Grown Here Farms is a Canadian craft CBD producer recognized for its organic, regenerative, and ethical growing methods. Founded by Krystine McInnes, the company combines traditional soil-focused farming with new ideas like sound therapy for plants and a traceability app that covers the whole process.

Business Fortune spoke exclusively with Krystine McInnes about how the company’s commitment to purity, transparency, and wellness has redefined craft CBD and set a new standard for the industry.

Interview Highlights

How did Grown Here Farms begin? What is the story of the company?

Grown Here Farms began from a deep belief that what we grow – and how we grow it – directly shapes human health, wellbeing, and connection to the land. The company’s story starts long before CBD entered the picture. After facing her own health challenges, founder Krystine McInnes experienced the transformative impact of organic food. That realization led her to buy one of British Columbia’s largest organic vegetable farms in 2016. She was driven by a passion for soil-first, regenerative agriculture.

Everything changed when catastrophic floods devastated the farm in 2018, making vegetable production impossible. Rather than walking away, we rebuilt from the ground up and reimagined what the land could become. We pivoted to cultivating hemp for CBD – while refusing to compromise on the regenerative, organic, and ethical practices that defined our original philosophy.

From that turning point, Grown Here Farms emerged as a craft CBD company unlike any other. The team introduced practices rarely seen in the cannabis industry: spot harvesting for consistent potency, natural hang-drying and curing, mycorrhizal soil-building, sound-frequency and Plant Talk in agriculture, and a fully transparent growing system.

Most recently, Grown Here Farms launched Canada’s first full-spectrum cannabis traceability app. This decade-long vision became possible through new AI tools. The app gives customers unparalleled access to soil tests, field inputs, terpene data, lab results, and the story of their flower.

Grown Here Farms was built from adversity, guided by values, and sustained by a commitment to purity, transparency, and regenerative innovation. Today, it stands as one of Canada’s most trusted craft CBD producers – and a model for the future of ethical cannabis cultivation.

How has the company grown since its foundation? What are some of the factors that have led to the growth of the company?

Grown Here Farms grew through resilience, reinvention, and a commitment to quality. Originally one of British Columbia’s largest organic vegetable farms, built on regenerative, soil-first practices, the company was forced to rebuild after catastrophic floods. That adversity sparked its evolution into a craft CBD producer, carrying forward the same organic, transparent, and ethical values of the original farm.

Our growth since then has been driven by two core factors: exceptional product quality and hyper-focused customer care. As a small, self-funded brand with no marketing budget, we built our reputation one customer at a time. We treat customer relationships the way major artists treat their fanbases – we listen closely, respond personally, and consistently go above and beyond when concerns arise. This model of care has created deep loyalty and meaningful word-of-mouth momentum.

By continuously refining our cultivation practices, maintaining radical transparency, and honouring the trust customers place in us, Grown Here Farms has grown from disaster into one of Canada’s most respected craft CBD brands – recognized nationally for quality, integrity, and innovation.

What were some of the key challenges the company overcame during its lifetime? What were the takeaways?

Grown Here Farms has navigated challenges few businesses – let alone farms – ever encounter. After catastrophic natural disasters destroyed our operation, we faced not only the physical devastation of the land but also the harsh reality that agricultural recovery takes three to five years.

Unfortunately, banks, insurers, and creditors do not operate on a farmer’s timeline. The pressure was immense, like a vice grip tightening around a business still fighting to re-establish its footing.

During this period, we simultaneously battled insurance disputes, aggressive banking actions, lawsuits, and the overwhelming financial strain that accompanies large-scale agricultural loss. The cost was deeply personal and extraordinarily high. Yet throughout it all, we maintained a disciplined, stoic focus on one goal: recovery. Day after day, we chose perseverance over surrender.

The greatest takeaway from these challenges is the leadership forged in fire. We developed exceptional fiscal discipline, sophisticated risk management, and resilience.

These experiences matured the company beyond its years, equipping us with operational clarity, responsibility, and a long-term vision – the qualities of a seasoned, high-performing organization.

Emerging from adversity has not only strengthened our business but also shaped the company we are proud to lead today.

What are the products provided by Grown Here Farms? Can you detail them for our readers?

Grown Here Farms produces a line of premium craft CBD products rooted in organic, regenerative farming and radical transparency – we sell a retail line through licensed retailers in Canada, through medical providers and for larger wholesale purchases. Every product we offer reflects our commitment to purity, consistency, and ethical cultivation.

CBD Flower (Trimmed Buds)

Our flagship product – and the one that earned us ‘Best CBD Flower in Canada (2025)’ – is our hand-trimmed, hang-dried craft CBD flower. We grow outdoors in the Okanagan’s ideal microclimate, use regenerative soil practices, and employ spot harvesting, a technique that ensures consistent potency across every bud.

CBD Prerolls  

Our prerolls deliver the same craft-grown purity and potency in a convenient format. The Day Dreamin’ Infused CBD Prerolls offer enhanced flavour, terpene richness, and a deeper CBD experience. These are especially popular among retailers and medical customers for their consistency and ease of use.

CBD Kief

Produced using a soft-tumbler extraction from our Umpqua CBD flower, this CBD kief offers a concentrated and versatile form of CBD.

