The kilo means nothing, the point of active does
Two tonnes of biomass at the same price per kilo can yield very different quantities of CBD after extraction. Weight only measures material; what an extractor buys is cannabinoid. That is why extraction biomass is traded per point of active: pricing is set per point of CBD per kilo, not per kilo alone.
The calculation then becomes comparable between offers. A batch testing at 8 % and one at 12 % are no longer judged on their price tag but on their cost per point — and at equal cost per point, the second ties up less volume, less transport and less storage for the same output.
A supplier quoting a price per kilo without stating a titration is selling weight. Always ask for the price brought back to the point: it is the only basis on which two offers can be compared.
Dry or fresh, ground or whole
These three choices follow your process, not a hierarchy of quality.
Dry biomass stores, ships at ambient temperature and can be worked year-round. Fresh biomass must go to extraction quickly, but preserves certain volatile fractions better — a choice that only makes sense if your line is set up to absorb it without delay.
Grinding reduces shipped volume and speeds up solvent attack, but increases the surface exposed to oxidation: ground material degrades faster than whole material. If your batch will wait several weeks before processing, keeping it whole is often safer.
We supply all four configurations without distinction: your equipment decides, not our stock.
What you pay for, what you receive
Pricing is set on CBD, because that is what the market buys. The analysis, however, covers the full cannabinoid profile.
The distinction is not cosmetic. A batch valued solely on its CBD content may carry CBG, CBC or CBDV in workable quantities — fractions you recover at extraction without having paid for them. For an extractor able to isolate or valorise them, the gap between two batches at identical CBD titration can be considerable, and it only shows on the full analysis report.
So always ask for the entire profile, not the CBD line alone. Our guide to reading a certificate of analysis sets out what to check, starting with the total THC versus delta-9 distinction that governs the batch's compliance on import.
What to specify before requesting a price
A serious quotation assumes you have settled five points.
- Volume and rate. Our entry threshold is one tonne. A recurring commitment and a one-off purchase are not handled the same way.
- Delivery state: dry or fresh, ground or whole.
- Target titration, and the range you accept around it.
- The moisture level your process tolerates — it governs storage as much as yield.
- Your documentary requirements: certificate per batch, upstream traceability, compliance statement.
Without these, a quoted price means nothing: it applies to material nobody has defined.
Packaging
Biomass ships in 20 kg bags, grouped in 60 kg cartons. The format is as much about handling as about storage: a 20 kg bag is carried by one person without equipment, and the carton palletises without wasted space. At one tonne, that is fifty bags — a volume to plan for on arrival, not to improvise around on a loading bay.
Compliance and transport
Biomass remains subject to the same framework as the rest of the sector: applicable THC threshold, complete documentary file at the border. These points are covered in our article on hemp regulation in Europe.
Volume does change the logistics, however. At the tonne, you no longer think in parcels but in pallets and full truckloads, with humidity and ventilation constraints in transit. Our comparison of hemp transport modes gives cost and lead-time benchmarks according to the volumes involved.
Requesting a price
Pricing is set on quotation, per point of active CBD, according to the batch's actual titration, the volume and how regular the commitment is. We do not publish a grid: at this level of volume, two buyers share neither the same rate, nor the same documentary requirements, nor the same risk profile.
Articles on this blog are published in French and English. Some are available in French only.