For three years, Molly Ann Farms has published the Certificate of Analysis for every cannabis product on our menu. More than 10,600 COA files later, we remain committed to giving customers something they deserve: the ability to see exactly what they are buying.
We do it because we believe legal cannabis is safer cannabis, and customers should be able to see the evidence for themselves.
When Molly Ann Farms opened in September 2023, we made a promise that was simple to explain but surprisingly difficult to execute. Every cannabis product on our menu would include its Certificate of Analysis, commonly known as a COA.
Not a handful of featured products. Not just our premium flower. Not only when someone asked.
Every product. Every batch. Every COA.
Three years later, we are still doing it.
A Certificate of Analysis is a laboratory report showing the testing results for a particular batch of cannabis. Depending on the product and laboratory, it may include THC and other cannabinoid levels, terpene content, pesticide screening, heavy metals, microbial contaminants, residual solvents, moisture levels, water activity, the cultivator or manufacturer, and the dates the product was sampled and tested.
Every regulated cannabis product sold in a licensed New Jersey dispensary must pass required testing before it can be sold. Publishing the COA allows customers to look beyond the product name, package design and THC number and examine the laboratory results for themselves.
That matters because the biggest difference between regulated and unregulated cannabis is not the packaging. It is accountability.
A product purchased through the illicit market may look, smell and feel perfectly normal, but the customer usually has no reliable way to know how it was grown, what was used on it, whether it contains harmful pesticides, additives or contaminants, or whether its potency claims are accurate.
Legal cannabis is produced and sold within a regulated system. It is tracked from seed to sale and tested by licensed laboratories before reaching dispensary shelves. That does not mean cannabis is without risk, but it does provide safeguards, testing and accountability that the unregulated market cannot reliably offer.
That is what we mean when we say legal cannabis is safer cannabis.
We believe customers should be able to see the evidence behind that process. Publishing every COA reflects one of our core beliefs at Molly Ann Farms: transparency should not require a special request. If laboratory results exist for a product, why hide them?
Making those results available, however, was not as easy as simply adding a link. When we decided to publish every COA, neither our point-of-sale system nor our eCommerce platform was designed to support it. We had to develop our own process and, in some ways, hack the systems to make it work.
For every new delivery, our team must locate and download the correct COA through METRC, New Jersey’s cannabis tracking system. We then verify that the laboratory report matches the correct product and source package, properly name and organize the file, store it in our system and add the link to the corresponding product listing on our online menu.
The work does not end when the product is first added. As inventory moves from one batch to another, we must continually update the product listing with the COA for the batch currently being sold.
That distinction is important. The same strain from the same cultivator can have different potency, terpene and testing results from one harvest to the next. A COA is only useful when it matches the actual product in the package.
To date, Molly Ann Farms has downloaded, organized and maintained more than 10,600 COA files. That is a considerable amount of work for information many customers may never open, but we continue to believe it is worth doing.
For customers who do take the time to read them, COAs can tell a much richer story than the THC percentage printed on the package. They can show who actually grew or manufactured a product, which is not always obvious from the branding. They can also help customers identify cultivators and manufacturers that consistently produce products they enjoy.
The sample or testing date can provide useful information about a product’s age. Although it is not always the same as the harvest or packaging date, it can help customers estimate when the batch moved through the testing process. For flower shoppers who care about freshness, that information can be meaningful.
COAs can also reveal the presence and potency of minor cannabinoids such as CBD, CBG, CBC and CBN. THC receives most of the attention, but it is only one part of the plant’s chemical profile. Knowledgeable customers can use those results to make more informed comparisons rather than simply choosing the product with the highest THC number on the label.
Terpene results can be equally valuable. Terpenes contribute to the aroma and flavor of cannabis and may influence the character of the experience. A detailed COA can identify dominant terpenes such as myrcene, limonene, caryophyllene, linalool, pinene and terpinolene. Two products with similar THC percentages may have completely different terpene profiles. For many discerning cannabis consumers, those differences are far more useful than a one- or two-point variation in THC.
Moisture content and water activity can also provide clues about how carefully flower was dried, cured and stored. Flower that is excessively dry may lose aroma and become harsh or brittle, while excessive moisture can raise other quality and safety concerns. Those measurements provide another window into the care that went into producing a particular batch.
Maintaining this reporting system remains time-consuming. It requires coordination among our receiving, inventory and eCommerce teams. A single incorrect batch number or outdated link can connect a product to the wrong laboratory report, so accuracy and constant attention matter.
We continue to do it every day because the original reasons we had to do it have not changed.
We still believe legal cannabis is safer cannabis because regulated products are tested, tracked and subject to standards that illicit products are not. We still believe customers should have access to the laboratory results supporting the products they purchase. We still believe informed customers make better choices.
Most importantly, we still believe transparency is not a marketing campaign. It is something a dispensary must practice every day, product by product and batch by batch.
Every cannabis product on the Molly Ann Farms online menu includes a link to its Certificate of Analysis. You do not have to take our word for what is in the package. You can read the report yourself.
Three years. More than 10,600 COA files. Every product. Every batch. Every COA.
Because legal cannabis should be safer cannabis—and transparency is how we prove it.
