calls seeking comment on the Aug. 8 recall, nor did Goat Extracts respond to a request for comment via email.
The two separate recalls have different reasons, according to DCR. NGWMO allegedly tested flower before making marijuana-derived products, but did not subsequently test the finished products before selling to dispensaries or other marijuana producers, according to the recall notice.
The recall notice for C & C Manufacturing is less specific, noting that the products could not be “compliantly” tracked in the regulator’s statewide track-and-trace system, called Metrc.
“Therefore, DCR cannot verify compliance with health and safety requirements,” the notice reads.
The impact of the recalls on the statewide cannabis market is yet to be determined, but costs are already stacking up at dispensaries and production facilities across Missouri. The first-ever recall hit the Missouri adult-use market in August 2023, causing millions of dollars of product to be quarantined or destroyed across the state. The issue at the center of that recall has yet to be resolved by state regulators, and a number of lingering effects are still affecting the immature industry.
With the far-reaching list of recalled products involved in the C & C Manufacturing recall, the statewide implications are still developing. It will likely take months for the cannabis industry to feel the full effect.
Large southwest Missouri producer sees recall’s costs stack up
Humansville-based Flora Farms, LLC, which has a manufacturing facility and a dispensary in Springfield, has had many transactions with C & C Manufacturing, also known as Goat Extracts, Flora President Mark Hendren said. It’s a two-way street, where Flora sold distillate, flower and other products to Goat Extracts, and Goat subsequently sold Flora products.
“We’ve sold raw product to them and purchased it (from them),” Hendren said.
The recall issued Aug. 8 encompasses Goat Extract’s products, as well as products that were made from Goat Extract’s distillate — a concentrated goo-like substance with high amounts of THC used by producers to make all kinds of concoctions like vapes, chocolate bars, gummies, tinctures and more. Any products derived from Goat Extract’s recalled distillate have to be quarantined across the state.
The cost of the recall is already stacking up for Flora, Hendren said. Flora has quarantined more than $100,000 worth of products and distillate. A plethora of Flora products are on DCR’s recalled product list, including name-brand products as well as Bison Infused vapes and Zen Cannabis gummies, which fall under a company that Flora has recently acquired. Other name brands were also on the list, including Wana Brands, Proper Cannabis and Grön.
As of Aug. 9, Flora had not had any recalled product returned to any of its dispensaries, Hendren said. The company has posted the recall notice at all retail locations and is prepared for customers to return the products.
The financial impact of the recall is “substantial,” Hendren said. “In our case, it’s north of six figures.”
Impact at Springfield dispensaries
Springfield dispensaries High Profile and Greenlight declined to comment on the recall.
At Revival 98, located at 2782 W. Republic Rd., more than $50,000 worth of product has been quarantined, Crawford said. The only products the dispensary carries directly from Goat Extracts are its marijuana concentrates, but it carries other brands affected by the recall.
Revival 98 has products quarantined under both the recalls issued in August 2024, Crawford said. Furthering confusion for dispensary operators is the fact the recall from last year hasn’t been resolved, leaving questions about how this recall will be handled by regulators and business owners.
“Last time we had a bunch of stuff quarantined we ended up just having to destroy it because it was all expired and I think we pretty much eat that (cost),” Crawford said. “We pay for this stuff pretty much all up front.”