Coming Soon: CBD Gelcaps / Oils

We are expanding into refined, easy-to-dose CBD softgels – continuing our focus on calm, sleep, and relief while maintaining the same traceable, organic integrity.

Across every SKU, customers can scan our QR code to access our Traceability App, where they can explore lab tests, soil inputs, field practices, terpene data, and the full growing story behind their product – an industry-first innovation.

Why did you choose labour-intensive craft methods hand-harvesting, hang-drying, hand-trimming, zero irradiation over high-yield industrial production approaches?

We chose craft cultivation methods because our entire philosophy is built on a simple truth: what goes into a product becomes what goes into a person. “Love In. Love Out.” and “From our soil to your soul” are not marketing slogans for us – they are the foundation of how we grow and why we exist. If we want our customers to experience calm, balance, and relief, then the cultivation process must reflect those same principles.

Industrial cannabis production often prioritizes scale over integrity, relying on chemical inputs, forced conditions, pesticides, and irradiation to correct problems created by those systems. We believe in the opposite approach. When you care for the soil – building its biome, nurturing its balance, and stewarding its health – plants grow in harmony with their environment. Under those conditions, we do not need pesticides or irradiation. Nature, when respected, is self-correcting.

Our craft methods – spot hand-harvesting, natural hang-drying, slow curing, and hand-trimming – are extensions of that philosophy. They preserve terpene integrity, protect cannabinoid expression, and honour the plant’s natural structure. Yes, they are labour-intensive and costly. But they ensure purity, consistency, and a final product that aligns with our values and our customers’ well-being.

Ultimately, we grow the way we do because we believe that garbage in, garbage out applies to human health just as much as soil health. Craft methods are not a business decision; they are a commitment to integrity from seed to soul.

What motivated you to create a traceability app showing soil data, lab tests, and even plant playlists, and how has trust improved?

The traceability app was born from a firm belief: the cannabis industry cannot earn true credibility without radical transparency. When we entered this sector, I was shocked by how little information reached consumers – how products were grown, which inputs were used, whether pesticides or irradiation were involved, and whether lab tests could be trusted. In an industry where people rely on CBD for calm, relief, sleep, and even serious medical conditions, this lack of transparency is simply unacceptable. Our mission is to give consumers the clarity and confidence they deserve.

I sketched the concept for a full-spectrum traceability app almost a decade ago as part of our organic vegetable operations – but at the time, building it would have cost over $100,000. When AI tools finally made it possible to create the platform myself, I brought the vision to life. The app includes everything: soil tests, field inputs, water reports, COAs, terpene profiles, harvest methods, and even the playlists and sound frequencies we play to our plants. It is transparent to the core.

The impact on trust is still new, as we only just launched the app in October 2025. Consumers are excited about the transparency. Retailers say it gives them confidence selling our products. And medical users, who rely on purity and consistency, feel reassured knowing exactly what they’re putting into their bodies.

But the app didn’t just increase trust – it has set a new standard for what trust should look like in this industry, and we hope it shatters the current standards.

Do you see Grown Here Farms mainly as a CBD flower brand or as part of a larger regenerative agriculture and wellness vision?

Grown Here Farms is far more than a CBD flower brand – we see ourselves as part of a larger regenerative agriculture and wellness vision. CBD is simply the current expression of a deeper mission: to reconnect people with the integrity of what they consume and to restore the relationship between soil health, plant health, and human health.

Our philosophy has always been “Love In. Love Out.” This principle guides not only how we grow, but why we grow. We believe wellness begins long before a product reaches the consumer – it begins in the soil biome, in the balance of the ecosystem, in the absence of harmful chemicals, and in the intention behind cultivation. CBD flower is the second medium through which we deliver that integrity, as we started in organic vegetables, but it is certainly not the endpoint.

As we expand into new formats – gelcaps, oils, extracts – and continue advancing regenerative farming practices and transparency technologies, our goal is to build a brand that represents ethical cultivation, radical transparency, and holistic wellness. Grown Here Farms is ultimately about cultivating balance – not just for individuals, but for agriculture, ecosystems, and the industry itself.

About | Krystine McInnes

Krystine McInnes is the Founder and CEO of Grown Here Farms, one of Canada’s most respected craft CBD producers and a pioneering voice in regenerative cannabis cultivation. Her career began in finance and boutique real estate development before a personal health journey led her to organic agriculture. In 2016, she purchased one of British Columbia’s largest organic farms, where she developed a deep commitment to soil-first, regenerative practices.

After catastrophic floods destroyed the farm, Krystine rebuilt with extraordinary resilience, transforming the operation into a premium CBD company rooted in purity, transparency, and ecological integrity. Under her leadership, Grown Here Farms introduced industry-first innovations – including Canada’s first full-spectrum cannabis traceability app - and earned national recognition such as Best CBD Flower in Canada (2025) and Top Craft CBD Companies to Watch (2026).

Krystine is known for her vision, tenacity, and values-driven leadership. She continues to champion a future where wellness, agriculture, and transparency are deeply interconnected – from soil to soul.

“We believe wellness begins long before a product reaches the consumer – it begins in the soil biome, in the balance of the ecosystem, in the absence of harmful chemicals, and in the intention behind cultivation.”