Inaugural CA State Fair Cannabis Awards Partners with KOLAS to Launch First-ever Digital Authentication for Cannabis Award Winners

Blockchain Technology to be Applied to Enhance Safety Efforts and Tackle the Black Market

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The CA State Fair Cannabis Awards today announced a new partnership with KOLAS to provide, for the first-time, a registered digital certification via Blockchain technology to authenticate and protect the award-winning product. The CA State Fair Cannabis Awards is a state agency-sanctioned competition open to all licensed California cannabis cultivators that will celebrate the 2021/2022 harvest of the California-grown, cannabis flower.

KOLAS Technology SBM (Stop Black Market), a subsidiary of Sacramento-based cannabis giant KOLAS, will provide each of the 70 CA State Fair Cannabis Award Winners a certificate with a unique QR code that will link to the specific details of the award-winning entry. Award winners will then have the option to utilize customized medallions for packaging that will verify the authenticity of each product, enhance safety, and forever protect it from fraud via the illegal underground economy known as the black market.

“This new technology will provide unfalsifiable certificates so that consumers know the exact origins of the product, and most importantly, provide one more layer of safety,” said KOLAS Co-founder Garib Karapetyan. “This will also protect and preserve the grower’s craft and the specific genetics of the plant. This is good for the consumers, cultivators, producers, and testing labs. We are thrilled to launch our new technology with this first-ever event.”

Sacramento-based KOLAS currently operates several cannabis dispensaries, delivery, e-commerce, and manufacturing labs in California. The company is also dedicated to developing new technologies to support the legal cannabis market and thwart the black market.

“We are pleased to welcome KOLAS as our presenting sponsor, and to launch this new technology in conjunction with this historic cannabis competition,” said James Leitz, CEO of Cultivar Brands and executive producer of the Awards. “The digital authentications will add even more value to our contest and the participating cultivators. KOLAS shares our passion to continue the normalization of the legal cannabis industry, support safe consumer use and protect California legacy and craft.”

The cannabis competition is the latest edition to the CA State Fair and will join a roster of coveted, annual competitions celebrating California’s rich agricultural history and dynamic industries including wine, cheese, olive oil and craft beer. More than 70 silver, gold and double gold medals will be awarded, including coveted Golden Bear trophies for “Best in California.” The award winners will be celebrated and showcased at the CA State Fair from July 15-31, 2022, at the Cal Expo Fairgrounds in Sacramento, California.

The awards have been developed in partnership between the California Exhibition & State Fair and Cultivar Brands, a California-based cannabis marketing and events agency who specializes in the creation of programs that continue to move cannabis into the mainstream. Visit www.castatefaircannabisawards.com.