The Cannabis Quality Conference takes place on October 21 23 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Virginia. This event is co-located with the 15th annual Food Safety Consortium. Attendees can move freely between the food safety and cannabis programs.
The merger creates a crossover opportunity for professionals in both sectors.
Cannabis edibles and beverages are classified as food products. Manufacturers must adhere to core food safety principles like clean facilities.
The Food Safety Consortium has worked on these challenges since 2012.
This collaboration gives cannabis professionals access to institutional expertise. Food safety experts gain a closer look at unique cannabis quality challenges. The industry is moving toward a medical regulatory framework.
Marie Antoinette Duncan presents the opening keynote titled “Good Enough for Mom Building a Culture of Quality in Cannabis Manufacturing.” Duncan is the President and CEO of Duncan Life Sciences. She holds the credential CSQ and is a veteran quality leader. Her background includes scaling GMP systems in pharmaceutical and medical device sectors.
Duncan also has experience supporting MSOs in the U.S. cannabis industry. Her keynote focuses on mindset and workplace culture shifts. She advocates for a structured, systems-based approach to quality management.
This approach mirrors standards used in the pharmaceutical industry.
The emphasis is on organizational and behavioral changes rather than just rules. Quality must be embedded into how people think and work. Cannabis has traditionally placed heavy emphasis on the finished product.
It now needs to focus on broader quality systems.
Alex Hearding leads a session called “From Reactive to Resilient: Building Federally-Ready Quality Management Systems in Cannabis.” He is the founder and president of Red Wolf Risk. Hearding has worked in cannabis compliance for more than 16 years. His firm specializes in risk management and SOP development.
Hearding’s four-phase model integrates ISO 9001 principles and EU-GMP readiness. He says SOPs can help operators cut insurance premiums by nearly 40%. This makes companies lender- and investor-ready.
Quality management becomes a competitive advantage rather than a cost center.
Ron Potochar presents a second session titled “Reactive to Proactive: Elevating Cannabis Operations Through Integrated Quality Management Systems.” He is a food safety and system specialist at D.L. Newslow & Associates. His session focuses on integrating GMPs, HACCP, and ISO 17025:2017.
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