Tours of Michigan cannabis companies reveal inner workings of marijuana business

A growing number of recreational marijuana businesses in Michigan, from outdoor cannabis farms to microbusinesses, are providing tours to interested consumers that show them how cannabis plants are grown, harvested and processed.

The openness is a notable shift for a still relatively new legal industry in Michigan in which many marijuana businesses are located in remote areas and farms are hidden behind privacy fences.

The marijuana industry "has been carved out of the public view and we felt that in order to end the stigma, that all needs to be brought to light so people can see that this is a serious business," Karen Kekelik, co-owner of the microbusiness IndiGrow in Muskegon.

Kekelik is referring to the stigma that stems from the War on Drugs — a U.S. government-led initiative in the 1970s that aimed to stop illegal drug use — that led to many people believing cannabis is bad, dirty and unprofessional, she said.

Kekelik and her husband, Steven, who also co-owns the business, started offering tours earlier this year, just a few months after opening. The idea to offer tours came organically, as education was a big part of the couple's goal for the business from the beginning because they wanted to show the cleanliness and professionalism required to be a successful cannabis business.

They do this by outfitting guests with personal protective equipment such as hairnets and shoe covers. Attendees then go through an air shower, which blows air on them to clear them of any contaminants. They then follow the life cycle of the cannabis plant, visiting the vegetative room to see the plants in the early stages of growth and then moving to the flower rooms to see the buds and the flowering plants. From there, they go to the trimming, drying and curing rooms, and end in the processing lab, where attendees see all the different extraction methods, which remove the oil found in the plants that contain the most potent compounds to then be used in products like edibles and tinctures.

Karen and Steven Kekelik have seen firsthand how education can change a person's perspective on cannabis. Karen's father, a doctor, associated cannabis with other illegal drugs and tobacco. After Karen suffered an injury that cannabis helped her recover from, she said, her father started researching the plant.

He went on to be an advocate, talking with both doctors and patients about how cannabis can be used as an alternative to opioids and is involved in IndiGrow, Karen Kekelik said.

“You get to see the lightbulb change when someone sees the possibilities of cannabis as a medicine and an alternative to alcohol," Steven Kekelik said. "We wanted to bring that to anyone who wanted to learn and experience that. That's very hard to do currently.”

Demystifying cannabis facilities

There are a few cannabis companies in Michigan that offer the public a behind-the-scenes look at their operations.

Cannabis companies operate under strict regulations and many precautions are taken so the plant remains free of outside contaminants. Because of this, anyone who is around the plant usually wears protective suits and hairnets when in an indoor grow room. There's also the risk that comes with operators inadvertently sharing proprietary information that competitors could steal.

Will Bowden, founder and CEO of Grasshopper Farms, an outdoor cannabis farm in southwest Michigan, said that's a risk worth taking.

After Bowden bought the 160-acre farm and started growing marijuana plants on 40 of those acres in 2020, he said it was important for him to invite local government officials and neighbors of the farm so they could see the farm for themselves.

"If you really want to demystify something, then open your door and show what's going on," he said. Tours are "the best and most effective way for us to do that."

Inspired by the reaction he got after offering tours to local officials and neighbors, Bowden told his team that he was going to allow anyone to sign up for a free tour on the company's website, and if someone just showed up, he told his team to do everything they could to accommodate that person.

His instructions were: "Introduce yourself, introduce the team, show them what we do and show them how we do it," he said. "Do not change minds and do not debate the topic" of marijuana.

Bowden includes that "do not debate" instruction because he has seen visitors get out of their car and walk over with their hands crossed over their chest, ready for a debate. By the end of the tour, he said, they often leave feeling at least OK about what's happening at Grasshopper Farms.

Replicating the vineyard model

There's also a financial incentive for cannabis business operators to offer tours. While Bowden offers tours free of charge, open house events at the farm and the tours are aimed in part at retailers who will hopefully choose to sell Grasshopper Farms products in their stores.

Bowden said he's not doing anything revolutionary with his tours, and gives as an example wine companies that invite restaurant staff out to their vineyards or wineries to taste its wine.

"What do they do?," Bowden said. "They go back and they talk about it in their restaurant. 'Oh, this is a fantastic vineyard. You should try this.' In this case, it's like, let's have the budtenders come out and take a look at the farm and meet the local team to see whose story they are representing."

He plans on taking the experience a step further by opening an education center on the property in the next few years that will have a deck offering a view of the farm and by potentially turning two houses on the property into Airbnbs offering guests a "cannabis experience."

More on cannabis tourism: Cannabis tourism in Michigan is a real thing. Here's what to know, where to stay

Tours are also a way to make money

IndiGrow, meanwhile, charges $100 for an hour tour that's limited to five people and that comes with all necessary personal protective equipment, a Q&A session, five pre-rolled joints and a T-shirt.

Steven Kekelik said the tours help them financially in two ways: It allows them to diversify their income streams at a time when the cannabis market in Michigan is especially competitive, with the average price of marijuana flower dropping 20% compared with prices a year ago, according to the most recent data available from Michigan's Cannabis Regulatory Agency, causing margins to narrow.

"The tour revenue really just allows a mom-and-pop business to be successful," Steven Kekelik said.

It also leads to more product sales, he said, because tour attendees are able to see how the product is made and why IndiGrow employees do what they do, comparing the feeling to a visit to a local farmers' market.

Both the Kekeliks and Bowden said they've had visitors come from other states, such as Ohio, Illinois and Indiana, to take a tour, and Bowden said someone even came from out of the country to see Grasshopper Farms. They don't see interest slowing down anytime soon and generally are getting great feedback from attendees.

After one IndiGrow attendee got the chance to see the cannabis plants up close, Steven Kekelik received his favorite feedback so far: "The buds were frickin' huge!"

Where tours are offered

To book a tour at the IndiGrow microbusiness in Muskegon, go to its website at IndiGrowMI.com and click "Tours" at the top of the site. Tours are held at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. most Saturdays and cost $100.

To take a tour of Grasshopper Farms, sign up at GrasshopperFarms.com/people. Tours are free.

To tour Winewood Organics in Ann Arbor, go to WinewoodOrganics.com/Microbusiness-Tours. Tours are held at 5 p.m. every other Saturday and cost $30. The next tour is on Saturday.

Contact Adrienne Roberts: amroberts@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Growing number of Michigan cannabis companies are offering tours